I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 554
To amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to judicial remedies
regarding prison conditions.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 18, 1995
Mr. CANADY of Florida (for himself and Mr. PETE GEREN of Texas) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to
judicial remedies regarding prison conditions.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Turning Out
Prisoners Act’’.
SEC. 2. APPROPRIATE REMEDIES FOR PRISON CONDI-
TIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3626 of title 18, United
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(1) AUTOMATIC
TERMINATION
OF
PROSPEC-
TIVE RELIEF AFTER 2-YEAR PERIOD.—In any civil
action with respect to prison conditions, any pro-
spective relief shall automatically terminate 2 years
after the later of—
‘‘(A) the date the court found the violation
of a Federal right that was the basis for the re-
lief; or
‘‘(B) the date of the enactment of the Stop
Turning Out Prisoners Act.
‘‘(2) IMMEDIATE
TERMINATION
OF
PROSPEC-
TIVE RELIEF.—In any civil action with respect to
prison conditions, a defendant or intervenor shall be
entitled to the immediate termination of any pro-
spective relief, if that relief was approved or granted
in the absence of a finding by the court that prison
conditions violated a Federal right.
‘‘(c) PROCEDURE FOR MOTIONS AFFECTING PRO-
SPECTIVE RELIEF.—
‘‘(1) GENERALLY.—The court shall promptly
rule on any motion to modify or terminate prospec-
tive relief in a civil action with respect to prison con-
ditions.
‘‘(2) AUTOMATIC STAY.—Any prospective relief
subject to a pending motion shall be automatically
stayed during the period—
‘‘(A) beginning on the 30th day after such
motion is filed, in the case of a motion made
under subsection (b); and
‘‘(B) beginning on the 180th day after
such motion is filed, in the case of a motion
made under any other law;
and ending on the date the court enters a final order
ruling on that motion.
‘‘(d) STANDING.—Any Federal, State, or local official
or unit of government—
‘‘(1) whose jurisdiction or function includes the
prosecution or custody of persons in a prison subject
to; or
‘‘(2) who otherwise is or may be affected by;
any relief whose purpose or effect is to reduce or limit
the prison population shall have standing to oppose the
imposition or continuation in effect of that relief and may
intervene in any proceeding relating to that relief. Stand-
ing shall be liberally conferred under this subsection so
as to effectuate the remedial purposes of this section.
‘‘(e) SPECIAL MASTERS.—In any civil action in a
Federal court with respect to prison conditions, any spe-
cial master or monitor shall be a United States magistrate
and shall make proposed findings on the record on com-
plicated factual issues submitted to that special master or
monitor by the court, but shall have no other function.
The parties may not by consent extend the function of
a special master beyond that permitted under this sub-
section.
‘‘(f) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—No attorney’s fee under
section 722 of the Revised Statutes of the United States
(42 U.S.C. 1988) may be granted to a plaintiff in a civil
action with respect to prison conditions except to the ex-
tent such fee is—
‘‘(1) directly and reasonably incurred in proving
an actual violation of the plaintiff’s federal rights;
and
‘‘(2) proportionally related to the extent the
plaintiff obtains court ordered relief for that viola-
tion.’’.
‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—
‘‘(1) the term ‘prison’ means any Federal,
State, or local facility that incarcerates or detains
juveniles or adults accused of, convicted of, sen-
tenced for, or adjudicated delinquent for, violations
of criminal law;
‘‘(2) the term ‘relief’ means all relief in any
form which may be granted or approved by the
court, and includes consent decrees and settlement
agreements; and
‘‘(3) the term ‘prospective relief’ means all re-
lief other than compensatory monetary damages.’’
(b) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENT.—Section 3626 of
title 18, United States Code, as amended by this section,
shall apply with respect to all relief (as defined in such
section) whether such relief was originally granted or ap-
proved before, on, or after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
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