YourVoice.Now Summary
Civil LibertiesCriminal Justice & Due ProcessTransparency & AccountabilityEnds solitary confinement in federal prisons, guaranteeing at least 14 hours a day out of cell, with limits on emergency isolation.
Civil Liberties
- Due-process right before restrictive housing — placement requires a neutral-decision-maker hearing with clear-and-convincing-evidence standard
- Right to representation at placement hearings — extends to attorneys, paralegals, community advocates, or another incarcerated person
- Protected-class exemption from emergency isolation — persons under 25, over 55, disabled, mentally ill, pregnant, or LGBTQI+ cannot be isolated involuntarily
- Confidential communication right — incarcerated persons gain attorney-client-level privacy in contacts with the Community Monitoring Body
- Retaliation prohibition — no adverse consequences for contacting or being perceived to have contacted the oversight body
- CRIPA amendment expands civil-suit access — removes physical-injury prerequisite for mental/emotional injury claims arising from solitary or alternative-unit placement
Criminal Justice & Due Process
- Solitary confinement ban in federal custody — prohibits isolation beyond narrow time-capped emergency exceptions across BOP, ICE, DHS, CBP, ORR, USMS, HHS, and contractors
- Mandatory out-of-cell time — requires 14 hrs/day congregate access including structured programming for every person in federal custody
- Emergency isolation caps — limits emergency cell placement to 4 hours per 24-hour period and 12 hours per 7-day period
- Restraint use restricted — bans routine restraints; repeated use beyond one day requires a formal due-process hearing
- Special Administrative Measures banned — eliminates the federal government's most severe near-total isolation tool across all facilities
- Placement-hearing procedural floor — requires advance notice, evidence access, neutral decision maker, and written determination within 5 business days
- Alternative-unit duration cap — limits non-protective-custody alternative-unit placement to 60 days per 6-month period
- State compliance incentive — states receiving Byrne JAG grants must certify solitary-confinement standards or lose at least 10% of grant funds
Transparency & Accountability
- Quarterly public reporting required — each federal agency must publish placement counts, self-harm incidents, and demographic breakdowns every quarter
- Community Monitoring Body created — independent body with unannounced access to all federal facilities and authority to copy all non-classified records
- Inspector General advisory body added — DOJ IG must establish a stakeholder advisory body and submit annual compliance reports to Congress and the public
- Media and public-defender access — journalists, public defenders, and elected officials gain right to make unannounced visits to federal facilities
- Remedial action plan requirement — agencies must respond within 90 days to CMB recommendations and transmit any corrective plans
The details
Federal prisons, immigration detention centers, and all facilities under federal contract would be required to end solitary confinement. Every person in federal custody would get at least 14 hours of out-of-cell time each day. That time would be in a shared space. It includes 7 hours of structured programming, such as education, vocational training, mental health, and substance use treatment. It also includes 1 hour of recreation. Isolation could still be used for routine overnight counts, up to 8 hours. Brief daytime counts, up to 2 hours, would also be allowed. Emergency isolation for an active threat would be capped at 4 hours in any 24-hour period. It would be capped at 12 hours in any 7-day period. Some groups could never be placed in emergency isolation at all. This includes people 25 or younger, 55 or older, pregnant, living with a disability or diagnosed mental health condition, or who identify as LGBTQI+. Moving anyone to more restrictive housing for other reasons would require a formal hearing before a neutral decision maker. The incarcerated person would get advance written notice, the right to present evidence, and the right to a representative. A clear-and-convincing-evidence standard would have to be met. The bill also bans Special Administrative Measures across all federal facilities. These measures are the most extreme form of near-total isolation, currently used for national-security cases. States and localities that receive federal Justice Assistance Grant funding would need to certify compliance with similar standards. Those that don't would face at least a 10% funding reduction. An independent Community Monitoring Body would oversee compliance, with unannounced access to every federal facility. Incarcerated people could sue for mental and emotional harm from solitary confinement, without first proving a physical injury.
Congressional Summary
End Solitary Confinement ActThis bill restricts the use of solitary confinement and establishes minimum standards for incarceration at the federal, state, and local levels.At the federal level, the bill generally prohibits the use of solitary confinement in federal facilities with limited exceptions, such as if necessary to de-escalate an emergency situation. The bill also establishes minimum standards for incarceration, including at least 14 hours per day of out-of-cell congregate interaction in a shared space that is conducive to meaningful group interaction.The bill requires state and local governments to implement laws, policies, and programs that substantially comply with the restrictions on solitary confinement and minimum standards for incarceration in order to receive full funding under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program.The bill establishes an independent community monitoring body, as well as an advisory body of stakeholders, to help provide oversight.Finally, the bill allows a prisoner to file a federal civil action for mental or emotional injury suffered if there is a prior showing of placement in solitary confinement or an alternative unit.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-07-23
- Date Added
- 2026-06-02
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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