October 18, 2023
Nyasha Smith, Secretary
Council of the District of Columbia
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20004
Dear Secretary Smith,
Today, I, along with Councilmembers Robert White, Janeese Lewis George, Anita Bonds,
Charles Allen, Zachery Parker, and Kenyan McDuffie, am introducing the “Eliminating
Restrictive and Segregated Enclosures (“ERASE”) Solitary Confinement Act of 2023.” Please
find enclosed a signed copy of the legislation.
This legislation prohibits nearly all forms of segregated confinement for individuals incarcerated
at penal institutions owned, operated, and controlled by the Department of Corrections. It also
limits the use of safe cells, would mandate that all residents in a DOC facility receive at least
eight hours of out-of-cell time a day, and charge DOC with providing residents mental health
services any time they’re placed in prolonged confinement, medical isolation, or suicide watch.
An oversight provision of the bill would require DOC to collect and publish data on the ongoing
use of solitary, allow residents to file special grievances, and potentially sue the agency if
they’ve been subject to prolonged confinement.
In general, solitary confinement is a cruel, inhumane, and degrading mode of punishment that
has been equated to torture.1 Studies have consistently proven that solitary confinement can
create or exacerbate both short- and long-term psychological and physical health issues for
people placed in solitary confinement, including self-harm and suicide, anxiety and depression,
and gastrointestinal and cardiovascular problems.2 Solitary confinement does not properly
1
See G.A. Res. 70/175, at 8, 15–17, The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of
Prisoners, the Nelson Mandela Rules (Dec. 17, 2015).
2
See Sharon Shalev, A Sourcebook on Solitary Confinement 15–17 (2008).
remedy the root problems that lead to a person’s placement in solitary,3 and the economic costs
of solitary far exceed any perceived benefits.4
Similarly, the profound stress caused by spending time in solitary confinement can lead to
permanent damage to a person’s identity, including changes in the brain and personality of the
people subjected to it. “Depriving humans—who are naturally social beings—of the ability to
interact with others can cause social pain” which affects the brain in the same way as physical
pain.5 Additionally, the overwhelming amount of research proves that solitary confinement leads
to greater recidivism and misconduct.6 If we care about reducing crime, we should care about
solitary for that reason, too.
The deplorable conditions at the District’s jails and restrictive housing units— including
flooding, lack of grievance procedures, lack of mattresses, and more7— only exacerbate the
harmful effects of solitary confinement. The conditions of safe cells in the District’s jails are
3
Kayla James & Elena Vanko, The Impacts of Solitary Confinement, Vera Institute of Justice 5 (Apr. 2021)
(“In short, solitary confinement does not improve safety and may actually lead to an increase in violence and
recidivism. This is not surprising, given that people in solitary are typically denied the opportunity to
participate in education, mental health or drug treatment, and other rehabilitative programs or to otherwise
prepare for reentering the community.”).
4
Id. at 5-6 (“The Federal Bureau of Prisons estimated in 2013 that it cost $216 per person, per day, to hold
people in solitary in the Administrative Maximum Facility at the Federal Correctional Complex in Florence,
Colorado. In comparison, the estimated cost of housing people in the complex’s general population was $86
per person, per day.”) (emphasis in original); see also Alison Shames et al., Solitary Confinement: Common
Misconceptions and Emerging Safe Alternatives, Vera Institute of Justice 24 (May 2015) (“The significant
fiscal costs associated with building and operating segregated housing units and facilities are due to the
reliance on single-cell confinement, enhanced surveillance and security technology, and the need for more
corrections staff (to handle escorts, increased searches, and individualized services).”).
5
Katie Rose Quandt & Alexi Jones, Research Roundup: Incarceration can cause lasting damage to mental
health, Prison Policy Initiative (May 13, 2021),
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2021/05/13/mentalhealthimpacts/.
6
Andreea Matei, Solitary Confinement in US Prisons, Urban Institute (August 2022).
7
See District of Columbia Corrections Information Council, DC Department of Corrections Inspection Report
6 (Sept. 30, 2021),
https://cic.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/cic/page_content/attachments/CIC%20Inspection%20Repo
rt%20DOC%20FY%202021%20site%20visit%20May%202021.pdf; Press Release, U.S. Marshals Service,
Statement by the U.S. Marshals Service Re: Recent Inspection of DC Jail Facilities (Nov. 2, 2021),
https://www.usmarshals.gov/news/chron/2021/110221b.htm.
likewise troubling and, thus, similarly exacerbate the harms of solitary confinement for those on
suicide watch.8
For these reasons, we must erase virtually all forms of segregated confinement for individuals
incarcerated at penal institutions in the District. This legislation would produce a fairer and more
humane criminal justice system in the District.
Should you have any questions, please contact my Legislative Aide Sabrin Qadi at
sqadi@dccouncil.gov or (202) 834-8093.
Thank you,
Best,
Brianne K. Nadeau
8
District of Columbia Corrections Information Council, District of Columbia Department of Corrections 2018
Inspection Report 17 (May 21, 2019),
https://cic.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/cic/page_content/attachments/DOC%20FY%202018%20Re
port%205.21.19%20FINAL.pdf; Mitch Ryals, Attorneys Continue to Hear Reports of the Horrific Conditions
in DC Jail’s ‘Safe Cells’ Washington Citypaper (May 13, 2021),
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/516737/attorneys-continue-to-hear-reports-of-the-horrific-conditions-
in-dc-jails-safe-cells/.
 _____________________________
Councilmember Robert C. White, Jr. ________________________________
Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau
_____________________________ ___________________________
Councilmember Charles Allen Councilmember Anita Bonds
_______________________________ _____________________________
Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie Councilmember Janeese Lewis George
_____________________________
Councilmember Zachary Parker
1
2
3 A BILL
4
5 _________________________
6
7 IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
8
9 _________________________
10
11 To prohibit segregated confinement in jails; to strictly limit the use of safe cells and require that
12 incarcerated people with mental health emergencies receive the care to which they are
13 entitled; to require the Department of Corrections to create a plan to eliminate segregated
14 confinement and report to the Council the impacts of doing so.
15
16 BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
17 act may be cited as the “Eliminating Restrictive and Segregated Enclosures (“ERASE”) Solitary
18 Confinement Act of 2023”.
19 Sec. 2. Definitions.
20 For purposes of this act, the term:
21 (a) “Appropriate healthcare” means the right to:
22 (1) Timely, responsive, respectful, and dignified attention to a resident’s
23 healthcare needs by a qualified health professional;
24 (2) Assessment, consultation, and provision of health care consistent with the
25 standard of care expected to be provided by a reasonably prudent qualified health professional in
26 the professional’s specialty area, and not limited in any way because of status as a detained or
27 incarcerated person;
28 (3) Have the qualified health professional respect a resident's privacy and
29 confidentiality;
30 (4) Privacy and protection from inquiry by qualified health professionals
31 regarding a resident’s charges, convictions, or duration of sentences unless expressly pertinent to
32 the delivery of care;
33 (5) Freedom from physical restraints while receiving any form of healthcare,
34 unless the treating qualified health professional requests physical restraints to address a specific
35 safety concern;
36 (6) Obtain, at no cost, at the conclusion of a resident’s visit to a qualified health
37 professional providing services outside of a penal institution, copies of all records of the
38 resident’s own diagnoses, test results, treatment instructions, recommendations for further
39 treatment and evaluation, and other documents that a person who is not detained or incarcerated
40 would have a right to obtain from a qualified health professional;
41 (7) Obtain, at no cost, full or partial copies of a resident’s own medical records
42 that are created by or in the possession of either the Department or the entity providing health
43 care on behalf of the Department, upon the request of a resident, former resident, or a resident or
44 former resident’s counsel without having to file a request under the District of Columbia
45 Freedom of Information Act, D.C. Code § 2-531;
46 (8) A reasonable opportunity to discuss with a qualified health professional the
47 benefits and risks of treatment alternatives, including the risks and benefits of forgoing
48 treatment, and guidance about different courses of action;
49 (9) Ask questions about health status or recommended treatment and to have those
50 questions answered by a qualified health professional;
51 (10) Make decisions about the care they receive and have those decisions
52 respected;
53 (11) Be advised of any conflicts of interest a qualified health professional may
54 have with respect to a resident’s care;
55 (12) Obtain a second opinion from a qualified health professional providing
56 services outside of the penal institution in the same or similar specialty within a reasonable
57 amount of time in cases involving a serious risk of death or serious bodily injury;
58 (13) Coordination and integration of the care provided by a resident’s qualified
59 health professionals, including the timely provision of care by a suitable qualified health
60 professional outside of the penal institution as necessary; and
61 (14) Visitation with a resident’s “attorney in fact,” as defined in D.C. Code § 21-
62 2202.1, for the purpose of healthcare decision making, regardless of any Department policy to
63 the contrary;
64 (15) All rights enumerated in the Consumers’ Bill of Rights at D.C. Code § 7-
65 1231.04;
66 (16) Communication pursuant to the DC Language Access Act at D.C. Code § 2
67 1901 et seq; and
68 (17) Effective communication pursuant to Title II and Title III of the Americans
69 with Disabilities Act at 42 U.S.C. §§ 12131-34 and 12181-89.
70 (b) “Chemical restraint” means a medication that is used in addition to or in place of the
71 resident’s regular, prescribed drug regimen to control extreme behavior during an emergency,
72 but does not include medications that comprise the resident’s regular, prescribed medical
73 regimen and that are part of the resident’s treatment, even if the intended purpose is to control
74 ongoing behavior;
75 (c) “Department” means the Department of Corrections, as defined in D.C. Code § 24-
76 211.01;
77 (d) “Disciplinary housing” means the separation of a resident from other individuals for
78 the purpose of punishing the resident for a violation of the Department’s or penal institution’s
79 rules;
80 (e) “Health care” means any type of care provided by a person licensed under or
81 permitted to practice a health occupation in the District as defined in D.C. Code § 3-1201 et seq.
82 Healthcare includes medical care, dental care, vision care, psychiatric care, psychological or
83 other treatment for mental or behavioral health conditions, physical therapy, occupational
84 therapy, chronic care, and the provision of medication or medical supplies;
85 (f) “Medical isolation” means the isolation of a resident consistent with a finding by a
86 qualified health professional that the resident has a communicable disease for which the Centers
87 for Disease Control and Prevention recommends or authorizes isolation or quarantine, and that
 88 isolation is medically necessary for that resident’s treatment or to protect other residents or staff
89 from the communicable disease;
90 (g) “Minimum out-of-cell time” means at least 8 hours daily, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.,
91 during which a resident is not restricted to their cell and has the opportunity to move around a
92 shared space, interact with other residents in a shared space without barriers or physical or
93 chemical restraints, participate in programming, shower, or go to the commissary, gym, and
94 recreation yard, or participate in other activities normally conducted outside of a resident’s cell;
95 (h) “Penal institution” means any penitentiary, prison, jail, or correctional facility owned,
96 operated, or controlled by the Department;
97 (i) “Physical restraint” means any mechanical device, material, or equipment attached or
98 adjacent to the resident’s body, or any manual method, that the resident cannot easily remove
99 and which restricts their freedom of movement or normal access to their body;
100 (j) “Prolonged confinement” means the denial of minimum out-of-cell time, without a
101 resident’s informed written consent;
102 (k) “Punitive measures” means the loss of any privilege, including video and phone calls,
103 recreation, reading materials, mail, or commissary, that is standardly provided to residents;
104 (l) “Qualified health professional” means a person licensed under or permitted to practice
105 a health occupation in the District as defined by D.C. Code § 3-1201.08 who is providing
106 services or treatment for which the individual is specifically licensed or is permitted to perform
107 pursuant to D.C. Code § 3-1201 et seq.;
108 (m) “Resident” means any individual detained or incarcerated at a penal institution;
109 (n) “Safe cell” means a suicide-resistant housing cell designed to prevent a resident from
110 inflicting serious bodily injury upon themselves or used by the Department as a place to hold and
111 continuously monitor residents placed on suicide watch;
112 (o) “Serious bodily injury” means a bodily injury or significant bodily injury that
113 involves a substantial risk of death, protracted and obvious disfigurement, protracted loss or
114 impairment of the function of a bodily member or organ, or protracted loss of consciousness;
115 (p) “Suicide precaution” means a measure used to observe a resident who is assessed by a
116 qualified health professional and determined to not be actively suicidal, but expresses suicidal
117 ideation or has a recent prior history of inflicting or attempting to inflict serious bodily injury
118 upon themselves, or a resident who denies suicidal ideation or does not threaten suicide, but
119 demonstrates other concerning behavior indicating the potential for inflicting death or serious
120 bodily injury upon themselves; and
121 (q) “Suicide watch” means a measure used to observe a resident who is assessed by a
122 qualified health professional and determined to be actively suicidal, by either threatening or
123 engaging in inflicting serious bodily injury upon themselves.
124 Sec. 3. Scope.
125 This act shall apply to all residents detained or incarcerated at the Central Detention
126 Facility, the Correctional Treatment Facility, the Central Cell Block, and any other penal
127 institution owned, operated, or controlled by the Department.
128 Sec. 4. Limitations on the Use of Prolonged Confinement.
129 (a) The Department shall provide appropriate healthcare to all residents, including those
130 subject to disciplinary housing, medical isolation, suicide precaution, and suicide watch.
131 (b) Except as provided in subsections (c) and (d) of this section, the Department shall not
132 use or impose any form of prolonged confinement on any resident for any purpose, including
133 discipline, safety, security, administrative convenience, placement on a medical or mental health
134 unit, health care need, or the prevention of suicide or self-harm.
135 (c) A resident in medical isolation may be subject to prolonged confinement, but only for
136 the time necessary to ensure the resident is no longer contagious or transmitting a communicable
137 disease.
138 (d) A qualified health professional shall reevaluate whether medical isolation is necessary
139 at an interval in accordance with guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and
140 Prevention or, at a minimum, every 24 hours.
141 (e) When a qualified health professional determines the resident is no longer contagious,
142 the resident shall be immediately entitled to minimum out-of-cell time, even if they remain
143 housed in a medical isolation unit.
144 (f) The removal of personal property items from a resident shall be prohibited absent an
145 individualized determination by a qualified health professional that the removal of a particular
146 item is necessary to prevent the transmitting of a communicable disease.
147 (g) A resident placed on suicide watch may be placed in prolonged confinement, subject
148 to the provisions of Section 5 of this Chapter.
149 (h) If the Department takes possession of a resident’s personal property when moving the
150 resident to or from disciplinary housing, the Department shall return all personal property to the
151 resident within 6 hours of taking possession of the property, excluding any contraband as defined
152 in D.C. Code § 22-2603.02.
153 (i) Punitive measures may only be applied to a resident in response to a disciplinary
154 finding.
155 (j) At intake, and any time a resident is placed in prolonged confinement, medical
156 isolation, disciplinary housing, or under suicide precaution or suicide watch, the Department
157 shall provide the resident educational materials on mental health and substance use disorders, the
158 stigma around mental health and substance use disorders, the mental health and substance use
159 disorder treatment options available to residents from the Department, and the law, regulations,
160 and policy statements governing the use of prolonged confinement, medical isolation,
161 disciplinary housing, and suicide precaution or suicide watch. The Department shall make these
162 educational materials available within 2 hours of the intake or placement in written format, both
163 hard copy and electronic, and in video format. These educational materials must comply with the
164 DC Language Access Act at D.C. Code § 2-1901 et seq.
165 (k) The Department shall notify a resident’s counsel of record any tim