# The Dignity Act: What It Does

The Dignity Act focuses on improving conditions for federal prisoners who are the primary caretakers of children. The bill recognizes that when parents are incarcerated, their kids lose out on important family connections, and it tries to address this by making it easier for these prisoners to maintain relationships with their families while serving their sentences.

The bill creates several concrete changes to how federal prisons operate. First, it expands visitation rights significantly. Prisoners who are primary caretakers must be allowed visits at least six days a week, including weekends, and prisons have to stay open for at least eight hours daily for visits. During these visits, prisoners can have up to five adult visitors and unlimited children, and they're allowed to have physical contact with visitors like hugs—something not always permitted in prisons. The bill also eliminates phone call fees for prisoners and requires prisons to provide free video calls, though video calls can't replace in-person visits.

The bill adds protections around dignity and safety in other ways too. It creates an ombudsman position to investigate complaints about prisoner transportation, solitary confinement, strip searches, and civil rights violations. On the issue of strip searches, the bill requires that officers of the same sex as the prisoner conduct searches whenever possible, with limited exceptions for emergencies. Importantly, the bill also addresses transgender prisoners by stating that a person's sex is determined by how they identify, not by physical examination. Finally, the bill establishes a pilot program allowing eligible prisoners who are primary caretakers to have overnight visits with family members, though only those with good behavior records and who haven't been convicted of violent crimes can participate.

Dignity Act

Jayapal, Pramila

Dignity Act This bill provides for visitation between federal prisoners who are primary caretaker parents and their family members, in accordance with specified procedures.