[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4335 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4335
To provide for the redress of prison abuses, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 16, 2009
Mr. Scott of Virginia introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the redress of prison abuses, and for other purposes.
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 ``Prison Abuse Remedies Act of 2009''.
SEC. 2. SHOWING OF PHYSICAL INJURY NOT MANDATORY FOR CLAIMS.
(a) Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act.--Section 7 of
the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (42 U.S.C. 1997e) is
amended by striking subsection (e).
(b) Title 28.--Section 1346(b) of title 28, United States Code, is
amended by striking paragraph (2).
SEC. 3. STAYING OF NONFRIVOLOUS CIVIL ACTIONS TO PERMIT RESOLUTION
THROUGH ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSES.
Subsection (a) of section 7 of the Civil Rights of
Institutionalized Persons Act (42 U.S.C. 1997e(a)) is amended to read
as follows:
``(a) Administrative Remedies.--
``(1) Presentation.--No claim with respect to prison
conditions under section 1979 of the Revised statutes (42
U.S.C. 1983), or any other Federal law, by a prisoner confined
in any jail, prison, or other correctional facility shall be
adjudicated except under section 1915A(b) of title 28, United
States Code, until the claim has been presented for
consideration to officials of the facility in which the claim
arose. Such presentation satisfies the requirement of this
paragraph if it provides prison officials of the facility in
which the claim arose with reasonable notice of the prisoner's
claim, and if it occurs within the generally applicable
limitations period for filing suit.
``(2) Stay.--If a claim included in a complaint has not
been presented as required by paragraph (1), and the court does
not dismiss the claim under section 1915A(b) of title 28,
United States Code, the court shall stay the action for a
period not to exceed 90 days and shall direct prison officials
to consider the relevant claim or claims through such
administrative process as they deem appropriate. However, the
court shall not stay the action if the court determines that
the prisoner is in danger of immediate harm.
``(3) Proceeding.--Upon the expiration of the stay under
paragraph (2), the court shall proceed with the action except
to the extent the court is notified by the parties that it has
been resolved.''.
SEC. 4. EXEMPTION OF JUVENILES FROM PRISON LITIGATION REFORM ACT.
(a) Title 18.--
(1) Juvenile proceedings.--Section 3626(g) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended--
(A) in paragraph (3) by striking ``or adjudicated
delinquent for,''; and
(B) so that paragraph (5) reads as follows:
``(5) the term `prison' means any Federal, State, or local
facility that incarcerates or detains prisoners;''.
(2) Adult convictions.--Section 3626 of title 18, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(h) Exclusion of Child Prisoners.--This section does not apply
with respect to a prisoner who has not attained the age of 18 years.''.
(b) Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act.--
(1) Section 7(h) of the Civil Rights of Institutionalized
Persons Act (42 U.S.C. 1997e(h)), is amended by striking ``or
adjudicated delinquent for,''.
(2) Section 7 of the Civil Rights of Institutionalized
Persons Act (42 U.S.C. 1997e) is amended by adding at the end
the following:
``(i) Exclusion of Child Prisoners.--This section does not apply
with respect to a prisoner who has not attained the age of 18 years.''.
(c) Title 28.--Title 28, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in section 1915(h)--
(A) by inserting ``who has attained the age of 18
years'' after ``means any person''; and
(B) by striking ``or adjudicated delinquent for,'';
and
(2) in section 1915A(c)--
(A) by inserting ``who has attained the age of 18
years'' after ``means any person''; and
(B) by striking ``or adjudicated delinquent for,''.
SEC. 5. MODIFICATION OF BAN ON MULTIPLE IN FORMA PAUPERIS CLAIMS.
Section 1915(g) of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by inserting ``within the preceding 5 years'' after ``3
or more occasions''; and
(2) by striking ``, malicious, or fails to state a claim
upon which relief may be granted'' and inserting ``or
malicious''.
SEC. 6. FILING FEES IN FORMA PAUPERIS.
Section 1915(b)(1) of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking ``or files an appeal''; and
(2) by inserting ``and the action is dismissed at initial
screening pursuant to subsection (e)(2) of this section,
section 1915A of this title, or section 7(c)(1) of the Civil
Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (42 U.S.C.
1997e(c)(1)),'' after ``in forma pauperis,''.
SEC. 7. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT TO RESOLVE AMBIGUITY.
Section 1915(a)1) of title 28, United States Code, is amended by
striking ``that includes a statement of all assets such prisoner
possesses'' and inserting ``(including a statement of assets such
person possesses)''.
SEC. 8. ENCOURAGEMENT OF APPROPRIATE SETTLEMENT OF PRISONER LITIGATION.
Section 3626(c)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended, by
striking the period at the end and inserting ``, except that the
violation of a Federal right may be alleged by plaintiff rather than
proven or stipulated.''.
SEC. 9. JUDICIAL DISCRETION IN CRAFTING PRISON ABUSE REMEDIES.
Section 3626 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(2) by striking the final sentence;
(2) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by inserting ``if that party
demonstrates that it has eliminated the violation of the
Federal right that gave rise to the prospective relief and that
the violation is reasonably unlikely to recur'' after
``intervener'';
(3) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by adding at the end the
following: ``Nothing in this section shall prevent the court
from extending any of the time periods set out in subsection
(A), if the court finds, at the time of granting or approval of
the prospective relief, that correction of the violation will
take longer than those time periods.''; and
(4) in subsection (e) by striking paragraphs (2), (3), and
(4).
SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this Act shall apply to all cases currently
pending in Federal court and any such cases filed on or after the date
of enactment of this Act.
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