Current:Home > InvestBiden signs bill strengthening oversight of crisis-plagued federal Bureau of Prisons -MoneyBase
Biden signs bill strengthening oversight of crisis-plagued federal Bureau of Prisons
View
Date:2025-04-13 09:09:41
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed into law on Thursday a bill strengthening oversight of the crisis-plagued federal Bureau of Prisons after reporting by The Associated Press exposed systemic corruption, failures and abuse in the federal prison system.
The Federal Prison Oversight Act, which passed the Senate on July 10 and the House in May, establishes an independent ombudsman to field and investigate complaints in the wake of sexual assaults and other criminal misconduct by staff, chronic understaffing, escapes and high-profile deaths.
It also requires that the Justice Department’s inspector general conduct risk-based inspections of all 122 federal prison facilities, provide recommendations to address deficiencies and assign each facility a risk score. Higher-risk facilities would then receive more frequent inspections.
Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters lauded the bill as she testifying before Congress this week. But, she told the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance that the agency will need tens of millions of dollars in additional funding “to effectively respond to the additional oversight and make that meaningful, long-lasting change.”
Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., introduced the oversight bill in 2022 while leading an investigation of the Bureau of Prisons as chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee’s subcommittee on investigations.
Ossoff and the bill’s two other sponsors, Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sens. Mike Braun, R-Ind., launched the Senate Bipartisan Prison Policy Working Group in February 2022 amid turmoil at the Bureau of Prisons, much of it uncovered by AP reporting. Reps. Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., and Lucy McBath, D-Ga., backed the House version of the bill.
Under the legislation, an independent federal prison ombudsman would collect complaints via a secure hotline and online form and then investigate and report to the attorney general and Congress dangerous conditions affecting the health, safety, welfare and rights of inmates and staff.
Along with inspecting prison facilities, the legislation requires the Justice Department’s inspector general to report any findings and recommendations to Congress and the public. The Bureau of Prisons would then need to respond with a corrective action plan within 60 days.
Last year, Inspector General Michael Horowitz launched an unannounced inspection program of federal prison facilities that identified critical shortcomings, including staff shortages in health and education programs, crumbling infrastructure, and moldy and rotten food being served to inmates.
The oversight bill “recognizes the importance of our inspection program,” Horowitz said. “We look forward to working with Congress to expand its impact.”
Peters said the bill “really enhances” what the inspector general has been doing, while also enabling the agency to collect data and spot problems more quickly.
“We’ll be seeing more announced visits — more unannounced visits from the inspector general,” Peters told the House subcommittee. “And then I think the ombudsman position is very powerful as well, for it to have a place where individuals can bring forward complaints and somebody is there to ensure that those complaints are asked and answered.”
Biden signed a separate Ossoff bill into law in December 2022 requiring the Bureau of Prisons to fix broken surveillance cameras and install new ones.
An ongoing Associated Press investigation has uncovered deep, previously unreported flaws within the Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department’s largest law enforcement agency with more than 30,000 employees, 158,000 inmates and an annual budget of about $8 billion.
AP reporting has revealed dozens of escapes, chronic violence, deaths and severe staffing shortages that have hampered responses to emergencies, including inmate assaults and suicides.
In April, the Bureau of Prisons said it was closing its women’s prison in Dublin, California, known as the “rape club,” giving up on attempts to reform the facility after an AP investigation exposed rampant staff-on-inmate sexual abuse.
Last year, two high-profile prisoners were attacked and another killed himself in federal prisons.
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was stabbed 22 times by a fellow prisoner last November at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona. The assailant said he targeted Chauvin because of his notoriety for killing George Floyd, federal prosecutors said.
Disgraced former sports doctor Larry Nassar was stabbed in July 2023 at a federal penitentiary in Florida, and “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski killed himself at a federal medical center in June 2023.
___
Sisak reported from New York.
veryGood! (13688)
Related
- Juan Soto praise of Mets' future a tough sight for Yankees, but World Series goal remains
- Smell that? A strange odor has made its way across southwest Washington state
- Gil Ramirez remains on 'Golden Bachelorette' as Joan hits senior prom. Who left?
- Hoda Kotb says she is leaving NBC’s ‘Today’ show early next year
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- Hoda Kotb announces 'Today' show exit in emotional message: 'Time for me to turn the page'
- How Rooted Books in Nebraska is combatting book bans: 'We really, really care'
- Cardi B Calls Out Estranged Husband Offset as He Accuses Her of Cheating While Pregnant
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- Man who set off explosion at California courthouse had a criminal case there
Ranking
- Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
- Napheesa Collier matches WNBA scoring record as Lynx knock out Diana Taurasi and the Mercury
- Evacuation order lifted for Ohio town where dangerous chemical leak occurred
- Man charged with killing 13-year-old Detroit girl whose body remains missing
- Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
- How Mike Tyson's training videos offer clues (and mystery) to Jake Paul bout
- College football Week 5 predictions for every Top 25 game start with Georgia-Alabama picks
- 'Megalopolis' review: Francis Ford Coppola's latest is too weird for words
Recommendation
Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
Coach named nearly 400 times in women's soccer abuse report no longer in SafeSport database
Wisconsin district attorney pursuing investigation into mayor’s removal of absentee ballot drop box
Powerball winning numbers for September 25: Jackpot at $223 million
Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
Opinion: Pac-12 revival deserves nickname worthy of cheap sunglasses
Malik Nabers is carrying Giants with his record rookie pace, and bigger spotlight awaits
Harris makes scandal-plagued Republican the star of her campaign to win North Carolina