2021 -- S 0395

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LC001661

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2021

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- RESTRICTIVE HOUSING ACT

     

     Introduced By: Senators Mack, Acosta, Mendes, Anderson, Calkin, Bell, Murray, Euer,
and Cano

     Date Introduced: February 25, 2021

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

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     SECTION 1. Title 42 of the General Laws entitled "STATE AFFAIRS AND

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GOVERNMENT" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter:

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CHAPTER 160

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RESTRICTIVE HOUSING ACT

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     42-160-1. Legislative intent.

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     (a) It is the policy of the state of Rhode Island that the department of corrections and the

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facilities it operates, maintain safe, secure housing for all inmates.

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     (b) Restrictive housing should only be used:

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     (1) In circumstances that pose a clear and direct threat to the safety of persons or to the safe

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and secure operations of the facility;

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     (2) In the absence of alternatives to restrictive housing;

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     (3) For the shortest time possible; and

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     (4) With the least restrictive conditions possible.

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     42-160-2. Definitions.

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     As used in this chapter, unless the context indicates a different meaning or intent:

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     (1) "Administrative confinement" means any status or classification, except for disciplinary

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confinement, for prisoners whose conduct may pose a serious threat to life, self, staff, other

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prisoners, or the facility's security or orderly operation.

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     (2) "Department" means the department of corrections.

 

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     (3) "Director" means the director of the department of corrections.

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     (4) "Disciplinary confinement" means punitive confinement of a prisoner based on

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violation of departmental rules, whether in general population, a specialized housing unit, or

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elsewhere.

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     (5) "General population" means classification to maximum, medium, or minimum security,

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with no restrictions placed on activities.

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     (6) "Member of a vulnerable population" means someone who:

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     (i) Is twenty-two (22) years of age or younger;

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     (ii) Is fifty-five (55) years of age or older;

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     (iii) Has a serious and persistent mental illness, as defined by the department of corrections,

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or a mental disability, as defined in § 40.1-5-2;

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     (iv) Has a developmental disability, as defined in § 40.1-26-2;

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     (v) Is pregnant, in the postpartum period, or has recently suffered a miscarriage or

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terminated a pregnancy; or

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     (vi) Has a significant auditory or visual impairment, or a serious medical condition that

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cannot be adequately treated in restrictive housing.

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     (7) "Protective custody" means any form of separation from a prison's general population

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for prisoners requiring additional protection for their own safety.

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     (8) "Restrictive housing" means any type of detention that involves removal of a prisoner

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from general population, voluntarily or involuntarily; placement in a locked room or cell, whether

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alone or with another prisoner; and the inability to leave the room or cell for the vast majority of

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the day, typically eighteen (18) hours or more, to include all forms of disciplinary confinement and

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administrative confinement.

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     (9) "Step-down plan" means an individualized program, developed by a coordinated,

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multidisciplinary team to include mental health, case management, and security practitioners, that

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addresses:

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     (i) The specific behaviors that resulted in placement in restrictive housing;

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     (ii) The programs and services available to the prisoner to address that behavior and

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promote general rehabilitation;

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     (iii) An estimated timeframe for returning to a less-restrictive classification;

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     (iv) Incentives available so that prisoners can earn additional privileges and an accelerated

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return to the general population; and

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     (v) A schedule for regular review of the plan and the prisoner’s classification.

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     42-160-3. Restrictive housing, generally.

 

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     (a) Each prisoner entering restrictive housing must be seen and assessed by a qualified

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mental health professional or health care professional within seventy-two (72) hours of placement

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and at least every fourteen (14) days thereafter.

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     (b) For each placement in restrictive housing, the department shall document:

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     (1) The nature of the threat to safety and security posed by the prisoner;

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     (2) The impact any restrictions in conditions of confinement may have on their health; and

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     (3) All alternatives that may be available to safely deal with the threat, other than restrictive

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housing.

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     (c) Living conditions in restrictive housing must approximate those in general population,

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including equal access to programming and services, contact with family, access to the library and

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reading materials, personal belongings in-cell, and medical and mental health care, with no major

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differences except for reasons of danger to life, health, or safety.

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     (d) Prisoners in restrictive housing shall receive a daily visit from the senior correctional

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supervisor in charge of the unit, daily visits from a qualified health care professional, and visits

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from members of the program staff at least weekly.

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     42-160-4. Discipline; disciplinary confinement.

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     (a) The department shall establish maximum penalties for each level of offense. These

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penalties should always include alternatives to disciplinary confinement.

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     (b) All penalties shall be proportionate to the offense.

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     (c) Disciplinary confinement shall only be considered for offenses involving violence,

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involving escape, or posing a threat to institutional safety by encouraging others to engage in such

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misconduct.

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     (d) All prisoners in disciplinary confinement shall receive a minimum of two (2) hours out-

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of-cell each day.

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     (e) No prisoner shall serve more than fifteen (15) days at a time in disciplinary confinement,

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for any single rule violation or any series of related rule violations. Any policy implementing this

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provision will require a break of at least fifteen (15) days between disciplinary detention sanctions.

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     (f) No member of a vulnerable population shall be placed in disciplinary confinement for

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any period of time unless the individual presents an immediate and present danger and there is no

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reasonable alternative for placement. Such placement shall last only as long as necessary to find an

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alternative housing placement.

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     (g) A prisoner should not be placed in restrictive housing pending investigation of a

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disciplinary offense unless their presence in general population would pose a danger to themselves,

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staff, other prisoners, or the public. A prisoner’s placement in restrictive housing pending

 

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investigation shall be reviewed within twenty-four (24) hours by the warden or his/her designee.

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No prisoner shall remain in investigative segregation for a longer period of time than the maximum

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term of disciplinary segregation permitted for the most serious offense charged.

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     42-160-5. Transitional disciplinary confinement.

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     (a) If, after completing a fifteen (15) day term of disciplinary confinement, a prisoner’s

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immediate return to general population would pose an imminent threat to the security of the

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institution, the director or designee may place such prisoner in transitional disciplinary confinement

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for the limited purpose of addressing the root cause of the threat posed.

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     (b) All prisoners in transitional disciplinary confinement shall be offered programming

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tailored to the nature of the threat that would be posed by their immediate return to general

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population. No prisoner shall be placed in transitional disciplinary confinement unless such

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programming is made available to him or her.

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     (c) Upon release from transitional disciplinary confinement, prisoners may continue and

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complete any programming that they began in transitional disciplinary confinement.

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     (d) No prisoner shall spend more than thirty (30) days at a time in transitional disciplinary

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confinement.

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     (e) All prisoners in transitional disciplinary confinement must receive a minimum of two

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(2) hours recreation each day. Programming time shall not count towards the two (2) hour minimum

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recreation time.

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     42-160-6. Administrative confinement, protective custody.

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     (a) Placement in administrative confinement is limited to individuals who pose an

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imminent threat to the security of the institution, shall only be considered when it serves a specific

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penological purpose, and must last no longer than necessary to address the specific reason(s) for

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placement.

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     (b) All prisoners in administrative confinement shall receive a minimum of four (4) hours

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out-of-cell each day.

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     (c) Each prisoner in administrative confinement must have their status reviewed by the

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classification board, warden, or warden’s designee every seven (7) days for the first sixty (60) days

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of the prisoner’s placement and at least every thirty (30) days after the first sixty (60) days.

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     (d) The department shall create an individualized step-down plan, as defined in § 42-160-

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2, no later than fourteen (14) days after each placement in administrative confinement. This step-

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down plan shall be shared with the prisoner unless specifically articulable security concerns require

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otherwise.

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     (e) Where possible, prisoners with serious mental illness should be diverted from

 

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administrative confinement and placed in a clinically appropriate alternative form of housing. Any

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prisoner with a serious mental illness placed in administrative confinement must receive intensive,

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clinically appropriate mental health treatment for the entirety of the placement in administrative

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confinement.

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     (f) No prisoner classified to protective status may be held in conditions more restrictive

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than those in administrative confinement.

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     42-160-7. Transitional administrative confinement and step-down housing.

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     (a) The department shall create a system of step-down and transitional housing and

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programming for prisoners who require additional assistance in transitioning from administrative

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confinement into general population.

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     (b) Conditions in transitional step-down and transitional housing shall mirror, to the extent

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possible, those in general population.

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     (c) At a minimum, prisoners in step-down and transitional housing shall receive six (6)

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hours of out-of-cell time each day.

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     42-160-8. Reporting.

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     The department of corrections shall issue a report to be made publicly available on the

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department’s website one year after the passage of this section and by January 31 of each year

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thereafter, indicating the following, broken out by disciplinary, administrative, and transitional

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confinement:

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     (1) The number of prisoners in each institution placed in restrictive housing during the past

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year;

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     (2) The nature of the infractions and behaviors leading to the use of restrictive housing;

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     (3) The lengths of terms served in restrictive housing, including terms served consecutively

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and cumulatively;

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     (4) The race, ethnicity, gender, and religion of all prisoners placed in restrictive housing;

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     (5) The number of defined members of a vulnerable population, placed in restrictive

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housing, by category listed in § 42-160-2.

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     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- RESTRICTIVE HOUSING ACT

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     This act would create the restrictive housing act providing procedures for removing

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prisoners from general population and into restrictive housing.

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     This act would take effect upon passage.

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