I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 370
To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994
to prevent luxurious conditions in prisons.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 19, 1999
Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement
Act of 1994 to prevent luxurious conditions in prisons.
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 ‘‘No Frills Prison Act’’.
SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF LUXURIOUS PRISON CONDITIONS.
(a) STATES.—Section 20102(a) of the Violent Crime
Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(1)’’;
(2) by redesignating existing paragraph (2) as
subparagraph (B);
(3) by redesignating existing subparagraphs (A)
through (D) as clauses (i) through (iv) respectively;
(4) by redesignating existing clauses (i) and (ii)
as subclauses (I) and (II);
(5) by striking the period at the end and insert-
ing ‘‘; and’’; and
(6) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(2) provides living conditions and opportuni-
ties to prisoners within its prisons that are not more
luxurious than those conditions and opportunities
the average prisoner would have experienced if such
prisoner were not incarcerated, and does not provide
to any such prisoner—
‘‘(A)(i) earned good time credits;
‘‘(ii) less than 40 hours a week of work
that either offsets or reduces the expenses of
keeping the prisoner or provides resources to-
ward restitution of victims;
‘‘(iii) unmonitored phone calls, except when
between the prisoner and the prisoner’s imme-
diate family or legal counsel;
‘‘(iv) in-cell television viewing;
‘‘(v) the viewing of R, X, or NC–17 rated
movies, through whatever medium presented;
‘‘(vi) possession of any pornographic mate-
rials;
‘‘(vii) any instruction (live or through
broadcasts) or training equipment for boxing,
wrestling, judo, karate, or other martial art, or
any bodybuilding or weightlifting equipment of
any sort;
‘‘(viii) except for use during required work,
the use or possession of any electric or elec-
tronic musical instrument, or practice on any
musical instrument for more than one hour a
day;
‘‘(ix) use of personally owned computers or
modems;
‘‘(x) possession of in-cell coffee pots, hot
plates, or heating elements;
‘‘(xi) any living or work quarters into
which the outside view is obstructed;
‘‘(xii) food exceeding in quality or quantity
that which is available to enlisted personnel in
the United States Army;
‘‘(xiii) dress or hygiene, grooming and ap-
pearance other than those allowed as uniform
or standard in the prison; or
‘‘(xiv) equipment or facilities at public ex-
pense for publishing or broadcasting content
not previously approved by prison officials as
consistent with prison order and prisoner dis-
cipline; and
‘‘(B) in the case of a prisoner who is serv-
ing a sentence for a crime of violence which re-
sulted in serious bodily injury to another—
‘‘(i) housing other than in separate
cell blocks intended for violent prisoners
and designed to emphasize punishment
rather than rehabilitation;
‘‘(ii) less than 9 hours a day of phys-
ical labor, with confinement to cell for any
refusing to engage in that labor, but a
prisoner not physically able to do physical
labor may be assigned to alternate labor;
‘‘(iii) any temporary furlough, leave,
excursion, or other release from the prison
for any purpose, unless the prisoner re-
mains at all times under physical or me-
chanical restraints, such as handcuffs, and
under the constant escort and immediate
supervision of at least one armed correc-
tional officer;
‘‘(iv) any viewing of television;
‘‘(v) any inter-prison travel for com-
petitive sports, whether as a participant or
spectator;
‘‘(vi) more than one hour a day spent
in sports or exercise; or
‘‘(vii) possession of personal property
exceeding 75 pounds in total weight or
that cannot be stowed in a standard size
United States military issue duffel bag.’’.
(b) FEDERAL.—
(1) GENERALLY.—The Attorney General shall
by rule establish conditions in the Federal prison
system that, as nearly as may be, are the same as
those conditions required in State prisons under sec-
tion 20102(a) of the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994 as amended by this
section.
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 3624
of title 18, United States Code, is amended by strik-
ing subsection (b).
Æ