[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1178 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1178
Proclaiming a Declaration of Environmental Rights for Incarcerated
People.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 29, 2024
Ms. Pressley submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Proclaiming a Declaration of Environmental Rights for Incarcerated
People.
Whereas criminal legal systems in the United States are sustaining an
incarceration crisis that has put millions of people behind bars, torn
families apart, destabilized communities, and allowed others to profit
from the mistreatment of human beings;
Whereas, in the United States, almost 2,000,000 people are incarcerated in
Federal, State, local, and Tribal prisons and jails, immigration
detention facilities, juvenile secure facilities, and treatment and
rehabilitation facilities;
Whereas the duration of prison sentences is trending upwards and nearly 57
percent of the Federal and State prison population is now serving a
sentence of 10 years or more;
Whereas every year of incarceration in a prison or jail for a person is
associated with a 2-year reduction in average life expectancy;
Whereas people incarcerated in prisons and jails are more likely than the
general public to have at least 1 preexisting physical or mental health
condition or disability, which makes incarcerated people more
susceptible to environmental health threats;
Whereas incarceration and systemic patterns of environmental justice violations
in the permitting and siting of carceral facilities has greatly
increased the exposure of incarcerated people, carceral facility staff,
and communities surrounding carceral facilities to toxic and dangerous
conditions;
Whereas toxic environments in and around carceral facilities harm the physical,
mental, and social well-being of those impacted by incarceration;
Whereas exposure to environmental hazards harms the vitality of incarcerated
communities by reducing the availability of programming in carceral
facilities;
Whereas the adverse environmental health impacts of incarceration
disproportionately harm Black people and other minorities in the United
States, including Indigenous, Latino, and LGBTQ+ people, who are more
likely to be incarcerated in the United States;
Whereas pregnant, post-natal, and breastfeeding people are at higher risk of
adverse health outcomes from exposure to environmental stressors in
carceral facilities, yet those people often lack proper medical care or
options to minimize exposure to environmental health threats;
Whereas privatized healthcare providers profit from the poisoning of
incarcerated populations and often provide incarcerated people with
inadequate care;
Whereas nearly 33 percent of Federal and State prisons are located within 3
miles of a federally declared toxic superfund site, which are
disproportionately located in or near low-income communities and
communities of color;
Whereas people incarcerated in prisons and jails often perform extremely
hazardous labor, including electronic waste recycling, forest
firefighting, and asbestos removal, without sufficient protection and
for meager or no compensation, with the average hourly wage for
incarcerated workers being as low as $0.14 and some incarcerated workers
earning no wages at all;
Whereas measurements of heat indices inside prison cells have ranged from below
freezing to in excess of 150 degrees Fahrenheit;
Whereas incarcerated people often drink and bathe in water contaminated with
lead, arsenic, manganese, harmful bacteria, and other hazardous
substances and do not have the same access to safer alternatives as non-
incarcerated people;
Whereas poor ventilation in carceral facilities contributes to hazardous air
quality, which in turn leads to psychological distress, cognitive
impairment, and the proliferation of infectious respiratory diseases,
allergens, and other respiratory issues;
Whereas incarcerated people are commonly confined to spaces where they are
exposed to mold, asbestos, and pests;
Whereas the diets of incarcerated people are regularly below standards requisite
for good health;
Whereas food safety standards and preparation guidelines are not uniformly
enforced and followed in carceral facilities;
Whereas the constant noise and artificial light that is common in prison
environments can act as a form of torture that induces progressively
severe mental stress and anxiety;
Whereas incarcerated people with little or no access to natural light are more
likely to be depressed and engage in harmful behavior that can extend
the duration of their incarceration;
Whereas conditions of incarceration should be conducive to rehabilitation;
Whereas the cumulative and chronic health impacts of incarceration can transform
short sentences into long-term or lifelong punishment; and
Whereas many incarcerated people endure conditions that are cruel, inhumane,
unsafe, and not conducive to rehabilitative justice: Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) declares that incarcerated people have the right to
healthy and safe environments, and the right to advocate for
protecting and improving their environmental health;
(2) proclaims this Declaration of Environmental Rights for
Incarcerated People, founded on the principles that--
(A) incarcerated people have inherent dignity and
personhood;
(B) the right to humane treatment is inviolable and
without distinction of any kind, including the nature
of a crime committed;
(C) incarcerated people have the right to a healthy
environment;
(D) environmental standards in carceral facilities
should protect the health of the most vulnerable people
with an adequate margin of safety;
(E) disregard and contempt for the environmental
health of incarcerated people undermines the pursuit of
justice;
(F) the right of incarcerated people to a healthy
environment should be universally recognized and
protected by law;
(G) legal remedies for inhumane conditions should
be universally available to incarcerated people and
their advocates, without hindrance or delay, in courts
of law;
(H) incarcerated people have the right to, and
should be proactively supplied with, information and
education regarding exposure pathways to environmental
hazards in the facilities in which they are
incarcerated;
(I) incarcerated people have the right to discuss
the environmental health conditions of carceral
facilities among themselves;
(J) incarcerated people have the right to advocate,
without fear or threat of retaliation, to protect and
improve their environmental health;
(K) incarcerated people have the right to refuse to
work or labor in unsafe or hazardous conditions, and
have the right to receive alternative work
opportunities, without threat of retaliation or impact
on release decisions; and
(L) decarceration should serve as a principal
strategy to reduce the environmental health harms of
criminal legal systems; and
(3) supports efforts to enact legislation guided by the
principles described under paragraph (2).
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