SB 733: Solitary confinement.

Session Year: 2023-2024
House: Senate

Current Status:

Failed

(2024-08-15: August 15 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.)

Introduced

First Committee Review

First Chamber

Second Committee Review

Second Chamber

Enacted

Version:

Existing law provides the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation with jurisdiction over the state prison, as specified. Existing law states that it is unlawful to use any cruel, corporal, or unusual punishment or to inflict any treatment or allow any lack of care which would injure or impair the health of a prisoner, inmate, or person confined.

This bill would require the department to develop standards for placement and conditions in solitary confinement consistent with the settlement agreement in Ashker v. Governor of the State of California (N.D.Cal., No. 4:09-CV-05796). The bill would require the standards developed by the department to include, among other things, the creation of a step-down program to encourage and incentivize incarcerated persons to take steps to be released from solitary confinement. The bill would require the department to track specified data regarding the population within solitary confinement, also known as restricted housing, including demographic information and a specific description of the types of restrictions for solitary confinement in the institution. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2025, 2026, and annually thereafter, to report this data to the Legislature, as specified.

Discussed in Hearing