From the report summary:
After extensive study, we have concluded that there are occasions when correctional officials have no choice but to segregate inmates from the general population, typically when it is the only way to ensure the safety of inmates, staff, and the public. But as a matter of policy, we believe strongly this practice should be used rarely, applied fairly, and subjected to reasonable constraints.
This Report includes a series of “Guiding Principles” that we believe should guide plans for limiting the use of restrictive housing across the American criminal justice system, as well as specific policy changes that the Federal Bureau of Prisons (the Bureau) and other Department components could undertake to implement these principles.
Mentally ill inmates will gradually be moved to secure mental health facilities.
There's even a section on pretrial detainees in BOP contract facilities like local jails.
The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) is responsible for the housing and transportation of federal pre-trial detainees. USMS houses detainees in several types of facilities, including private detention facilities and state, county, and local jails. Although detainees remain in USMS custody on average for less than 100 days, USMS nonetheless has several tools to limit the use of restrictive housing during that time. The Report recommends that USMS:
Revise the detention standards that USMS applies to private contract facilities, to incorporate the restrictive housing policies discussed in this Report.[pp. 70-71 (b); 117-18 (p)]
Require that the state, county, and local jails that house USMS detainees provide DOJ with certain data on restrictive housing placements. [pp. 70-71 (b); 117-18 (p)]
Maybe the average is less than 100 days, but in large, multi-defendant drug cases, particularly those involving wiretaps or extensive electronic surveillance, pretrial detention can last 3 or 4 years. There are few programs and very little treatment options in most county jails.
I'd like to see less pretrial detention and more reforms for these as-yet unconvicted detainees, but that doesn't detract from Obama's significant and welcome new policy today on restricting the use of solitary confinement, particularly for juveniles.
Obama commissioned the report and then acted on it. Good for him...and more importantly, for us. As he says in his op-ed:
How can we subject prisoners to unnecessary solitary confinement, knowing its effects, and then expect them to return to our communities as whole people? It doesn’t make us safer. It’s an affront to our common humanity.