Now, finally, Congress is working to change the BOP’s bad reputation with last week’s 41-1 approval of the federal Prison Oversight Act by the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. Chamber, often partisan.
Perhaps coincidentally, the bureau this week announced the closure of one of its most shameful prisons, the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, Calif., a women’s facility that the Associated Press said had won the nicknamed “rape club” among workers and prisoners. Even a former principal and chaplain was convicted of sexual abuse.
Instead of calling for new facilities or a big increase in staffing levels, the bill focuses on transparency and an “inspection regime” strengthened by an empowered Justice Department inspector general and a new post of ombudsman exclusively for the prison agency. With “access to all Bureau facilities” at any time and without notice, as the bill provides, they could shine a light on the system’s dark and dangerous practices.
Rep. Lucy McBath’s motivation for introducing the bill was personal, but not in the way one might expect.
“My son, Jordan Davis, was killed at just 17 years old by a man with a gun who is currently serving a life sentence in prison,” the Georgia Democrat said via email. “Through my family’s pain, I found the strength to forgive my son’s murderer. I have heard from advocates and leaders at the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons that additional reforms are needed to protect staff and incarcerated people in our prison system. So I presented this bill to the House.
In March, David C. Fathi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prison Project, blasted the BOP as “a deeply broken agency” in an interview with the Post. He is now more optimistic, describing the bill in a telephone interview as “a major step forward for transparency.” … Prison monitoring is simply essential. Prisons are closed institutions and house unpopular and politically powerless people. So without some sort of oversight, it’s a recipe for neglect, mistreatment, and abuse.
Under the bill, which must be approved by the full House and Senate before becoming law, the Justice Department’s inspector general would conduct periodic inspections of prisons. The Attorney General would be mandated to ensure that inspectors have “access to any covered facility, including incarcerated persons, inmates, staff, bargaining unit representative organization, and any other information” necessary.
The legislation states that evaluations “may include” conditions of incarceration; the adequacy of staff and working conditions; availability of recidivism reduction programs; isolation and restrictive confinement practices; medical and mental health services in prison; and allegations of violence, sexual abuse and excessive force.
After the inspections, a report on the findings would be made available to Congress, employee organizations, and the public. Prison officials would have 60 days to respond in writing to the report, which must include a “corrective action plan.”
A “risk score” based on a variety of issues would be developed for each facility by the inspector general’s office and sent to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. Higher risk prisons would be inspected more frequently.
A new element in prison accountability would be the appointment of a dedicated prison ombudsman who would receive complaints from prisoners, employees or others “regarding matters likely to harm the health, safety, well-being or the rights of incarcerated persons or staff.” The mediator would decide the merits of each complaint and report its findings to the BOP. If the ombudsman believes there are ongoing “health, safety, welfare, working conditions, or rehabilitation” problems, the official will notify the attorney general and Congress. The ombudsman would also be empowered to monitor internal disciplinary measures “to ensure a fair and objective process.”
The surveillance law also provides reporting tools such as an online form and hotline for “representatives of incarcerated persons” and “multiple internal means for incarcerated persons” to submit complaints privately. .
Like Fathi, other vocal critics of the BOP have welcomed the legislation.
After describing the problems of his years as a federal inmate in two institutions, including inadequate health and emotional care, filthy conditions and poor diet, Eddie Ellis, a 48-year-old resident of Montgomery County, Maryland , praised the bill for creating a “check box to make sure you humanize people in these spaces.” He’s been out for 18 years and is now co-director of the Campaign for Fair Sentencing for Youth.
But it’s not just a simple checkbox, he added, highlighting measures that include family input so that “if something doesn’t go well, something can happen before that it becomes too serious or worse than it really is.”
Daniel Landsman, vice president of the criminal justice organization FAMM (formerly Families Against Mandatory Minimums), said “this bill would give us, for the first time, truly comprehensive and robust independent oversight of our prison system.” federal. »
The bipartisan nature of the bill was demonstrated by the endorsement of the Conservative Political Action Conference. David Safavian, general counsel for the American Conservative Union, CPAC’s parent organization, welcomed “increased oversight of prisons,” saying the BOP “spends $8 billion of taxpayer money each year – with little meaningful oversight from policymakers.”.”
It’s policymakers and lawmakers who are ultimately responsible for prisons that are “the only place where we have complete care, custody and control of people,” said Rep. Kelly Armstrong (ND), a Republican sponsor of the law Project. “Will this solve everything? Probably not. But it’s a step in the right direction to determine where we’re truly being left behind and where funds are most needed to keep up. »
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