Solitary Confinement Study and Reform Act of 2022
Bill: H.R.8048 | Sponsor: Rep. Trone, David J. (D-MD)
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Solitary Confinement Study and Reform Act of 2022
This bill establishes the National Solitary Confinement Study and Reform Commission to study the impact of solitary confinement on governments, communities, and social institutions. Additionally, the bill (1) directs the Department of Justice to publish national standards to reduce solitary confinement in correctional facilities; and (2) authorizes grants for community-based prevention and education programs, community-based mental health care, or community-based drug treatment or harm reduction.

To develop and implement national standards for the use of solitary 
    confinement in correctional facilities, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Solitary Confinement Study and 
Reform Act of 2022''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are to--
            (1) develop and implement national standards for the use of 
        solitary confinement to ensure that it is used infrequently and 
        only under extreme circumstances;
            (2) establish a more humane and constitutionally sound 
        practice of segregated detention or solitary confinement in 
        correctional facilities;
            (3) accelerate the development of best practices and make 
        reforming solitary confinement a top priority in each 
        correctional facility at the Federal and State levels;
            (4) increase the available data and information on the 
        incidence of solitary confinement, consequently improving the 
        management and administration of correctional facilities;
            (5) standardize the definitions used for collecting data on 
        the incidence of solitary confinement;
            (6) increase the accountability of correctional facility 
        officials who fail to design and implement humane and 
        constitutionally sound solitary confinement practices;
            (7) protect the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights of 
        incarcerated individuals at correctional facilities; and
            (8) reduce the costs that solitary confinement imposes on 
        interstate commerce.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL SOLITARY CONFINEMENT STUDY AND REFORM COMMISSION.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established a commission to be known 
as the National Solitary Confinement Study and Reform Commission.
    (b) Members.--
            (1) In general.--The Commission shall be composed of 9 
        members, of whom--
                    (A) 3 shall be appointed by the President;
                    (B) 2 shall be appointed by the Speaker of the 
                House of Representatives, unless the Speaker is of the 
                same party as the President, in which case 1 shall be 
                appointed by the Speaker of the House of 
                Representatives and 1 shall be appointed by the 
                minority leader of the House of Representatives;
                    (C) 1 shall be appointed by the minority leader of 
                the House of Representatives (in addition to any 
                appointment made under subparagraph (B));
                    (D) 2 shall be appointed by the majority leader of 
                the Senate, unless the majority leader is of the same 
                party as the President, in which case 1 shall be 
                appointed by the majority leader of the Senate and 1 
                shall be appointed by the minority leader of the 
                Senate; and
                    (E) 1 shall be appointed by the minority leader of 
                the Senate (in addition to any appointment made under 
                subparagraph (D)).
            (2) Persons eligible.--Each member of the Commission shall 
        be an individual who has knowledge or expertise in matters to 
        be studied by the Commission. Not less than three members of 
        the Commission shall be individuals who have been incarcerated 
        or have had an incarcerated family member.
            (3) Consultation required.--The President, the Speaker, and 
        the minority leader of the House of Representatives, and the 
        majority leader and minority leader of the Senate shall consult 
        with one another prior to the appointment of the members of the 
        Commission to achieve, to the maximum extent possible, fair and 
        equitable representation of various points of view with respect 
        to the matters to be studied by the Commission.
            (4) Term.--Each member shall be appointed for the life of 
        the Commission.
            (5) Time for initial appointments.--The appointment of the 
        members shall be made not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act.
            (6) Vacancies.--A vacancy in the Commission shall be filled 
        in the manner in which the original appointment was made, and 
        shall be made not later than 60 days after the date on which 
        the vacancy occurred.
    (c) Operation.--
            (1) Chairperson.--Not later than 15 days after appointments 
        of all the members are made, the President shall appoint a 
        chairperson for the Commission from among its members.
            (2) Meetings.--The Commission shall meet at the call of the 
        chairperson. The initial meeting of the Commission shall take 
        place not later than 30 days after the initial appointment of 
        the members is completed.
            (3) Quorum.--A majority of the members of the Commission 
        shall constitute a quorum to conduct business, but the 
        Commission may establish a lesser quorum for conducting 
        hearings scheduled by the Commission.
            (4) Rules.--The Commission may establish by majority vote 
        any other rules for the conduct of Commission business, if such 
        rules are not inconsistent with this Act or other applicable 
        law.
    (d) Comprehensive Study of the Impacts of Solitary Confinement.--
            (1) In general.--The Commission shall carry out a 
        comprehensive legal and factual study of the penological, 
        physical, mental, medical, social, fiscal, and economic impacts 
        of solitary confinement in the United States on--
                    (A) Federal, State, and local governments; and
                    (B) communities and social institutions generally, 
                including individuals, families, and businesses within 
                such communities and social institutions.
            (2) Matters included.--The study under paragraph (1) shall 
        include--
                    (A) a review of existing Federal, State, and local 
                government policies and practices with respect to the 
                extent and duration of the use of solitary confinement;
                    (B) an assessment of the relationship between 
                solitary confinement and correctional facility 
                conditions, and existing monitoring, regulatory, and 
                enforcement practices;
                    (C) an assessment of the characteristics of 
                incarcerated individuals and juvenile detainees most 
                likely to be referred to solitary confinement and the 
                effectiveness of various types of treatment or programs 
                to reduce such likelihood;
                    (D) an assessment of the impacts of solitary 
                confinement on individuals, families, social 
                institutions, and the economy generally;
                    (E) an identification of additional scientific and 
                social science research needed on the prevalence of 
                solitary confinement in correctional facilities as well 
                as a full assessment of existing literature;
                    (F) an assessment of the general relationship 
                between solitary confinement and mental and physical 
                illness;
                    (G) an assessment of the relationship between 
                solitary confinement and levels of training, 
                supervision, and discipline of the staff of 
                correctional facilities; and
                    (H) an assessment of existing Federal and State 
                systems for collecting and reporting the number and 
                duration of solitary confinement incidents in 
                correctional facilities nationwide.
            (3) Report.--
                    (A) Distribution.--Not later than one year after 
                the date of the initial meeting of the Commission, the 
                Commission shall submit a report on the study carried 
                out under this subsection to--
                            (i) the President;
                            (ii) the Congress;
                            (iii) the Attorney General of the United 
                        States;
                            (iv) the Secretary of Health and Human 
                        Services;
                            (v) the Director of the Federal Bureau of 
                        Prisons;
                            (vi) the Administrator of the Office of 
                        Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention;
                            (vii) the chief executive of each State; 
                        and
                            (viii) the head of the department of 
                        corrections of each State.
                    (B) Contents.--The report under subparagraph (A) 
                shall include--
                            (i) the findings and conclusions of the 
                        Commission;
                            (ii) the recommended national standards for 
                        reducing the use of solitary confinement 
                        described in subsection (e); and
                            (iii) a summary of the materials relied on 
                        by the Commission in the preparation of the 
                        report.
    (e) Recommendations.--
            (1) In general.--As part of the report submitted under 
        subsection (d)(3), the Commission shall provide the Attorney 
        General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services with 
        recommended national standards for significantly reducing the 
        use of solitary confinement in correctional facilities.
            (2) Matters included.--The information provided under 
        paragraph (1) shall include recommended national standards 
        relating to--
                    (A) how authorities can progress toward 
                significantly limiting the utilization of solitary 
                confinement so that an incarcerated individual may be 
                placed in solitary confinement only under extreme 
                emergency circumstances, as a last resort, for as short 
                a time as possible, subject to independent review, and 
                pursuant to the authorization of a competent authority;
                    (B) methods that can be employed to ensure that the 
                duration of solitary confinement of an incarcerated 
                individual at an institution can be limited to hours at 
                a time for purposes of emergency de-escalation, except 
                that if the head of a correctional facility makes an 
                individualized determination that the incarcerated 
                individual cannot be safely returned to the general 
                population, the head of the correctional facility may 
                continue to segregate the incarcerated individual from 
                the general population without the use of solitary 
                confinement, while ensuring that the incarcerated 
                individual has access to the type and hours of out-of-
                cell congregate programming, activities, and engagement 
                comparable to the general population, in accordance 
                with best practices and model programs for improving 
                people's well-being and reducing violence in youth and 
                adult correctional settings, non-correctional settings, 
                and other mental health settings, and in accordance 
                with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules on the 
                Treatment of Prisoners;
                    (C) ensuring that prior to being classified, 
                assigned, or subject to long-term segregation, an 
                incarcerated individual shall be entitled to a 
                meaningful hearing on the reason for and duration of 
                the confinement and have access to legal counsel for 
                such hearings;
                    (D) ensuring that indefinite sentencing of an 
                incarcerated individual to long-term segregation will 
                not be allowed and that the incarcerated individual 
                will be afforded a meaningful review of the segregation 
                at least once every 30 days that the incarcerated 
                individual remains in segregation and that correctional 
                facility officials must record and provide a transcript 
                of the review proceedings for the incarcerated 
                individual under review to the incarcerated individual 
                or the incarcerated individual's designee;
                    (E) ensuring that correctional facility officials 
                design and implement programming that allows 
                incarcerated individuals subject to long-term 
                segregation to earn placement in less restrictive 
                housing through positive behavior;
                    (F) ensuring that protective custody and other 
                custody designations designed to protect vulnerable 
                incarcerated individuals, regardless of the reason for 
                vulnerability, are not characterized by solitary 
                confinement or other type of isolation conditions, and 
                that incarcerated individuals placed in protective 
                custody have access to programs, privileges, education, 
                and work opportunities commensurate with general 
                population incarcerated individuals to the extent 
                possible;
                    (G) ensuring that correctional facility officials 
                improve access to mental health treatment for 
                incarcerated individuals in solitary confinement;
                    (H) ensuring that correctional facility officials 
                do all that is feasible to make certain that 
                incarcerated individuals are not held in solitary 
                confinement for any duration;
                    (I) ensuring that correctional facility officials 
                develop alternative methods to manage issues with 
                incarcerated individuals other than solitary 
                confinement;
                    (J) ensuring that correctional facility officers do 
                all that is feasible to make certain that incarcerated 
                individuals with mental health, physical, or cognitive 
                disabilities are not held in solitary confinement for 
                any duration;
                    (K) ensuring that correctional facility officers do 
                all that is feasible to make certain that pregnant and 
                post-partum women are not held in solitary confinement 
                for any duration;
                    (L) ensuring that correctional facility officers 
                work towards systems that limit the circumstances and 
                conditions under which juveniles are placed in solitary 
                confinement, in compliance with section 5043 of title 
                18, United States Code;
                    (M) State and local governments making publicly 
                available, on a monthly basis, information, 
                disaggregated by the demographic characteristics of 
                incarcerated individuals, on the use of solitary 
                confinement, segregation, and any other form of 
                restrictive housing in correctional facilities in the 
                jurisdiction, including--
                            (i) the average daily number and percentage 
                        of incarcerated individuals in each placement;
                            (ii) the total number of such placements;
                            (iii) the reasons for such placements;
                            (iv) the duration incarcerated individuals 
                        spent in each placement;
                            (v) the duration of daily out-of-cell time 
                        and congregate programming for incarcerated 
                        individuals in each placement; and
                            (vi) the number and percentage self-harm 
                        incidents, suicide attempts, suicides, and 
                        deaths broken down by cause, for incarcerated 
                        individuals in each placement;
                    (N) ensuring that correctional facilities have in 
                place an independent oversight processes related to the 
                use of solitary confinement and segregation; and
                    (O) such other matters as may reasonably be related 
                to the goal of reducing solitary confinement in 
                correctional facilities.
            (3) Limitation.--The Commission shall not propose a 
        recommended standard that would impose substantial additional 
        costs compared to the costs presently expended by correctional 
        facilities, and shall seek to propose standards that reduce the 
        costs of incarceration at such facilities.
    (f) Consultation With Accreditation Organizations.--In developing 
recommended national standards for the reduction of solitary 
confinement under subsection (e), the Commission shall consider any 
standards, laws, and policies that have already been developed, or are 
being developed simultaneously to the deliberations of the Commission. 
The Commission shall consult with accreditation organizations 
responsible for the accreditation of correctional facilities that have 
developed or are developing standards related to solitary confinement. 
The Commission shall also consult with national associations 
representing the corrections profession, the legal profession, the 
medical profession, people who are incarcerated, or any other pertinent 
professional body that has developed or is developing standards related 
to solitary confinement.
    (g) Hearings.--
            (1) In general.--The Commission shall hold public hearings. 
        The Commission may hold such hearings, sit and act at such 
        times and places, take such testimony, and receive such 
        evidence as the Commission considers advisable to carry out its 
        duties under this section.
            (2) Witness expenses.--Witnesses requested to appear before 
        the Commission shall be paid the same fees as are paid to 
        witnesses under section 1821 of title 28, United States Code. 
        The per diem and mileage allowances for witnesses shall be paid 
        from funds appropriated to the Commission.
            (3) Virtual hearings permitted.--Hearings held under this 
        subsection may be held virtually.
    (h) Information From Federal or State Agencies.--The Commission may 
secure directly from any Federal department or agency such information 
as the Commission considers necessary to carry out its duties under 
this section. The Commission may request the head of any State or local 
department or agency to furnish such information to the Commission.
    (i) Personnel Matters.--
            (1) Travel expenses.--The members of the Commission shall 
        be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of 
        subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies 
        under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 
        Code, while away from their homes or regular places of business 
        in the performance of service for the Commission.
            (2) Detail of federal employees.--With the affirmative vote 
        of \2/3\ of the Commission, any Federal Government employee, 
        with the approval of the head of the appropriate Federal 
        agency, may be detailed to the Commission without 
        reimbursement, and such detail shall be without interruption or 
        loss of civil service status, benefits, or privileges.
            (3) Procurement of temporary and intermittent services.--
        Upon the request of the Commission, the Attorney General shall 
        provide reasonable and appropriate office space, supplies, and 
        administrative assistance.
    (j) Contracts for Research.--
            (1) National institute of justice.--With a \2/3\ 
        affirmative vote, the Commission may select nongovernmental 
        researchers and experts to assist the Commission in carrying 
        out its duties under this Act. The National Institute of 
        Justice shall contract with the researchers and experts 
        selected by the Commission to provide funding in exchange for 
        their services.
            (2) Other organizations.--Nothing in this subsection shall 
        be construed to limit the ability of the Commission to enter 
        into contracts with other entities or organizations for 
        research necessary to carry out the duties of the Commission 
        under this section.
    (k) Termination.--The Commission shall terminate on the date that 
is 60 days after the date on which the Commission submits the reports 
required by this section.
    (l) Exemption.--The Commission shall be exempt from the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act.
    (m) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated $500,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 and 2024.

SEC. 4. ADOPTION AND EFFECT OF NATIONAL STANDARDS.

    (a) Publication of Standards.--
            (1) Final rule.--Not later than one year after receiving 
        the report specified in section (3)(d)(3), the Attorney General 
        shall publish a final rule adopting national standards for the 
        reduction of solitary confinement in correctional facilities.
            (2) Independent judgment.--The standards referred to in 
        paragraph (1) shall be based upon the independent judgment of 
        the Attorney General, after giving consideration to the 
        recommended national standards provided by the Commission under 
        section 3(e), and being informed by such data, opinions, and 
        proposals that the Attorney General determines to be 
        appropriate to consider.
            (3) Limitation.--The Attorney General shall not establish a 
        national standard under this section that would impose 
        substantial additional costs compared to the costs presently 
        expended by Federal and State correctional systems. The 
        Attorney General may, however, provide a list of improvements 
        for consideration by correctional facilities.
            (4) Transmission to states.--Not later than 60 days after 
        publishing the final rule under paragraph (1), the Attorney 
        General shall transmit the national standards adopted under 
        that paragraph to the chief executive of each State, the head 
        of the department of corrections of each State, the head of the 
        department of juvenile justice of each State, and to the 
        appropriate authorities in those units of local government who 
        oversee operations in one or more correctional facilities.
    (b) Applicability to Federal Agencies.--Immediately upon adoption 
of the final rule under subsection (a)(1), the national standards 
referred to in subsection (a) shall apply to each Federal agency that 
detains or incarcerates individuals (including aliens), and to any 
entity with which a Federal agency has a contract for the detainment or 
incarceration of individuals.

SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM FOR MENTAL HEALTH IN CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES.

    (a) Authorization.--Beginning in the first fiscal year that begins 
after the date on which the Attorney General issues the final rule 
under subsection (a)(1), the Attorney General is authorized to make 
grants to States for the purposes described in subsection (b).
    (b) Uses of Funds.--Grants under this section shall be used solely 
for purposes of community-based prevention and education programs, 
community-based mental health care, or community-based drug treatment 
or harm reduction, including for purposes of diversion from 
incarceration or release from incarceration.
    (c) Application.--The chief executive of a State seeking a grant 
under this section shall submit to the Attorney General an application 
at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the 
Attorney General may reasonably require.
    (d) Eligibility.--In order to be eligible for a grant under this 
section, a State shall be in compliance with the national standards for 
the reduction of solitary confinement in correctional facilities 
described in section 4(a)(1).
    (e) Allocation.--Of the total amount appropriated under this part 
in any fiscal year--
            (1) 0.4 percent shall be allocated to each of the 
        participating States;
            (2) 7 percent shall be reserved to provide technical 
        assistance to States in complying with the national standards 
        for the reduction of solitary confinement in correctional 
        facilities described in section 4(a)(1); and
            (3) of the total funds remaining after the allocation under 
        paragraph (1), there shall be allocated to each of the 
        participating States an amount which bears the same ratio to 
        the amount of remaining funds described in this paragraph as 
        the State correctional facility population of such State bears 
        to the total correctional facility population of all the 
        participating States.
    (f) Limitation.--Not more than 5 percent of grant funds received by 
a State may be used for administrative purposes.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 and 2024 to 
carry out this section.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act, the following definitions shall apply:
            (1) Attorney general.--The term ``Attorney General'' means 
        the Attorney General of the United States.
            (2) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the National 
        Solitary Confinement Study and Reform Commission established 
        under section 3 of this Act.
            (3) Long-term.--The term ``long-term'' means any period 
        lasting more than 15 days in a 60-day period.
            (4) Solitary confinement.--The term ``solitary 
        confinement'' means confinement of an incarcerated individual 
        or juvenile detainee in a cell or other place, alone or with 
        other persons, with severely restricted activity, movement, and 
        social interaction.
            (5) Segregation.--The term ``segregation'' means housing of 
        an incarcerated individual separate from the general population 
        of a correctional facility.
            (6) Correctional facility.--The term ``correctional 
        facility'' means a Federal, State, local, or privately run 
        prison, jail, or juvenile detention facility.
            (7) State.--The term ``State'' means any State of the 
        United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
        Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the 
        Northern Mariana Islands.

SEC. 7. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION RELATED TO BIVENS REMEDIES.

    Consistent with the Supreme Court's decisions in Carlson v. Green, 
446 U.S. 14 (1980) and Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825 (1994), Congress 
recognizes that people in prison and detention may bring a Bivens 
action to seek damages for violations of their Constitutional rights in 
prison, and nothing in this Act may be construed to limit that remedy.
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