IB

Union Calendar No. 8

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 667

[Report No. 104–21]

To control crime by incarcerating violent criminals.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 25, 1995

Mr. MCCOLLUM introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

FEBRUARY 6, 1995

Additional sponsors: Mr. BRYANT of Tennessee, Mr. BLILEY, and Mr.

ENGLISH of Pennsylvania

FEBRUARY 6, 1995

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 25, 1995]

A BILL

To control crime by incarcerating violent criminals.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Violent Criminal Incar3 ceration Act of 1995’’.

4 TITLE I—TRUTH IN SENTENCING

5 SEC. 101. TRUTH IN SENTENCING GRANT PROGRAM.

6 Title V of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforce7 ment Act of 1994 is amended to read as follows:

8 ‘‘TITLE V—TRUTH IN

9 SENTENCING GRANTS

10 ‘‘SEC. 501. AUTHORIZATION OF GRANTS.

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General is author12 ized to provide grants to eligible States and to eligible

13 States organized as a regional compact to build, expand,

14 and operate space in correctional facilities in order to in15 crease the prison bed capacity in such facilities for the con16 finement of persons convicted of a serious violent felony and

17 to build, expand, and operate temporary or permanent cor18 rectional facilities, including facilities on military bases

19 and boot camp facilities, for the confinement of convicted

20 nonviolent offenders and criminal aliens for the purpose of

21 freeing suitable existing prison space for the confinement

22 of persons convicted of a serious violent felony.

23 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—An eligible State or eligible States

24 organized as a regional compact may receive either a gen25 eral grant under section 502 or a truth-in-sentencing incen26 tive grant under section 503.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 502. GENERAL GRANTS.

2 ‘‘(a) DISTRIBUTION OF GENERAL GRANTS.—50 per3 cent of the total amount of funds made available under this

4 title for each of the fiscal years 1995 through 2000 shall

5 be made available for general eligibility grants for each

6 State or States organized as a regional compact that meets

7 the requirements of subsection (b).

8 ‘‘(b) GENERAL GRANTS.—In order to be eligible to re9 ceive funds under subsection (a), a State or States orga10 nized as a regional compact shall submit an application

11 to the Attorney General that provides assurances that such

12 State since 1993 has—

13 ‘‘(1) increased the percentage of convicted violent

14 offenders sentenced to prison;

15 ‘‘(2) increased the average prison time actually

16 to be served in prison by convicted violent offenders

17 sentenced to prison; and

18 ‘‘(3) increased the percentage of sentence to be

19 actually served in prison by violent offenders sen20 tenced to prison.

21 ‘‘SEC. 503. TRUTH-IN-SENTENCING GRANTS.

22 ‘‘(a) TRUTH-IN-SENTENCING INCENTIVE GRANTS.—50

23 percent of the total amount of funds made available under

24 this title for each of the fiscal years 1995 through 2000 shall

25 be made available for truth-in-sentencing incentive grants
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1 to each State or States organized as a regional compact

2 that meet the requirements of subsection (b).

3 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY FOR TRUTH-IN-SENTENCING INCEN4 TIVE GRANTS.—In order to be eligible to receive funds

5 under subsection (a), a State or States organized as a re6 gional compact shall submit an application to the Attorney

7 General that provides assurances that each State applying

8 has enacted laws and regulations which include—

9 ‘‘(1)(A) truth-in-sentencing laws which require

10 persons convicted of a serious violent felony serve not

11 less than 85 percent of the sentence imposed or 85

12 percent of the court-ordered maximum sentence for

13 States that practice indeterminate sentencing; or

14 ‘‘(B) truth-in-sentencing laws which have been

15 enacted, but not yet implemented, that require such

16 State, not later than three years after such State sub17 mits an application to the Attorney General, to pro18 vide that persons convicted of a serious violent felony

19 serve not less than 85 percent of the sentence imposed

20 or 85 percent of the court-ordered maximum sentence

21 for States that practice indeterminate sentencing, and

22 ‘‘(2) laws requiring that the sentencing or releas23 ing authorities notify and allow the victims of the de24 fendant or the family of such victims the opportunity
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1 to be heard regarding the issue of sentencing and any

2 postconviction release.

3 ‘‘SEC. 504. SPECIAL RULES.

4 ‘‘(a) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—To be eligible to

5 receive a grant under section 502 or 503, a State or States

6 organized as a regional compact shall provide an assurance

7 to the Attorney General that—

8 ‘‘(1) to the extent practicable, inmate labor will

9 be used to build and expand correctional facilities;

10 ‘‘(2) each State will involve counties and other

11 units of local government, when appropriate, in the

12 construction, development, expansion, modification,

13 operation, or improvement of correctional facilities

14 designed to ensure the incarceration of offenders, and

15 that each State will share funds received under this

16 title with any county or other unit of local govern17 ment that is housing State prisoners, taking into ac18 count the burden placed on such county or unit of

19 local government in confining prisoners due to over20 crowding in State prison facilities in furtherance of

21 the purposes of this Act; and

22 ‘‘(3) the State has implemented or will imple23 ment, not later than 18 months after the date of the

24 enactment of the Violent Criminal Incarceration Act

25 of 1995, policies to determine the veteran status of in-
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1 mates and to ensure that incarcerated veterans receive

2 the veterans benefits to which they are entitled.

3 ‘‘(b) INDETERMINANT SENTENCING EXCEPTION.—Not4 withstanding the provisions of paragraphs (1) through (3)

5 of section 502(b), a State shall be eligible for grants under

6 this title, if the State, not later than the date of the enact7 ment of this title—

8 ‘‘(1) practices indeterminant sentencing; and

9 ‘‘(2) the average times served in such State for

10 the offenses of murder, rape, robbery, and assault ex11 ceed, by 10 percent or greater, the national average

12 of times served for such offenses.

13 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION.—The requirements under section

14 503(b) shall apply, except that a State may provide that

15 the Governor of the State may allow for earlier release of

16 a geriatric prisoner or a prisoner whose medical condition

17 precludes the prisoner from posing a threat to the public

18 after a public hearing in which representatives of the public

19 and the prisoner’s victims have an opportunity to be heard

20 regarding a proposed release.

21 ‘‘SEC. 505. FORMULA FOR GRANTS.

22 ‘‘To determine the amount of funds that each eligible

23 State or eligible States organized as a regional compact

24 may receive to carry out programs under section 502 or
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1 503, the Attorney General shall apply the following

2 formula:

3 ‘‘(1) $500,000 or 0.40 percent, whichever is

4 greater, shall be allocated to each participating State

5 or compact, as the case may be; and

6 ‘‘(2) of the total amount of funds remaining after

7 the allocation under paragraph (1), there shall be al8 located to each State or compact, as the case may be,

9 an amount which bears the same ratio to the amount

10 of remaining funds described in this paragraph as the

11 population of such State or compact, as the case may

12 be, bears to the population of all the States.

13 ‘‘SEC. 506. ACCOUNTABILITY.

14 ‘‘(a) FISCAL REQUIREMENTS.—A State or States orga15 nized as a regional compact that receives funds under this

16 title shall use accounting, audit, and fiscal procedures that

17 conform to guidelines which shall be prescribed by the Attor18 ney General.

19 ‘‘(b) REPORTING.—Each State that receives funds

20 under this title shall submit an annual report, beginning

21 on January 1, 1996, and each January 1 thereafter, to the

22 Congress regarding compliance with the requirements of

23 this title.

24 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—The administra25 tive provisions of sections 801 and 802 of the Omnibus
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1 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 shall apply to

2 the Attorney General in the same manner as such provi3 sions apply to the officials listed in such sections.

4 ‘‘SEC. 507. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro6 priated to carry out this title—

7 ‘‘(1) $997,500,000 for fiscal year 1996;

8 ‘‘(2) $1,330,000,000 for fiscal year 1997;

9 ‘‘(3) $2,527,000,000 for fiscal year 1998;

10 ‘‘(4) $2,660,000,000 for fiscal year 1999; and

11 ‘‘(5) $2,753,100,000 for fiscal year 2000.

12 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS ON FUNDS.—

13 ‘‘(1) USES OF FUNDS.—Funds made available

14 under this title may be used to carry out the purposes

15 described in section 501(a).

16 ‘‘(2) NONSUPPLANTING REQUIREMENT.—Funds

17 made available under this section shall not be used to

18 supplant State funds, but shall be used to increase the

19 amount of funds that would, in the absence of Federal

20 funds, be made available from State sources.

21 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than

22 three percent of the funds available under this section

23 may be used for administrative costs.

24 ‘‘(4) MATCHING FUNDS.—The Federal share of a

25 grant received under this title may not exceed 75 per-
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1 cent of the costs of a proposal as described in an ap2 plication approved under this title.

3 ‘‘(5) CARRY OVER OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Any

4 funds appropriated but not expended as provided by

5 this section during any fiscal year shall remain

6 available until expended.

7 ‘‘SEC. 508. DEFINITIONS.

8 ‘‘As used in this title—

9 ‘‘(1) the term ‘indeterminate sentencing’ means a

10 system by which—

11 ‘‘(A) the court has discretion on imposing

12 the actual length of the sentence imposed, up to

13 the statutory maximum; and

14 ‘‘(B) an administrative agency, generally

15 the parole board, controls release between court16 ordered minimum and maximum sentence;

17 ‘‘(2) the term ‘serious violent felony’ means—

18 ‘‘(A) an offense that is a felony and has as

19 an element the use, attempted use, or threatened

20 use of physical force against the person or prop21 erty of another and has a maximum term of im22 prisonment of 10 years or more,

23 ‘‘(B) any other offense that is a felony and

24 that, by its nature, involves a substantial risk

25 that physical force against the person or prop-
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1 erty of another may be used in the course of com2 mitting the offense and has a maximum term of

3 imprisonment of 10 years or more, or

4 ‘‘(C) such crimes including murder, assault

5 with intent to commit murder, arson, armed

6 burglary, rape, assault with intent to commit

7 rape, kidnapping, and armed robbery; and

8 ‘‘(3) the term ‘State’ means a State of the United

9 States, the District of Columbia, or any common10 wealth, territory, or possession of the United States.’’.

11 SEC. 102. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

12 (a) OMNIBUS CRIME CONTROL AND SAFE STREETS

13 ACT OF 1968.—

14 (1) PART V.—Part V of title I of the Omnibus

15 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 is re16 pealed.

17 (2) FUNDING.—(A) Section 1001(a) of the Omni18 bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 is

19 amended by striking paragraph (20).

20 (B) Notwithstanding the provisions of subpara21 graph (A), any funds that remain available to an ap22 plicant under paragraph (20) of title I of the Omni23 bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 shall

24 be used in accordance with part V of such Act as such
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1 Act was in effect on the day preceding the date of

2 enactment of this Act.

3 (b) VIOLENT CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCE4 MENT ACT OF 1994.—

5 (1) REPEAL.—(A) Subtitle A of title II of the

6 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of

7 1994 is repealed.

8 (B) The table of contents of the Violent Crime

9 Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 is amend10 ed by striking the matter relating to subtitle A of title

11 II.

12 (2) COMPLIANCE.—Notwithstanding the provi13 sions of paragraph (1), any funds that remain avail14 able to an applicant under subtitle A of title II of the

15 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of

16 1994 shall be used in accordance with such subtitle as

17 such subtitle was in effect on the day preceding the

18 date of enactment of this Act.

19 (3) TRUTH-IN-SENTENCING.—The table of con20 tents of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforce21 ment Act of 1994 is amended by striking the matter

22 relating to title V and inserting the following:

‘‘TITLE V—TRUTH-IN-SENTENCING GRANTS

‘‘Sec. 501. Authorization of grants.

‘‘Sec. 502. General grants.

‘‘Sec. 503. Truth-in-sentencing grants.

‘‘Sec. 504. Special rules.

‘‘Sec. 505. Formula for grants.
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‘‘Sec. 506. Accountability.

‘‘Sec. 507. Authorization of appropriations.

‘‘Sec. 508. Definitions.’’.

1 TITLE II—STOPPING ABUSIVE

2 PRISONER LAWSUITS

3 SEC. 201. EXHAUSTION REQUIREMENT.

4 Section 7(a)(1) of the Civil Rights of Institutionalized

5 Persons Act (42 U.S.C. 1997e) is amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘in any action brought’’ and in7 serting ‘‘no action shall be brought’’;

8 (2) by striking ‘‘the court shall’’ and all that fol9 lows through ‘‘require exhaustion of’’ and insert

10 ‘‘until’’; and

11 (3) by inserting ‘‘are exhausted’’ after ‘‘avail12 able’’.

13 SEC. 202. FRIVOLOUS ACTIONS.

14 Section 7(a) of the Civil Rights of Institutionalized

15 Persons Act (42 U.S.C. 1997e(a)) is amended by adding

16 at the end the following:

17 ‘‘(3) The court shall on its own motion or on motion

18 of a party dismiss any action brought pursuant to section

19 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United States by an

20 adult convicted of a crime and confined in any jail, prison,

21 or other correctional facility if the court is satisfied that

22 the action fails to state a claim upon which relief can be

23 granted or is frivolous or malicious.’’.
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1 SEC. 203. MODIFICATION OF REQUIRED MINIMUM STAND2 ARDS.

3 Section 7(b)(2) of the Civil Rights of Institutionalized

4 Persons Act (42 U.S.C. 1997e(b)(2)) is amended by striking

5 subparagraph (A) and redesignating subparagraphs (B)

6 through (E) as subparagraphs (A) through (D), respec7 tively.

8 SEC. 204. PROCEEDINGS IN FORMA PAUPERIS.

9 (a) DISMISSAL.—Section 1915(d) of title 28, United

10 States Code, is amended—

11 (1) by inserting ‘‘at any time’’ after ‘‘counsel

12 and may’’;

13 (2) by striking ‘‘and may’’ and inserting ‘‘and

14 shall’’;

15 (3) by inserting ‘‘fails to state a claim upon

16 which relief may be granted or’’ after ‘‘that the ac17 tion’’; and

18 (4) by inserting ‘‘even if partial filing fees have

19 been imposed by the court’’ before the period.

20 (b) PRISONER’S STATEMENT OF ASSETS.—Section

21 1915 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding

22 at the end the following:

23 ‘‘(f) If a prisoner in a correctional institution files an

24 affidavit in accordance with subsection (a) of this section,

25 such prisoner shall include in that affidavit a statement

26 of all assets such prisoner possesses. The court shall make
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1 inquiry of the correctional institution in which the prisoner

2 is incarcerated for information available to that institution

3 relating to the extent of the prisoner’s assets. The court shall

4 require full or partial payment of filing fees according to

5 the prisoner’s ability to pay.’’.

6 TITLE III—STOP TURNING OUT

7 PRISONERS

8 SEC. 301. APPROPRIATE REMEDIES FOR PRISON CONDI9 TIONS.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3626 of title 18, United

11 States Code, is amended to read as follows:

12 ‘‘§ 3626. Appropriate remedies with respect to prison

13 conditions

14 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS FOR RELIEF.—

15 ‘‘(1) LIMITATIONS ON PROSPECTIVE RELIEF.—

16 Prospective relief in a civil action with respect to

17 prison conditions shall extend no further than nec18 essary to remove the conditions that are causing the

19 deprivation of the Federal rights of individual plain20 tiffs in that civil action. The court shall not grant or

21 approve any prospective relief unless the court finds

22 that such relief is narrowly drawn and the least in23 trusive means to remedy the violation of the Federal

24 right. In determining the intrusiveness of the relief,

25 the court shall give substantial weight to any adverse
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1 impact on public safety or the operation of a crimi2 nal justice system caused by the relief.

3 ‘‘(2) PRISON POPULATION REDUCTION RELIEF.—

4 In any civil action with respect to prison conditions,

5 the court shall not grant or approve any relief whose

6 purpose or effect is to reduce or limit the prison pop7 ulation, unless the plaintiff proves that crowding is

8 the primary cause of the deprivation of the Federal

9 right and no other relief will remedy that depriva10 tion.

11 ‘‘(b) TERMINATION OF RELIEF.—

12 ‘‘(1) AUTOMATIC TERMINATION OF PROSPECTIVE

13 RELIEF AFTER 2-YEAR PERIOD.—In any civil action

14 with respect to prison conditions, any prospective re15 lief shall automatically terminate 2 years after the

16 later of—

17 ‘‘(A) the date the court found the violation

18 of a Federal right that was the basis for the re19 lief; or

20 ‘‘(B) the date of the enactment of the Stop

21 Turning Out Prisoners Act.

22 ‘‘(2) IMMEDIATE TERMINATION OF PROSPECTIVE

23 RELIEF.—In any civil action with respect to prison

24 conditions, a defendant or intervenor shall be entitled

25 to the immediate termination of any prospective re-
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1 lief, if that relief was approved or granted in the ab2 sence of a finding by the court that prison conditions

3 violated a Federal right.

4 ‘‘(c) PROCEDURE FOR MOTIONS AFFECTING PROSPEC5 TIVE RELIEF.—

6 ‘‘(1) GENERALLY.—The court shall promptly

7 rule on any motion to modify or terminate prospec8 tive relief in a civil action with respect to prison con9 ditions.

10 ‘‘(2) AUTOMATIC STAY.—Any prospective relief

11 subject to a pending motion shall be automatically

12 stayed during the period—

13 ‘‘(A) beginning on the 30th day after such

14 motion is filed, in the case of a motion made

15 under subsection (b); and

16 ‘‘(B) beginning on the 180th day after such

17 motion is filed, in the case of a motion made

18 under any other law;

19 and ending on the date the court enters a final order

20 ruling on that motion.

21 ‘‘(d) STANDING.—Any Federal, State, or local official

22 or unit of government—

23 ‘‘(1) whose jurisdiction or function includes the

24 prosecution or custody of persons in a prison subject

25 to; or
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1 ‘‘(2) who otherwise is or may be affected by;

2 any relief whose purpose or effect is to reduce or limit the

3 prison population shall have standing to oppose the imposi4 tion or continuation in effect of that relief and may inter5 vene in any proceeding relating to that relief. Standing

6 shall be liberally conferred under this subsection so as to

7 effectuate the remedial purposes of this section.

8 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL MASTERS.—In any civil action in a

9 Federal court with respect to prison conditions, any special

10 master or monitor shall be a United States magistrate and

11 shall make proposed findings on the record on complicated

12 factual issues submitted to that special master or monitor

13 by the court, but shall have no other function. The parties

14 may not by consent extend the function of a special master

15 beyond that permitted under this subsection.

16 ‘‘(f) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—No attorney’s fee under sec17 tion 722 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (42

18 U.S.C. 1988) may be granted to a plaintiff in a civil action

19 with respect to prison conditions except to the extent such

20 fee is—

21 ‘‘(1) directly and reasonably incurred in proving

22 an actual violation of the plaintiff’s Federal rights;

23 and
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1 ‘‘(2) proportionally related to the extent the

2 plaintiff obtains court ordered relief for that viola3 tion.

4 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—

5 ‘‘(1) the term ‘prison’ means any Federal, State,

6 or local facility that incarcerates or detains juveniles

7 or adults accused of, convicted of, sentenced for, or ad8 judicated delinquent for, violations of criminal law;

9 ‘‘(2) the term ‘relief’ means all relief in any form

10 which may be granted or approved by the court, and

11 includes consent decrees and settlement agreements;

12 and

13 ‘‘(3) the term ‘prospective relief’ means all relief

14 other than compensatory monetary damages.’’.

15 (b) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENT.—Section 3626 of

16 title 18, United States Code, as amended by this section,

17 shall apply with respect to all relief (as defined in such

18 section) whether such relief was originally granted or ap19 proved before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this

20 Act.

21 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item relating to sec22 tion 3626 in the table of sections at the beginning of sub23 chapter C of chapter 229 of title 18, United States Code,

24 is amended by striking ‘‘crowding’’ and inserting ‘‘condi25 tions’’.
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1 TITLE IV—ENHANCING PROTEC2 TION AGAINST INCARCER3 ATED CRIMINALS

4 SEC. 401. PRISON SECURITY.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 303 of title 18, United

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following

7 new section:

8 ‘‘§ 4048. Strength-training of prisoners prohibited

9 ‘‘The Bureau of Prisons shall ensure that—

10 ‘‘(1) prisoners under its jurisdiction do not en11 gage in any physical activities designed to increase

12 their fighting ability; and

13 ‘‘(2) all equipment designed for increasing the

14 strength or fighting ability of prisoners promptly be

15 removed from Federal correctional facilities and not

16 be introduced into such facilities thereafter except as

17 needed for a medically required program of physical

18 rehabilitation approved by the Director of the Bureau

19 of Prisons.’’.

20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections at

21 the beginning of chapter 303 of title 18, United States Code,

22 is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

‘‘4048. Strength-training of prisoners prohibited.’’.

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Union Calendar No. 8

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 667

[Report No. 104–21]

A BILL

To control crime by incarcerating violent criminals.

FEBRUARY 6, 1995

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and