Burchett / 3 Senator Toms

S.R._____
A BILL

To ensure that prisons in the United States are more capable of rehabilitation by preventing cruel and unnecessary
forms of punishment and abuse done to prisoners by both guards and inmates.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE
This act may be cited as the Effective Prison Rehabilitation Act of 2015.
SECTION 2. FINDINGS
Congress hereby finds and declares that,
1) 3 in 4 prisoners are rearrested within 5 years after their release.
2) America incarcerates five times more people than Britain, nine times more than Germany, and 12 times more than
Japan.
3) Overcrowding has led to extremely high budgets for prisons, the annual budget in California is 9.3 billion dollars.
4) Across the country, companies are cutting back on staff training, medical care and rehabilitative services in
privatized prison in order to save money.
5) Solitary confinement has led to severe psychological issues such as PTSD.
6) In 2012, there were 5.8 million violent crimes reported by inmates.
7) In a 2012 survey, a full 4 percent of the nations prisoners and 3.2 percent of jail inmates reported being sexually
victimized, thats roughly 200,000 victims.
8) In 2000, inmates were given 52,307 violations for assaulting fellow prisoners or guards.
9) The state of prisons has led to the formation of several gangs such as the Nuestra Familia, the Mexican Mafia, the
Aryan Brotherhood, the Black Guerrilla Family, the Northern Structure, and the Nazi Lowriders.
10) The cost of incarcerating one inmate in Fiscal 2010 was 31,307 dollars per year. In states such as Connecticut,
Washington state, New York, it is anywhere from 50,000 to 60,000 dollars.
11) Since 2002, the United States has had the highest incarceration rate in the world.
12) Federal prison costs are expected to rise to 30 percent of the Department of Justice's budget by 2020.
13) The already-taxed Bureau of Prisons network swelled to 39 percent above capacity through in September, 2012,
and is expected to surge to more than 45 percent above its limit in 2018.
SECTION 3. STATUTORY LANGUAGE
A) The Effective Prison Rehabilitation Act of 2015 shall hereby make the sole purpose of prisons in the United States
to rehabilitate prisoners by keeping inmates safe from cruel and unusual punishment. In order to reduce the rate of
recidivism, prisoners must be discouraged from committing acts of violence or participating in gang activities.
Prison guards are hereby required to stop any acts of aggression deemed harmful or unsafe between prisoners,
including sexual assault. Prison showers must be reconstructed in order to keep each prisoner separated by stalls. The
use of solitary confinement in United States prisons is hereby illegal and shall no longer be used to punish prisoners.
B) The Federal Bureau of Prisons will be responsible for ensuring that prison personnel are aware of all changes in
the prison system and are properly prepared to carry out new procedures. It will be made clear to prison personnel
that the purpose of prisons is rehabilitation and any actions taken to prevent it will not be tolerated. The Federal
Bureau of Prisons shall also ensure that all prison showers are reconstructed with stalls to keep prisoners separated in
order to prevent sexual assault. Private and state prisons will be responsible for following this code and paying for
the cost of construction. Programs will be put into place in order to allow prisoners to properly reintegrate into
society. Federal prisons will be funded by tax revenues that will generate 5 billion dollars collected from the people
of the United States.
C) The Effective Prison Rehabilitation Act of 2015 shall be enacted on April 1, 2016. Any prison personnel who are
found abusing prisoners, ignoring aggressive acts between prisoners and/or otherwise prohibiting a prisoners ability
to be rehabilitated will be stripped of their position and may be subject to criminal charges based on the violation.
Private prisons that do not comply with new regulations will be given immense fines that will vary according to the
offense. The fine amount per offense shall be determined by the Federal Bureau of prisons.