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Rehabilitation Through Reading Act of 2026
To require an independent review process for the prohibition of books at Bureau of Prisons facilities, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill establishes a Publication Review Committee to oversee book prohibitions at Bureau of Prisons facilities. The committee must include a federal prison ombudsman, a professional librarian, an incarcerated individual, and a First Amendment law expert, with at least 5 members total. The Director of the Bureau of Prisons can only prohibit books after submitting a written request that the committee approves, and incarcerated individuals can appeal book prohibitions. The committee must make determinations within 90 days and cannot prohibit books solely to eliminate disfavored viewpoints or unpopular content. The bill also requires annual reporting to Congress on prohibited books and the status of appeals.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
Actions (2)
- Apr 16, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
- Apr 16, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 16, 2026
Mr. Cleaver introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To require an independent review process for the prohibition of books at Bureau of Prisons facilities, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Rehabilitation Through Reading Act of 2026”.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Director.—The term “Director” means the Director of the Bureau of Prisons.
(2) Professional librarian.—The term “professional librarian” means a librarian who has a master’s degree from a program accredited by the American Library Association.
SEC. 3. BANNED BOOKS IN PRISONS.
(a) In General.—Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall establish a Publication Review Committee for the purpose of approving or disapproving the availability of books at Bureau of Prisons facilities.
(b) Members.—The Publication Review Committee shall consist of not fewer than 5 members, including the Ombudsman established under section 2 of the Federal Prison Oversight Act (Public Law 118-71), 1 individual who is a professional librarian employed by the Bureau of Prisons, 1 individual in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, and 1 individual with knowledge or expertise in First Amendment law.
(c) Procedures.—
(1) Prohibiting a book.—Following the date of the establishment of the Publication Review Committee, the Director may only prohibit a book at Bureau of Prisons facilities if—
(A) the Director submits a request in writing to the Publication Review Committee to approve such prohibition, including a detailed explanation of the reason for prohibiting the book; and
(B) the Publication Review Committee approves such request.
(2) Appeal of a prohibited book.—An individual in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons may submit to the Publication Review Committee an appeal to reverse the prohibition of a book in Bureau of Prisons facilities.
(3) Determinations.—
(A) In general.—Not later than 90 days after the date on which a request or appeal is submitted to the Publication Review Committee under paragraph (1) or
(2), as applicable, the Publication Review Committee shall issue a final determination in writing approving or disapproving the availability of the book at Bureau of Prisons facilities in accordance with subparagraph
(B).
(B) Reason for prohibiting a book.—
(i) In general.—A book may not be prohibited in order to eliminate a disfavored viewpoint or disfavored content.
(ii) Considerations.—In determining whether the prohibition of a book is based on a disfavored viewpoint or disfavored content, the Publication Review Committee shall determine whether the prohibition is substantially motivated by the viewpoint of the book, including if the book is deemed unpopular or repugnant, or otherwise violates the rights of incarcerated individuals to access information.
(C) Discretion.—Except as provided in subparagraph
(B), a determination issued by the Publication Review Committee shall be at the discretion of the Publication Review Committee and shall not require approval from the Director.
(4) Maintaining access to a book.—If an appeal is filed under paragraph (2) prior to the removal of the book from any library of any Bureau of Prisons facility, the book shall not be removed until the Publication Review Committee has made a final determination regarding the appeal.
SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORTING REQUIREMENT.
Not later than 30 days after the end of each fiscal year following the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives an annual report detailing any books that were prohibited during the preceding fiscal year, including a summary of each appeal filed pursuant to section 3(c)(2) and the status and final outcome, as applicable, of each appeal. <all>
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