A growing and troubling trend has emerged within the prison consulting industry: persons spending time in prison, being released, and opening their doors as prison consultants when they really have no business doing so in the first place. This also applies to attorneys who have no real experience with the Federal Bureau of Prisons or
While an odd thought to present, ever since the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) implemented the TRULINCS computer system — and followed it with the MP3 player program — the FBOP has appeared to be on the right track in terms of communicating with the federal inmate population. This idea has presented itself through more
Inmates incarcerated within the Federal Bureau of Prisons have access to a number of religious programs at their local prison facility. While religious service offerings depend on locality and security level, all federal prisoners in general population status can expect to have access to a Religious Services Department where they can explore and strengthen their
The Federal Bureau of Prisons has decided to deny compassionate release to Lynne F. Stewart, a polarizing defense attorney who represented reviled clients like mafia hitman Salvatore Gravano and terrorist Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman.*1 Ms. Stewart was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison in 2010 after the United States Court of Appeals for the
Initial Designation at a Federal Bureau of Prisons Facility Federal prisoners are not given a choice in which prison they are first designated to. This designation is made by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Designation and Sentence Computation Center (DSCC) in Grand Prairie, Texas. Initial designation determinations are based upon a number of factors.
On the first of every month, Mary B., a 72-year-old retired state worker, mails off a $200 check to ensure the safety of her son, who is imprisoned in Virginia. She’s been doing so since 2007, when her son was sentenced in federal court to 15 years, after pleading guilty to a series of drug-fueled
By Derek Gilna
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a study on the
Bureau of Prisons’ authority to shorten a federal prisoner’s sentence. The
Bureau of Prisons (BOP) was found to have three principal authorities with
respect to sentence reduction: prisoners can earn up to twelve months off for
successfully completing the Residential Drug Abuse Treatment Program (RDAP);
eligible prisoners can be transferred to community corrections for up to the
final 12 months of their sentences; and prisoners can theoretically earn up to
54 days a year for good conduct while incarcerated.
Unfortunately, according to the GAO’s review of data from 2009 to 2011, due to
budgetary constraints, mismanagement or bureaucratic indifference, the BOP does
not fully utilize all of the sentence-reduction resources at its disposal. As a
result, federal prisoners spend more time away from their families and
communities, which costs the taxpayers millions of dollars and contributes to
prison overcrowding.
RDAP consists of coursework and counseling that addresses both drug and alcohol
abuse. According to the GAO the problem of substance abuse among prisoners is
staggering, as the “BOP estimates that 40 percent [of those] entering federal
custody have a substance abuse disorder….” Despite that fact, only 19,000
prisoners were able to participate in the program during the time period
reviewed. The BOP currently houses approximately 217,000 prisoners and operates
at 38 percent over capacity.
Due to overcrowding and other program inefficiencies, such as an inability to
hire staff or fill vacancies in a timely manner, very few prisoners who
complete RDAP receive the full 12-month sentence reduction authorized by
statute and BOP program statements.
According to the GAO, “during fiscal years 2009 through 2011, of the 15,302
[prisoners] … who completed RDAP and were eligible for a sentence reduction,
2,846 (19 percent) received the maximum reduction and the average reduction was
8.0 months.” BOP officials have acknowledged that most RDAP participants do not
receive the full amount of time off because they have less than 12 months to
serve on their sentences by the time they finish the program.
By Derek Gilna
Omar Rezaq, Mohammed Saleh, El-Sayyid Nosair and Ibrahim Elgabrowny, convicted of terrorism-related offenses and confined at the federal supermax ADX facility in Florence, Colorado, filed suit contending they had a liberty interest in “avoiding transfer without due process to the high-security prison.” The district court denied relief, which was affirmed by the Tenth Circuit on April 20, 2012.
ADX, according to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), serves two primary penological interests: 1) “maintaining the safety of both staff and inmates, while eliminating the need to increase the security of other penitentiaries,” and 2) “confin[ing] prisoners under close controls while providing them opportunities to demonstrate progressively responsible behavior … and establish readiness for transfer to a less secure institution.”
In this case the plaintiffs were transferred to ADX from a U.S. Penitentiary, itself a high-security facility, but during the course of the litigation were moved from ADX to one of the BOP’s two Communications Management Units (CMUs). The CMUs are located in Marion, Illinois and Terre Haute, Indiana. [See: PLN, Sept. 2012, p.26]. While CMUs are also highly-controlled, they include the added feature of heavily-restricted communications with the outside world.
Inmates incarcerated within the Federal Bureau of Prisons are entitled to a certain level of medical care throughout the duration of their incarceration. This level of medical care is not the same as one would have access to in the community but does include credentialed healthcare professionals who can provide access to health services that
There are a number of good reasons to employ former federal prisoners. The reasons for and programs available to employers who employ former federal prisoners are examined on the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ website at www.bop.gov/inmate_programs/itb_employing_ex_offenders.jsp, through their “Employing Ex-Offenders” web page. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ website, “Work opportunities provide hope and