A Bill on Criminal Justice Reform

Hey Everyone,

I take part in an online simulation of the United States Government. It's my very nerdy, guilty pleasure. As a Senator on the platform, I've written quite a few bills. I thought it would be nice to share some of my work, and perhaps shed light on a different solution to some of the problems our country faces. 

This bill addresses Criminal Justice Reform. Its main goal is to outlaw for-profit prisons, as well as provide means for rehabilitation, rather than punishment. Here is the full bill: 

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*Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,*

Whereas: For-profit prisons have incentives to extend sentences, with no incentive to improve the lives and increase efforts of rehabilitation for those prisoners;

Whereas: Prisoners are forced to work long hours for almost no compensation, equating prison labor to slave labor;

Whereas: Solitary Confinement has been proven to have lasting psychological damage to prisoners, and does not disincentivize bad behavior. Other alternatives to solitary confinement have been proven to work better than solitary confinement;

Whereas: Three Strikes laws do not deter most criminals from committing violent actions, and will increase violence for those who will face mandatory life sentences, increasing the probability of resisting arrest and resorting to violence. Three strikes laws also clog our already over clogged courts systems, and eliminate the judge’s ability to pass fair sentences to three strike felons;

Whereas: The ICE bed detention quota is an arbitrary law, forcing the ICE to take in at least 34,000 people every day. Eliminating this practice would save approximately one $1;4 billion per year;

Whereas: Far too many criminals are punished and degraded for doing a crime, instead of actually being rehabilitated; Programs that increase education, and rehabilitation have been proven to decrease recidivism rates. And programs such as the Honor Program in California have shown results such as reducing weapons offences among those part of the program by 88%, and violence by 85%;

Whereas: Prisons are currently in inhumane conditions, and do not incentive rehabilitation. In order to rehabilitate prisoners, we must treat them as humans;  

**Section 1; Short Title;**

This Act shall be known as the Justice for Our System Act;

**Section 2; Definitions**

For-profit prisons: A private prison or for-profit prison is a place in which individuals are physically confined or incarcerated by a third party that is contracted by a government agency;

Prison labor: Prison labor is the forced labor done by the convicts in a prison. The prisoners may have to do even hazardous labor;

Solitary Confinement: the isolation of a prisoner in a separate cell as a punishment;

Three-Strikes Laws: Mandatory life imprisonment without possibility of parole for Federal
offenders with three or more convictions for serious violent felonies or
drug trafficking crimes;

Minimum Sentencing Laws: Mandatory minimum sentencing laws set minimum sentences for certain crimes that judges cannot lower, even for extenuating circumstances; The most common of these laws deal with drug offenses and set mandatory minimum sentences for possession of a drug over a certain amount;

**Section 3: Removal of For-Profit Prisons**

1. No later than six years after the enactment of this act:

1. States which end contracted private for-profit prisons, and place these prisons under the direct control of the local and state governments, shall be eligible to receive grants from the Department of Justice;

1. All services at each facilities shall be performed by employees under direct contract of the local and state governments;

2. Two years after the enactment of this bills, 20% of private for-profit prisons in any state must have been ended to qualify for any grants;

3. Three years after the enactment of this bills, 50% of private for-profit prisons in any state must have been ended to qualify for any grants;

4. Four years after the enactment of this bills, 80% of private for-profit prisons in any state must have been ended to qualify for any grants;

5. Six years after the enactment of this bills, 100% of private for-profit prisons in any state must have been ended to qualify for any grants;

2. States which fail to end contracted private for-profit prisons within the given timeline shall have all federal grants to state transportation funds frozen,

1. The aforementioned grants may be unfrozen once states do end contracted private for-profit prisons;

3. If any states renegotiate contracts for private for-profit prisons, all grants to that state’s transportation fund shall be frozen, and all federal grants given to a state for closing down for-profit prisons shall be paid back to the federal government, including any interest rates and administrative costs;  

2. If it is deemed a state or local government can not meet section 3 a; in the allotted time period, the Attorney General extend the period for not more than one year;

**Section 4: Reforming Prison Labor**

1. All federally owned penitentiaries using prison labor must adhere to the following;

1. A prisoner may work no longer than 40 hours a week

2. Prisoners shall receive as pay no less than $3;70 an hour; Such payments shall be carried out providing the prisoners adhere to the following ;

1. Payments are certified by the warden and the prison staff, ensuring the prisoners have committed no further crime within the prison, especially regarding, but not limited to:

1. Drug use,

2. Attempts to smuggle drugs into the prison,

3. Assaulting of guards or fellow prisoners,

4. Attempts to escape,

5. Or other extreme or repetitive violation of other prison regulations;

2. Prisoners may be stripped of pay for any such violation;

3. A prisoner being used for federal labor may put all of his/her savings into a fund, hereby called the Federal Labor Fund (FLF);

1. Upon release, all savings within the FLF may be accessible to the prisoner

2. The FLF may only be available for felons of non violent crimes

4. In order to provide for prisoner wages, prisons are hereby authorized to sell on the open market or by any other means any surplus products of prison labor;

**Section 5: Reform Solitary Confinement**

1. The use of Solitary Confinement among prisoners is hereby banned;

2. The Department of Justice will be tasked to find alternatives to solitary confinement for prisoners, such as:

1. Short term confinement,

2. Temporary loss of work privileges

3. Temporary loss of wages

4. Temporary loss of contact from visitors

5. Instructing prison staff to anticipate possible conflicts, and de-escalate situations;

**Section 6: Ban Three Strikes Laws**

1. Section 130001, subsection (b-1) of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 shall be repealed;

**Section 7: Termination of ICE bed quota**

1. The ICE bed quota of detaining at least thirty four thousand detention beds shall hereby be terminated

2. The Secretary of Homeland Security is hereby ordered to find alternatives to the detention bed quota by:

1. Contacting NGO’s  in local communities to implement secure alternatives for illegal aliens;

2. Assessing individual cases, and placing those persons in alternative detention programs

3. Alternative means of taking custody of an illegal alien that are not explicitly mentioned here may be used by the Secretary of Homeland Security

**Section 8: Rehabilitation programs**

1. The Department of Justice will work to introduce new programs encouraging rehabilitation, mandatory in all federal, state, and local prisons;

1. Education courses with core guidelines shall be created by the Department of Education;  

1. All Education courses will be mandatory for all felons without life sentences

2. Prison contemplative programs

1. Such programs will include, but are not limited to:

1. Non-Religious meditation;

3. Drug Treatment

1. For all drug abusers, drug treatment will be mandatory;

2. The courses will focus on the negative aspects of drugs, and will treat felons as patients who require help and therapy;

4. The Honor Program

1. Criminals must apply to this program, and prove a desire to change their ways

2. Each criminal who is eligible for the honors program designs their own  “Individual Development Plan” to achieve self-improvement goals;

1. Prisoners agree to take responsibility for their own personal growth and transformation, and are involved in programs or activities that address emotional, psychological, social and/or vocational health;

**Section 9: Removing minimum sentencing laws**

1. All federal minimum sentencing laws are hereby repealed;

**Section 10: Prison Safety Requirements**

1. A non partisan board of prison experts shall be composed by the Department of Justice for oversight in prison safety and health requirements;

1. This board shall be called the Board of Prison Safety, or BPS;
1. The board will be composed of 12 members

2. All prisons shall be mandated to comply to guidelines composed by the Department of Justice establishing:

1. New guidelines and health codes, under the following conditions:

1. Such codes will ensure that prisoners are treated humanely and with respect,

2. Such codes will be reviewed by the BPS, and must be approved by two thirds of the board,

1. The board may recommend changes to the DoJ plan, and may  draft a new plan, as approved by the Attorney General;

3. The Department of Justice may have any amount of inspections, unannounced or announced, at least once every quarter of a year

1. The purpose of these inspections will be to see if prisons adhere to the guidelines above,

1. If a prison fails to adhere to the guidelines, the Department of Justice will have the authority to remove any and all leadership, with a majority consent in the BPS, and establish new leadership;

2. The Department of Justice shall report their findings to the BPS, and the BPS may offer recommendations to any prison guidelines based on the inspection findings;   

**Section 11: Funding**

1. The Department of Treasury shall allocate $20 billion dollars for grants in state acquisition of all for-profit prisons;

2. The Department of Justice shall allocate $2 billion to the increase in rehabilitation programs and training new staff members;

**Section 12: Enactment**

1. This act shall take effect immediately after its passage into law;

2. Severability;—The provisions of this act are severable; If any part of this act is declared invalid or unconstitutional, that declaration shall not affect the part which remains;

3. Implementation-- The Department of Justice, or any other Department specified in this act, shall be responsible for the necessary regulations to make effective the provisions of this act;

*This Act was written by /u/ZeroOverZero101;