Virginia lawmakers are considering bills that would ban the practice of placing inmates in solitary confinement for extended periods of time.
Virginia lawmakers are considering bills that would ban the practice of placing inmates in solitary confinement for extended periods of time.
Under the bill, inmates would be offered at least four hours a day outside of their cells.
Prisoners can be accommodated in so-called “rehabilitation housing” only under certain conditions: if they request it; it is necessary for one’s own defense or the defense of another prisoner; or because their behavior threatens the normal operation of the prison.
HB 2487, co-authored by Del. Glenn Davis Jr., R-Virginia Beach, and House Minority Leader Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, is headed to the state Senate.
SB 887, with the support of Sen. Joseph Morrissey, D-Richmond, will come up for a vote next week. Morrissey’s bill specifies that if a facility administrator determines that an inmate needs to be placed in solitary confinement to prevent an imminent threat to the inmate or another person, the solitary confinement must not last more than 15 days.
In 2021, amid ongoing scrutiny over the harshness of prolonged solitary confinement, the Virginia Department of Corrections announced an end to the practice. Current bills would codify the elimination of this practice into law.
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