Bill > H1381

This bill proposes to amend Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 127, by adding a new section that mandates the collection and public reporting of data related to the use of solitary confinement in state prisons and jails. The bill defines "disciplinary segregation" as isolating a prisoner for punishment and "non-disciplinary segregation" as isolating a prisoner for administrative reasons, not for discipline or medical care. It also defines "serious mental illness" based on specific diagnoses from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and criteria for significant functional impairment or risk of mental deterioration. The Department of Correction and each sheriff will be required to collect and publish quarterly reports detailing the number of prisoners in both types of segregation, their disciplinary sentences or lengths of stay, their mental health status including diagnoses of serious mental illness or other mental illnesses, cognitive impairments, requests for disability accommodations, suicides and self-harm incidents, uses of force, transfers to hospitals, educational attainment, releases directly from segregation, releases due to mental decompensation, and reasons for non-disciplinary segregation such as protective custody. This data will be made publicly available and submitted to several legislative committees, including the Joint Committee on the Judiciary.