I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2488
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide appropriate remedies
with respect to prison conditions.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 17, 1995
Mr. SCHIFF introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide
appropriate remedies with respect to 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 ‘‘Prison Judgment Re-
lief Act of 1995’’.
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:
‘‘§ 3626. Appropriate remedies with respect to prison
conditions
‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS FOR RELIEF.—
‘‘(1) LIMITATIONS ON PROSPECTIVE RELIEF.—
The court shall not grant or approve any prospective
relief unless the court finds that there is a violation
of a Federal right and that such relief is narrowly
drawn and the least intrusive means to remedy the
violation of the Federal right. In determining the in-
trusiveness of the relief, the court shall give substan-
tial weight to any adverse impact on public safety or
the operation of a criminal justice system caused by
the relief.
‘‘(2) PRISON
POPULATION
REDUCTION
RE-
LIEF.—In any civil action with respect to prison con-
ditions, the court shall not grant or approve any re-
lief whose purpose or effect is to reduce or limit the
prison population, unless the plaintiff proves that
crowding is the primary cause of the deprivation of
the Federal right and no other relief will remedy
that deprivation.
‘‘(b) TERMINATION OF RELIEF.—
‘‘(1) AUTOMATIC
TERMINATION
OF
PROSPEC-
TIVE RELIEF AFTER 4-YEAR PERIOD.—In any civil
action with respect to prison conditions, any pro-
spective relief shall automatically terminate 4 years
after the later of—
‘‘(A) the date of entry of the final judg-
ment in which the court found the violation of
a Federal right that was the basis for the relief;
or
‘‘(B) in the case of a final judgment en-
tered more than 4 years before the date of the
enactment of the Prison Judgment Relief Act of
1995, 180 days after the date of the enactment
of such 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.—The court shall promptly rule on any
motion to modify or terminate prospective relief in a civil
action with respect to prison conditions.
‘‘(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 (except a settlement agreement the
breech of which is not subject to any court proceed-
ing which such agreement settled); 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.
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item relating to
section 3526 in the table of sections at the beginning of
subchapter C of chapter 229 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended by striking ‘‘crowding’’ and inserting
‘‘conditions’’.
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