HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2073        FILED ON: 1/15/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1381

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Russell E. Holmes

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to collect data regarding the use of solitary confinement in Massachusetts prisons and jails.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2073        FILED ON: 1/15/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1381

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

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An Act to collect data regarding the use of solitary confinement in Massachusetts prisons and jails.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Chapter 127 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 official edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 39 the following section 39A:

(a)For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:

“Disciplinary segregation,” the segregation of a prisoner from the general population, in a segregated unit or other housing unit, for the purpose of disciplining the prisoner. 

“Non-disciplinary segregation,” the segregation of a prisoner from the general population, in a segregated unit or other housing unit, for administrative purposes and not for the purpose of enforcing discipline or providing medical care. 

“Serious mental illness,” constitutes:

(1)A current diagnosis or recent significant history of one or more of the following disorders described in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: (i) schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders; (ii) major depressive disorders; or (iii) bipolar disorders, all types;

(2)A diagnosis of one or more of the following disorders, as described in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, that results in a significant functional impairment: (i) a neurodevelopmental disorder, dementia or other cognitive disorder; (ii) any disorder commonly characterized by breaks with reality, or perceptions of reality; (iii) a severe personality disorder that is manifested by episodes of psychosis or depression; or

(3)A finding that the prisoner is at serious risk of substantially deteriorating mentally or emotionally while confined in segregation, or already has so deteriorated while confined in segregation, such that diversion or removal is deemed to be clinically appropriate by a qualified mental health professional.

(b)The department of correction and each sheriff shall collect and make public the following data for each correctional institution, jail, and house of correction.  The data shall be collected and assembled into a quarterly report (four times a year), with the reported data covering the entire quarterly period.

The data shall include:

(1)The number of prisoners in disciplinary segregation and the disciplinary sentence of those in disciplinary segregation;

(2)The number of prisoners in non-disciplinary, or administrative, segregation and the length of time those prisoners have been held in non-disciplinary segregation;

(3)The number of prisoners in disciplinary and non-disciplinary segregation, respectively, with serious mental illness, including each prisoners’ diagnoses;

(4)The number of prisoners in disciplinary and non-disciplinary segregation, respectively, with other diagnosed mental illness, including each prisoners’ diagnoses;

(5)The number of prisoners in disciplinary and non-disciplinary segregation, respectively, with a significant cognitive impairment or identified learning disability, including each prisoners’ impairment or disability;

(6)The number of prisoners in disciplinary and non-disciplinary segregation, respectively, who have requested reasonable accommodations for a disability while in segregation, including each prisoners’ disability/disabilities;

(7)The number of prisoners in disciplinary and non-disciplinary segregation, respectively, who have received reasonable accommodations for a disability while in segregation including each prisoners’ disability/disabilities;

(8)The number of suicides and, separately, acts of non-lethal self-harm, committed by prisoners held in disciplinary and non-disciplinary segregation, respectively;

(9)The number of planned uses of force on prisoners held in disciplinary and non-disciplinary segregation, respectively;

(10)The number of transfers to outside hospitals and psychiatric hospitals directly from disciplinary and non-disciplinary segregation, respectively;

(11)The racial composition of prisoners in disciplinary and non-disciplinary segregation, respectively;

(12)The number of prisoners in disciplinary and non-disciplinary segregation, respectively, who did not complete high school;

(13)The number of prisoners released directly from disciplinary and non-disciplinary segregation, respectively, to the community;

(14)The number of prisoners released from disciplinary and non-disciplinary segregation, respectively, due to evidence of mental decompensation; and

(15)The number of prisoners in non-disciplinary segregation who are in segregation because they need protective custody.

(c)The department of correction and each sheriff shall make the data collected per subsection (b) publicly available and, each quarter, shall deliver said data to the following committees of the Massachusetts legislature: the Joint Committee on the Judiciary; the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse; the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security; and the Joint Committee on Ways and Means.