Rep. Cori Bush introduced the End Solitary Confinement Act to save lives and stop torture by ending the heinous and immoral practice of solitary confinement.

What the bill would do:

• End solitary confinement in federal prisons, jails, and other detention settings -- with an exception for a maximum of 4 hours for emergency de-escalation (not punishment).
• Ensure all people incarcerated in federal facilities have meaningful access (at least 14 hours) to out-of-cell time, group programming, and basic needs and services each day.
• Expand due process protections for incarcerated people, including ensuring access to representation and neutral decision-makers.
• Create oversight and enforcement mechanisms, including a community monitoring body that could investigate complaints, and mandating regular reporting on the use of solitary and incidents of self-harm.
• Provide additional protections against placing vulnerable populations in solitary.
• Incentivize states and local governments to end solitary confinement in state and local facilities.

UN experts have condemned solitary confinement as psychological torture -- and that’s exactly what it is. It’s traumatic and inhumane, and it’s disproportionately inflicted on Black and brown folks, young people, LGBTQ+ people, and other marginalized communities.

Over 122,000 people are locked in solitary confinement for 22 hours or more each day across federal, state, and local prisons and jails. Even more people are in solitary inside immigration detention facilities, and many are stuck in torturous isolation for months or years.

This is unacceptable. We must urgently pass the End Solitary Confinement Act.

Please add your name today to become a grassroots co-sponsor of the End Solitary Confinement Act.

Participating Organizations:

Daily Kos

Democracy for America Advocacy Fund

Hip Hop Caucus

TakeItBack.Org