Read twice and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jul 21, 1998
Crime Doesn't Pay Prison Act - Prohibits a court from granting relief in an action or proceeding challenging conditions of confinement of a correctional institution, unless such conditions constitute the unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain due to the deliberate indifference of the administrators of the institution such that inmates are deprived of the minimum civilized measure of life's necessities. Establishes a presumption that if an institution makes a per-inmate expenditure equal to or exceeding the poverty guideline level, the administrators are not deliberately indifferent to the unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain and the deprivation of the minimum civilized measure of life's necessities, which may be rebutted only by clear and convincing evidence to the contrary. Specifies that a failure to make a per-inmate expenditure equal to or exceeding the poverty guideline level does not give rise to a presumption that the conditions of confinement of an institution are unconstitutional.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 10, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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