103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB2257

 

Introduced 2/10/2023, by Sen. Robert Peters

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act
730 ILCS 5/3-8-7  from Ch. 38, par. 1003-8-7

    Provides that the Act may be referred to as the Nelson Mandela Act. Creates the Isolated Confinement Restriction Act. Provides that, except for a committed person in protective custody who opts out of that status by providing informal, voluntary, written refusal of that status, the use of isolated confinement in correctional institutions is restricted to isolated confinement of no more than 10 days in any 180-day period or no more than 10 days in any 180-day period. Amends the Unified Code of Corrections to make conforming changes. Effective immediately.


LRB103 28776 RLC 55160 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB2257LRB103 28776 RLC 55160 b

1    AN ACT concerning criminal law.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title; referral.
5    (a) This Act may be cited as the Isolated Confinement
6Restriction Act.
7    (b) This Act may be referred to as the Nelson Mandela Act.
 
8    Section 5. Findings.
9    (a) The General Assembly honors the legacy of Nelson
10Mandela, the first and former President of South Africa, and
11recognizes that after release from 27 years of imprisonment,
12much of which was spent in isolated confinement, he became a
13world leader in his commitment to democracy and international
14human rights.
15    (b) Mandela was repeatedly subjected to isolated
16confinement.
17    (c) Mandela's isolation began with 23 hours a day of
18isolated confinement with just 2 thirty-minute exercise
19periods allowed per day. Such hours were spent in a cell
20measuring 8 feet by 7 feet, with walls of concrete, without
21windows, and furnished with a single light bulb to substitute
22natural light.
23    (d) Mandela described isolated confinement as "the most

 

 

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1forbidding aspect of prison life", with no end and no
2beginning.
3    (e) After 27 years of incarceration under the South
4African government, Mandela went on to receive a Nobel Peace
5Prize and numerous other honors as a global icon of democracy
6and social justice.
7    (f) In an attempt to ensure that no one else would be
8subjected to the inhumane treatment Mandela survived, the
9United Nations adopted the Mandela Rules establishing Standard
10Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, on December 17,
112015. Those rules finalize a set of principles that provide
12all people who are in prison with respect and protection from
13torture, and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatments or
14punishments.
15    (g) Rule 1 of the Mandela Rules sets the guiding principle
16for these standards, requiring that: "All prisoners shall be
17treated with the respect due to their inherent dignity and
18value as human beings"; and
19    (h) The Mandela Rules provide that: "the prison system
20shall not, except as incidental to justifiable separation or
21the maintenance of discipline, aggravate the suffering
22inherent in … a situation" involving the deprivation of
23liberty; and
24    (i) As a result of these requirements and recognizing the
25horrific consequences of Mandela's prolonged isolation, the
26Mandela Rules specifically prohibit prolonged placement in a

 

 

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1cell.
2    (j) Rule 44 of the Mandela Rules specifically states:
3"Rule 44: For the purpose of these rules, solitary confinement
4shall refer to the confinement of prisoners for 22 hours or
5more a day without meaningful human contact. Prolonged
6solitary confinement shall refer to solitary confinement for a
7time period in excess of 15 consecutive days.
8    (k) Nelson Mandela stated: "[N]o one truly knows a nation
9until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be
10judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest
11ones.
12    (l) To be judged as a worldwide leader, Illinois must
13recognize the horrific consequences that Nelson Mandela and
14other incarcerated individuals have experienced from being
15confined to a cell for prolonged periods and comply with the
16international mandates required by the Mandela Rules.
17    (m) It is therefore in Illinois' best interests to operate
18its prisons in compliance with internationally recognized
19minimum standards.
20    (n) The Nelson Mandela Act is hereby enacted.
 
21    Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
22    "Correctional facility" means any State correctional
23facility or county correctional facility, and any State,
24county, or private facility detaining persons under any
25intergovernmental service agreement or other contract with any

 

 

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1State, county, or federal agency, including, but not limited
2to, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
3    "Facility administrator" means the chief operating
4officer, senior administrative designee, or warden of a
5correctional facility.
6    "Isolated confinement" means confinement of a committed
7person in a correctional facility in a cell or confined living
8space, alone or with other inmates, for more than 20 hours in
9any 24-hour period.
10    "Protective custody" means confinement of a committed
11person in a cell or confined living space under conditions
12necessary to protect the committed person or others.
 
13    Section 15. Restrictions on the use of isolated
14confinement.
15    (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), the use of
16isolated confinement in correctional facilities in this State
17shall be restricted as follows:
18        (1) A committed person may not be placed in isolated
19    confinement for more than 10 consecutive days.
20        (2) A committed person may not be placed in isolated
21    confinement for more than 10 days in any 180-day period.
22        (3) While out of cell, committed persons may have
23    access to activities, including, but not limited to: job
24    assignments, educational classes, vocational classes,
25    meals, recreation, yard or gymnasium, day room, bathing

 

 

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1    facilities, medical appointments, visits, and group
2    therapy.
3    (b) A committed person in protective custody may opt out
4of that status by providing informed, voluntary, written
5refusal of that status.
6    (c) Nothing in this Act is intended to restrict any rights
7or privileges a committed person may have under any other
8statute, rule, or regulation.
 
9    Section 20. Data publication. The Department of
10Corrections shall post on the Department's official website
11quarterly reports on the use of isolated confinement. Those
12reports shall include data on the use of isolated confinement
13by age, sex, gender identity, ethnicity, incidence of mental
14illness, and type of confinement status, at each facility;
15these reports shall include the population on the last day of
16each quarter and a non-duplicative cumulative count of persons
17exposed to isolated confinement for each fiscal year. These
18reports shall include the incidence of emergency confinement,
19self-harm, suicide, and assault in any isolated confinement
20unit, as well as explanations for each instance of
21facility-wide lockdown. These reports shall include data on
22the access to health care, including the time it takes for a
23confined person to access medical care following a request and
24the time between routine mental and physical checkups. These
25reports shall not include personally identifiable information

 

 

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1regarding any committed person.
 
2    Section 90. The Unified Code of Corrections is amended by
3changing Section 3-8-7 as follows:
 
4    (730 ILCS 5/3-8-7)  (from Ch. 38, par. 1003-8-7)
5    Sec. 3-8-7. Disciplinary Procedures.)
6    (a) All disciplinary action shall be consistent with this
7Chapter. Rules of behavior and conduct, the penalties for
8violation thereof, and the disciplinary procedure by which
9such penalties may be imposed shall be available to committed
10persons.
11    (b)(1) Corporal punishment and disciplinary restrictions
12on diet, medical or sanitary facilities, mail or access to
13legal materials are prohibited.
14    (2) (Blank).
15    (3) (Blank).
16    (c) Review of disciplinary action imposed under this
17Section shall be provided by means of the grievance procedure
18under Section 3-8-8. The Department shall provide a
19disciplined person with a review of his or her disciplinary
20action in a timely manner as required by law.
21    (d) All institutions and facilities of the Department of
22Corrections shall establish, subject to the approval of the
23Director, procedures for hearing disciplinary cases except
24those that may involve the imposition of disciplinary

 

 

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1segregation and isolation; the loss of good time credit under
2Section 3-6-3 or eligibility to earn good time credit.
3    (e) In disciplinary cases which may involve the imposition
4of disciplinary segregation and isolation, the loss of good
5time credit or eligibility to earn good time credit, the
6Director shall establish disciplinary procedures consistent
7with the following principles:
8        (1) Any person or persons who initiate a disciplinary
9    charge against a person shall not determine the
10    disposition of the charge. The Director may establish one
11    or more disciplinary boards to hear and determine charges.
12        (2) Any committed person charged with a violation of
13    Department rules of behavior shall be given notice of the
14    charge including a statement of the misconduct alleged and
15    of the rules this conduct is alleged to violate.
16        (3) Any person charged with a violation of rules is
17    entitled to a hearing on that charge at which time he shall
18    have an opportunity to appear before and address the
19    person or persons deciding the charge.
20        (4) The person or persons determining the disposition
21    of the charge may also summon to testify any witnesses or
22    other persons with relevant knowledge of the incident.
23        (5) If the charge is sustained, the person charged is
24    entitled to a written statement of the decision by the
25    persons determining the disposition of the charge which
26    shall include the basis for the decision and the

 

 

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1    disciplinary action, if any, to be imposed.
2        (6) (Blank).
3    (f) In disciplinary cases which may involve the imposition
4of segregation and isolation, isolated confinement, or
5restrictive housing, the Director shall establish disciplinary
6procedures consistent with the Isolated Confinement
7Restriction Act.
8(Source: P.A. 97-1083, eff. 8-24-12.)
 
9    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
10becoming law.