YourVoice.Now Summary
Civil LibertiesCriminal Justice & Due ProcessTransparency & AccountabilityBans solitary confinement in federal prisons and ICE detention, guaranteeing 14 hours a day out of cell and a hearing before isolation.
Civil Liberties
- Solitary-confinement ban — eliminates indefinite isolation of people in federal custody as a standard practice
- 14-hour out-of-cell guarantee — expands daily interaction rights for all federally incarcerated people regardless of housing status
- SAM prohibition — removes the Attorney General's authority to impose near-total communication blackouts on federal detainees
- Emergency lock-in time caps — limits involuntary cell confinement to 4 hours/day and 12 hours/week even during incidents
- Protected-class exemptions — bars involuntary emergency cell placement for people under 26, over 54, pregnant, disabled, with any mental health diagnosis, or LGBTQI+
- Placement hearing rights — requires independent decision-maker, advance written notice, and representation before any alternative-unit placement
- Civil cause of action for solitary confinement — removes the physical-injury prerequisite, allowing suits for emotional harm from isolation alone
Criminal Justice & Due Process
- Federal solitary confinement prohibition — bans punitive isolation as a disciplinary tool across all federal correctional facilities
- Alternative-unit due process — requires clear-and-convincing evidence of specific serious-injury risk before any extended separation from general population
- 60-day cap on alternative-unit stays — limits non-protective-custody isolation to 60 days in any 6-month period
- Restraint limitations — requires individualized justification, least-restrictive form, and 4-hour maximum without supervisory medical approval
- Independent Community Monitoring Body — creates unannounced-inspection authority by an oversight board majority-composed of people with lived incarceration experience
- DOJ IG advisory panel — adds a solitary-confinement-focused stakeholder body to the existing federal prison inspection regime
- State compliance lever — conditions 10% of Byrne JAG funding on state and local facilities meeting federal out-of-cell standards
- Quarterly public reporting — requires each federal agency to publish facility-level isolation placement data disaggregated by race, age, and disability status
Transparency & Accountability
- Quarterly agency self-reporting — mandates public website disclosure of solitary placement counts, demographics, and duration breakdowns every 90 days
- Community Monitoring Body records access — grants independent body right to all non-classified facility records within 7 days of request
- Media and public-defender facility access — extends unannounced-visit rights and FOIA data access to press, public defenders, and elected officials
- DOJ IG annual report — requires yearly implementation assessment of the new solitary standards transmitted to Congress and the public
- Remedial action plan requirement — agencies receiving monitoring recommendations must report back within 90 days with written compliance plans
The details
The End Solitary Confinement Act bans solitary confinement in federal prisons and immigration detention. This covers facilities run by the Bureau of Prisons, ICE, CBP, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Every person in federal custody must get at least 14 hours a day out of their cell in shared spaces, including 7 hours of structured programming and 1 hour of outdoor recreation. Emergency lock-ins are capped at 4 hours a day and 12 hours a week. Before any longer-term separation is imposed, a person is entitled to a formal hearing before an independent decision maker. They must get written notice at least 2 days in advance, plus the right to legal representation. The bill completely bars Special Administrative Measures (SAMs) — a near-total isolation used for national security detainees — at any federal facility. A new independent Community Monitoring Body, with at least 15 members, gains oversight powers; most members must be people who have experienced incarceration. The body can make unannounced visits to any federal facility, conduct confidential interviews, and get facility records within 7 days. States and localities that receive federal Byrne JAG grants — the main federal criminal-justice grant program, worth roughly $1.5 billion a year — must certify compliance with these standards. Those that don't comply face a 10% funding cut, though public-defender and community mental-health funding is exempt from any reduction. Federal prisoners harmed mentally or emotionally by solitary confinement can now sue in federal court. They no longer need to show a prior physical injury, overturning a long-standing bar under the Prison Litigation Reform Act.
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
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2025-07-28
- Date Added
- 2026-06-04
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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