Sponsors (6)
The bill substantially limits solitary confinement and strengthens protections, oversight, and alternatives—particularly for vulnerable people in custody—at the cost of significant upfront and ongoing implementation expenses, increased administrative and litigation burdens, and some short‑term safety and operational risks for detention authorities.
People in federal and state custody (including people with disabilities, youth, pregnant people, LGBTQ+ people, and racial/ethnic minorities) will face substantially less routine solitary confinement and more out‑of‑cell time (including a federal 14‑hour minimum), reducing suicide, self‑harm, psychosis, and other severe mental‑health harms.
Vulnerable populations (people with disabilities, people with mental‑health needs, older adults, youth, pregnant people, LGBTQ+ people, and racial/ethnic minorities) gain stronger procedural protections, individualized assessments, ADA accommodations, and clearer definitions to prevent discriminatory or inappropriate placement in restrictive housing.
The bill creates robust oversight, transparency, and independent monitoring (data collection, public/ congressional reports, unannounced inspections, stakeholder/advisory bodies, and required agency remedial plans), increasing accountability and the likelihood of systemic reforms in federal facilities.
State, local, and federal authorities (and taxpayers) will face substantial upfront transition and ongoing compliance costs—staffing, training, programming, facility modifications, monitoring, and reporting—to implement alternatives to solitary and new oversight regimes.
Limiting or prohibiting solitary for broad categories (youth, people with disabilities, pregnant people, LGBTQ+ people, older adults) and strict time caps could constrain authorities' ability to isolate truly dangerous individuals, creating short‑term safety and staffing challenges in facilities and potentially increasing violence or management risks.
The bill may increase litigation, administrative burdens, and large financial liabilities (civil damages, emotional‑injury awards, and potential court‑ordered facility closures), producing legal costs and operational disruptions for agencies and taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 11 sections of legislative text.
Ends routine solitary in federal custody, sets minimum confinement standards, creates independent monitoring, and conditions JAG grants on state/local compliance.
Official title: End the use of solitary confinement and other forms of restrictive housing in all Federal agencies and entities with which Federal agencies contract.
Introduced July 28, 2025 by Edward John Markey · Last progress July 28, 2025
Ends routine solitary confinement in federal custody, sets binding minimum standards for conditions of confinement, medical and mental‑health care, staffing, inspections, data collection, and procedural protections, and creates enforcement mechanisms including administrative remedies and civil damages. It requires the Attorney General and Bureau of Prisons to issue implementing rules quickly, creates an independent community monitoring body with broad access, and conditions certain Edward Byrne JAG grant funds on state and local compliance with similar standards. Also defines key terms, requires all federal agencies holding people in custody to adopt and monitor compliance with the new standards, amends prisoner civil‑rights recovery rules to add solitary placement as a precondition for some claims, and restricts use of appropriated funds for building or equipping more restrictive detention spaces or weapons used to restrict movement.