State Legislative Models to Stop Solitary
If you are interested in a starting a legislative campaign to end the torture of solitary confinement, you may find these examples helpful. As you will see, each state faces a different set of circumstances that will shape the legislation that is introduced and/or enacted.
Model Legislation
This model legislation was developed by the ACLU with input from NRCAT and other groups. This document is designed to be used as a tool for state initiatives, but please note that some provisions may not be relevant or feasible in your state. Please adapt this document to meet the specific needs and political circumstances in your state.
New York
HALT Solitary Confinement Act, A. 4401 / S. 2659
Key components of the bill include:
- Creating alternatives to Isolated confinement for any person separated from general population for more than 15 continuous days. It requires they must be in a separate secure residential rehabilitation unit (RRU) – a rehabilitative and therapeutic unit aimed at providing additional programs, therapy, and support to address underlying needs and causes of behavior, with 6 hours per day of out-of-cell programming plus 1 hour of out-of-cell recreation.
- Ending long-term Isolated confinement, establishing a standard that no person may be held in isolated confinement more than 15 consecutive days nor 20 days total in any 60 day period. At these limits, a person must be released or diverted to the alternative RRU with more out-of-cell time, programs, and therapy.
New Jersey
Isolated Confinement Restriction Act, S.2588
Sponsored by Senator Ray Lesniak and Senator Peter Barnes III, S.2588 will end the excessive use of prisoner isolation in prisons and jails throughout New Jersey. Specifically, it will:
• Severely reduce the length of time a person can be kept in isolation to 15 consecutive days, and no more than 20 days per 60 day period.
• Ensure access to due process, regular housing reviews, and early and timely clinical evaluations for anyone housed in isolation.
• Offer specific protections for vulnerable populations: youth, aged, those with mental illness, those with developmental disabilities, those with serious medical conditions, and pregnant women.
• Urge the Department of Corrections to join other states in developing alternatives, reducing the isolated population, conducting trainings, and documenting consistently their use of this practice.
California
SB 124 would bring these urgently needed reforms:
• Define solitary confinement as the placement of a person in a locked room or cell alone with minimal or no contact with persons other than guards, correctional staff, and attorneys. It does not include confinement for brief periods of confinement necessary for required institutional operations.
• Provide that solitary confinement shall only be used when a young person poses an immediate and substantial risk of harm to others or the security of the facility, and when all other less restrictive options have been attempted and exhausted.
• Provide that a youth shall only be held in solitary confinement for the minimum time necessary to address the safety risk, not to exceed four hours.
• Empower existing county juvenile justice commission
Colorado
The original legislation, (SB176), introduced in late February 2011, would have prevented the placement of prisoners with serious mental illness into solitary confinement and required that prisoners in solitary confinement reintegrate into the general prison population at least six months prior to their release date. However, the original language was amended and stripped of some important provisions. This final version of SB176 did pass the Senate and the House and was signed by the Governor in June 2011.
Florida
The Florida Senate Committee on Criminal Justice hosted a hearing on the “Youth in Solitary Confinement Reduction Act” or SB 812, in March 2013. This bill includes provisions which strictly limit the use of solitary confinement of both children under 18 years old and youthful offenders up to age 24, limits the use of emergency confinement to 24 hours, the use of disciplinary confinement to 72 hours, and requires mental health assessments and out-of-cell time. The Committee adjourned before a vote.
Maine
In January 2010, a bill introduced in the Maine legislature would have reduced the amount of time that most prisoners spend in solitary confinement and would have prohibited the placement of prisoners with mental illness into solitary confinement. Although that bill did not pass, the Legislature passed, and the governor signed, a “resolve” that required the Department of Corrections to review its use of solitary confinement and report the findings back to the Legislature. Accordingly, in March 2011, the Maine Department of Corrections did return a report that included many recommendations to improve due process and other policies related to the use of solitary confinement. The full text of the resolve and the March report produced by the Department of Corrections is available here.
Maryland
HB 787, Corrections - Isolated Confinement Study (2014). This bill would require an independent third party to conduct a review of correctional facilities relating to isolated confinement.