Letter: California Passes Bill Allowing Pregnant People to be Placed in Solitary with no Oversight

Sacramento, CA – This week, the California Legislature passed AB 2527, a bill that allows pregnant people to be placed in solitary confinement with minimal oversight for up to five days at a time in California prisons.

AB 2527 by Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan originally banned the use of solitary confinement for pregnant people in jails and prisons.

On August 7, 2024, Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan  said, “To be pregnant, to remain healthy, I really, truly believe that restrictive housing shouldn’t be a part of the equation.”

Despite the stated intent, the bill was quietly amended following negotiations with CDCR, allowing pregnant people to be placed in solitary confinement for up to five days if the department decides there is a “credible and imminent threat to the safety and security of the incarcerated pregnant persons.”

Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan

1021 O Street, Suite 5210, Sacramento, CA 95814
Sacramento, CA 95814
We are writing to express our respectful opposition to AB 2527, as recently amended. We wholeheartedly endorse and support the original goal of this bill, including the provisions that ensure incarcerated pregnant people receive free and clean bottled water and daily high-quality and high caloric nutritional meals. However, this bill has been amended in both substance and scope with respect to the provision abolishing solitary confinement for pregnant people. The bill has gone from a bill that abolished solitary confinement for pregnant people, to a bill that allows for the placement of pregnant people in solitary confinement.

To quote the words of the author Asm. Rebecca Bauer-Kahan “To be pregnant, to remain healthy, I really, truly believe that restrictive housing shouldn’t be a part of the equation,” (Interview with Politico August 7, 2024).  We wholeheartedly agree, and thus are left with no choice but to oppose AB 2527 as amended.

AB 2527 in its original form contained a blanket ban on the use of solitary confinement against pregnant people in jails and prisons. This goal is laudable and should be attainable. There does not appear to be any justification to place a pregnant person in isolation, when alternative and safer forms of housing exist.

However,  the bill as amended in Senate Appropriations facilitates the transfer of pregnant individuals into solitary confinement at the discretion of correctional officials. Original amendments place this period of isolation at two days, but the bill has now been amended to reflect a five day limit. Alarmingly, the bill lacks crucial safeguards to prevent the repeated use of this practice, opening the door to potential abuse and neglect.

Additionally, the bill no longer applies to pregnant individuals in jails, further reducing its scope and effectiveness. By CDCR’s  current estimates the solitary provision of this bill would apply to less than 10 people in prison in the entire state of California.
Accepting these amendments as the best path forward for California is wrong. The legislature has shown that it can achieve significant progress on this issue. The California legislature twice supported bills that would entirely ban the practice of solitary confinement for pregnant people, as well as other vulnerable populations and required facilities to provide safer alternatives.
The amendments to AB 2527 do not include necessary protections to ensure that the use of restricted housing does not result in harm to pregnant people. The amendments provide CDCR sole discretion regarding  the placement of pregnant people in solitary, and do not include any third party oversight, or safeguards that exist in legislation passed by other states. For example, Maryland requires extensive documentation for any such placement, mandates consultation with healthcare providers, and ensures regular medical assessments. Even Florida has more stringent standards than those proposed by AB 2527, including the development of a medical plan and ensuring access to privileges and programs.

The bill also neglects to establish any limits on the cumulative use of solitary confinement, potentially subjecting pregnant individuals to prolonged isolation with devastating consequences. This is unacceptable, and falls far short of what a good faith negotiation or compromise would yield.

Irrespective of oversight protections, the clearest failure of this bill is to provide pregnant people an alternative to solitary confinement and isolation. Something which is not only possible, but is in effect in other states and countries. There are clear and humane alternatives to solitary confinement that other states have successfully implemented. New York has abolished solitary confinement for pregnant individuals entirely, offering trauma-informed care and guaranteed daily out-of-cell time.

Putting aside “security concerns” a pregnant person can be housed in an individual unit and afforded guaranteed out of cell time and access to proper medical care. There is no excuse for failing to provide pregnant people in California what they are afforded in much of the rest of the world.

It is important to note that this bill is not aligned with the recommendations of the United Nations, the U.S. Department of Justice, or international standards, all of which call for a complete ban on solitary confinement for pregnant people.

California has long been a leader in progressive policies, yet AB 2527, in its current form, falls far short of this legacy. Pregnant individuals should never be placed in solitary confinement. They deserve an environment that minimizes stress and provides adequate medical care and oversight, not one that isolates and endangers them.

The potential harm posed by solitary confinement is simply unacceptable when there are clear, humane alternatives available. We urge you to reject AB 2527 in its current form and instead support legislation that truly protects the health, dignity, and well-being of pregnant individuals in California’s correctional system.
Our respective organizations, along with solitary survivors, will gladly work with your office to develop legislation that is inline with national and international standards on this issue.

Thank you for your attention to this critical issue.

Sincerely,

1. California Mandela Campaign 
2. Amnesty International USA
3. Immigrant Defense Advocates
4. Disability Rights California 
5. Alianza Sacramento
6. La Cosecha 
7. Silicon Valley De-Bug 
8. La Raza Community Resource Center (San Francisco) 
9. Plymouth United Church of Christ, Oakland CA
10. Social Workers and Allies Against Solitary Confinement
11. Psychologists for Social Responsibility 
12. Open Immigration Legal Services
13. Immigrant Legal Defense
14. LatinoJustice PRLDEF
15. The California Coalition for Women Prisoners
16. California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice
17. Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) Santa Cruz County 
18. Indivisible SF
19. CURE California
20. NLG – San Francisco Bay Area
21. Oasis Legal Services
22. Public Counsel
23. NextGen California
24. California Families Against Solitary Confinement
25. NorCal Resist 
26. End Solitary Santa Cruz County
27. #HALTsolitary Campaign 
28. Unlock the Box Campaign 
29. Temple Beth El – Jewish Community Center of Santa Cruz 
30. Orange County Equality Coalition 
31. National Religious Campaign Against Torture
32. San Francisco Public Defender’s Office
33. Indivisible CA StateStrong
34. National Harm Reduction Coalition
35. The Prism Way
36. Indivisible Sacramento
37. Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Initiative at Loyola Law School
38. Law Office of Helen Lawrence
39. Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
40. Initiate Justice Action
41. T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
42. National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)
43. Human Impact Partners
44. Justice2Jobs Coalition
45. La Defensa
46. California Public Defenders Association 
47. The Change Parallel Project 
48. California Alliance for Youth and Community Justice
49. Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network 
50. Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB)
51. Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice
52. California Innocence Coalition
53. Courage California 
54. Children’s Defense Fund-California
55. Vital Immigrant Defense Advocacy & Services [“VIDAS”]
56. Los Angeles County Public Defenders Union – Local 148
57. SFV Indivisible
58. Young Women’s Freedom Center 
59. Transitions Clinic Network
60. Disability Belongs
61. Universidad Popular
62. Kern Welcoming and Extending Solidarity to Immigrants
63. Viet Voices

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