Federal Bureau of Prisons

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Federal Bureau of Prisons
Seal of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.svg
Seal of the Federal Bureau of Prisons
Flag of the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons.svg
Flag of the Federal Bureau of Prisons
Agency overview
Formed1930;89 years ago (1930)
Headquarters Federal Home Loan Bank Board Building
Washington, D.C., U.S.
MottoCorrectional Excellence. Respect. Integrity.
Employees35,570
Annual budget7.3 billion USD (FY 2016) [1]
Agency executives
Parent agency Department of Justice
Website www.bop.gov
The Federal Home Loan Bank Board Building, which houses the main office of the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington, D.C. Federal Home Loan Bank Board Building 1.jpg
The Federal Home Loan Bank Board Building, which houses the main office of the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington, D.C.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is the federal agency under the Department of Justice responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals. The Bureau has five security levels:

Contents

Employees are trained at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) in Glynco, Georgia.

Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers school

The Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) serves as an interagency law enforcement training body for 91 United States government federal law enforcement agencies. The stated mission of FLETC is to "...train those who protect our homeland". It also provides training to state, local, campus, tribal, and international law enforcement agencies. Through the Rural Policing Institute (RPI) and the Office of State and Local Training, it provides tuition-free and low-cost training to state, local, campus and tribal law enforcement agencies.

The Bureau is currently headed by director Kathleen Hawk Sawyer. [2]

Kathleen Hawk Sawyer American psychologist

Kathleen Hawk Sawyer was the first female director of the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons. She served as director between 1992 and 2003. On August 19, 2019, Attorney General William Barr re-appointed her as director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

History

The federal prison system had existed for more than 30 years before the Bureau was established. Although its wardens functioned almost autonomously, the Superintendent of Prisons, a Department of Justice official in Washington, was nominally in charge of federal prisons, [3] starting with the passage of the "Three Prisons Act' in 1891, which authorized the first three federal penitentiaries: USP Leavenworth, USP Atlanta, and USP McNeil Island with limited supervision by the Department of Justice. [4]

United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth civilian federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, near Fort Leavenworth

The United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates that is located in northeast Kansas. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. It also includes a satellite federal prison camp (FPC) for minimum-security male offenders.

United States Penitentiary, Atlanta medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Atlanta, Georgia, USA

The United States Penitentiary, Atlanta is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Atlanta, Georgia. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The facility also has a detention center for pretrial and holdover inmates, and a satellite prison camp for minimum-security male inmates.

McNeil Island Corrections Center former prison

The McNeil Island Corrections Center (MICC) was a prison in the northwest United States, operated by the Washington State Department of Corrections. It was on McNeil Island in Puget Sound in unincorporated Pierce County, near Steilacoom, Washington.

Until 1907, prison matters were handled by the Justice Department General Agent, with responsibility for Justice Department accounts, oversight of internal operations, and certain criminal investigations, as well as prison operations. In 1907, the General Agent was abolished, and its functions were distributed between three new offices: the Division of Accounts (which evolved into the Justice Management Division); the Office of the Chief Examiner (which evolved in 1908 into the Bureau of Investigation, and in the early 1920s into the Federal Bureau of Investigation); and the Office of the Superintendent of Prisons and Prisoners, later called the Superintendent of Prisons (which evolved in 1930 into the Bureau of Prisons).

Federal Bureau of Investigation Governmental agency belonging to the United States Department of Justice

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, the FBI is also a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. A leading U.S. counter-terrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative organization, the FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes.

The exterior of Federal Correctional Institution, Milan FCIMilan.jpg
The exterior of Federal Correctional Institution, Milan

The Bureau of Prisons was established within the Department of Justice in 1930, by the United States Congress, [5] and was charged with the "management and regulation of all Federal penal and correctional institutions." [6] This responsibility covered the administration of the 11 federal prisons in operation at the time. By the end of 1930, the system had expanded to 14 institutions with 13,000 inmates, and a decade later in 1940, the system had 24 institutions with 24,360 incarcerated.

United States Congress Legislature of the United States

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, and consists of two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a gubernatorial appointment. Congress has 535 voting members: 435 representatives and 100 senators. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members representing Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia in addition to its 435 voting members. Although they cannot vote in the full house, these members can address the house, sit and vote in congressional committees, and introduce legislation.

The state of Alaska assumed jurisdiction over its corrections on January 3, 1959, using the Alaska Department of Corrections. Prior to statehood, the BOP had correctional jurisdiction over Alaska. [7]

As a result of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 and subsequent legislation which pushed for longer sentences, less judicial discretion, and more harsh sentences for drug-related offenses, the federal inmate population doubled in the 1980s and again in the 1990s. The population increase has decelerated since the early 2000s but the federal inmate population continues to grow. [8]

The National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997 transferred responsibility for adult felons convicted of violating District of Columbia laws to the Bureau.

Administration and employees

The current director of the Bureau of Prisons is Kathleen Hawk Sawyer. [9]

As of 2015, 63% of Bureau employees are white, 22% are black, 12% are Hispanic, 2% are Asian and 1% identify as another race. 73% are male. [10] There is roughly one corrections officer for every 10 prisoners. [11]

All Bureau employees undergo 200 hours of formal training in their first year of employment and an additional 120 hours of training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) in Glynco, Georgia. [12]

Types of federal prisons

The United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, a unit for male prisoners requiring medical care. USMCEntrancewayMissouri.jpg
The United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, a unit for male prisoners requiring medical care.

The Bureau has five security levels:

Some units have small, adjacent, minimum-security "satellite camps". Twenty-eight institutions hold female inmates. As of 2010 about 15% of Bureau inmates are in facilities operated by third parties, mostly private companies, whilst others are in local and state facilities. Some are in privately operated Residential Reentry Centers (RRC) (or Community Corrections Centers). The Bureau uses contract facilities to manage its own prison population because they are "especially useful" for housing low-security, specialized groups of people, such as sentenced criminal aliens. [14]

Inmate population

As of 2018, the Bureau was responsible for approximately 183,000 inmates, [15] in 122 facilities. [16] This is a substantial decrease from 2013. 25% of inmates were white, 27% were Hispanic and 38% were black; 93% were male. [17] 75% of inmates were between the ages of 26 and 50. [18]

As of 1999, 14,000 prisoners were in 16 federal prisons in the state of Texas. [19]

As of 2010, almost 8,000 felons in 90 facilities, sentenced under D.C. laws, made up about 6% of the total Bureau population. [20]

As of October 2016, 46% of inmates were incarcerated for drugs offences. [21]

The BOP receives all prisoner transfer treaty inmates sent from foreign countries, even if their crimes would have been, if committed in the United States, tried in state, DC, or territorial courts. [22]

Female inmates

As of 2015, 27 Bureau facilities house women. The Bureau has a Mothers and Infants Nurturing Together (MINT) program for women who enter the system as inmates while pregnant. The Bureau pays for abortion only if it is life-threatening for the woman, but it may allow for abortions in non-life-threatening cases if non-BOP funds are used. [23]

In 2017, four Democratic Senators, including Kamala Harris, introduced a bill explicitly requiring tampons and pads to be free for female prisoners. In August 2017, the Bureau introduced a memorandum requiring free tampons and pads. The previous 1996 memorandum stated "products for female hygiene needs shall be available" without requiring them to be free of charge. [24]

A 2018 review by the Evaluation and Inspections Division, Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Justice, found the Bureau's programming and policy decisions did not fully consider the needs of female inmates in the areas of trauma treatment programming, pregnancy programming, and feminine hygiene. [25]

Juvenile inmates

As of 2010 typically juveniles sent into Bureau custody are between 17 and 20, must have been under 18 at the time of the offense and had been convicted of sex-related offenses. This is because the most severe crimes committed on Indian Reservations are usually taken to federal court. According to the Bureau, most of the juveniles it receives had committed violent crimes and had "an unfavorable history of responding to interventions and preventive measures in the community." As of that year most federal juvenile inmates were from Arizona, Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, and the District of Columbia (in no particular order). [26]

The Bureau contracts with facilities that house juvenile offenders. Title 18 U.S.C. 5039 specifies that "No juvenile committed...may be placed or retained in an adult jail or correctional institution in which he has regular contact with adults incarcerated because they have been convicted of a crime or are awaiting trial on criminal charges." The definition includes secure facilities and community-based correctional facilities. Federally sentenced juveniles may be moved into federal adult facilities at certain points; juveniles sentenced as adults are moved into adult facilities when they turn 18. Juveniles sentenced as juveniles are moved into adult facilities when they turn 21. [27]

Death row inmates

United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute, the location of the federal death row for men and the federal execution chamber TerreHauteUSP.jpg
United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute, the location of the federal death row for men and the federal execution chamber

The Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 reinstituted the federal death penalty. [28] On July 19, 1993, the federal government designated the United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute in Indiana as the site where male federal inmates sentenced to death would be held and where federal inmates of both genders would be executed. The Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Texas holds the female inmates who have been sentenced to death.

Some male death row inmates are instead held at ADX Florence and one in USMCFP Springfield. [29]

As of November 2019, 62 inmates are slated for death row. [30]

Overpopulation and responses

Parole was abolished for federal inmates in 1987 and inmates must serve at least 85% of their original sentence before being considered for good-behavior release.[ citation needed ] In addition, the current, extremely strict, sentencing guidelines were adopted in response to rising crime rates in the 1980s and early 1990s, especially for drug-related offenses. [31] [32] US violent crime has dropped since then, but some analysts and activists believe that other factors played a much more significant part in falling crime rates. In addition, they hold that strict federal sentencing guidelines have led to overcrowding and needlessly incarcerated thousands of non-violent drug offenders who would be better served by drug treatment programs. [33]

The yearly increases in the federal inmate population have raised concerns from criminal justice experts and even among DOJ officials themselves. Michael Horowitz, the DOJ Inspector General, wrote a memorandum concerning this issue:

See also

Related Research Articles

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Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury Prison facility

The Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury is a low-security United States federal prison for male and female inmates in Danbury, Connecticut. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The facility also has an adjacent satellite prison camp that houses minimum-security female offenders.

United States Penitentiary, Atwater prison near Atwater, California

The United States Penitentiary, Atwater is a high-security United States federal prison for male inmates in California. The institution also includes a minimum-security satellite camp. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.

United States Penitentiary, Coleman high-security United States federal prison complex for male inmates in Florida

The United States Penitentiary, Coleman I and II are high-security United States federal prisons for male inmates in Florida. It is part of the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex and is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. USP Coleman 1 was opened in 2001 and in 2004 Clark Construction completed a major 555,000 square-foot additional component for USP Coleman II.

United States Penitentiary, Marion United States Federal Prison

The United States Penitentiary, Marion is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Illinois. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The facility also has an adjacent satellite prison camp that houses minimum security male offenders.

United States Penitentiary, Florence High Federal Prison

The United States Penitentiary, Florence High is a high-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Colorado. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. USP Florence High is part of the Florence Federal Correctional Complex, which is situated on 49 acres (20 ha) of land and houses different facilities with varying degrees of security. It is named "Florence High" in order to differentiate it from the United States Penitentiary, Florence ADX, the federal supermax prison located in the same complex.

Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute United States federal prison complex

The Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute is a United States federal prison complex for male inmates in Terre Haute, Indiana. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice, and consists of two facilities:

United States Penitentiary, Hazelton high-security United States federal prison for male inmates in West Virginia

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United States Penitentiary, Victorville

The United States Penitentiary, Victorville, CA is a high-security United States federal prison for male inmates in California. It is part of the Victorville Federal Correctional Complex and is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.

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Incarceration in Canada is one of the main forms of punishment, rehabilitation, or both for the commission of an indictable offense and other offenses.

Federal Prison Camp, Florence , also known as Florence ADMAX Satellite Prison Camp, is a minimum-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Florence, Colorado. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ "FY 2016 Budget Summary" (PDF). U.S. Justice Department.
  2. ↑ Balsamo, Michael (August 19, 2019). "Bureau of Prisons chief Hugh Hurwitz removed after Jeffrey Epstein's death". Chicago Sun-Times . Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  3. ↑ John W. Roberts (1997). "The Federal Bureau of Prisons: Its Mission, Its History, and Its Partnership with Probation and Pretrial Services". Federal Probation. 61: 53. ISSN   0014-9128. OCLC   2062391.
  4. ↑ Bosworth, Mary (2002). The U.S. Federal Prison System. p. 4. ISBN   978-0761923046.
  5. ↑ Pub.L.   71–218 , 46  Stat.   325 , enacted May 14, 1930
  6. ↑ "Statutory Authority to Contract With the Private Sector for Secure Facilities". US Department of Justice. Archived from the original on September 8, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
  7. ↑ "History of Lemon Creek Correctional Center" (Archive). Alaska Department of Corrections. Retrieved on December 13, 2015.
  8. ↑ Delgado, Marlo (July 2016). "Federal Bureau of Prisons". JailData.com. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  9. ↑ "BOP: New Director Sworn In". www.bop.gov. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Staff Statistics". Federal Bureau of Prisons. US Department of Justice. October 29, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  11. ↑ Steve Reilly (May 6, 2018). "Prison violence rises as budgets slashed". USA Today. pp. 1A, 2A. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  12. ↑ "World-class correctional instruction". Federal Bureau of Prisons: About Our Facilities. US Department of Justice. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Prison Types & General Information Archived September 15, 2012, at the Wayback Machine ." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  14. ↑ "CI Rivers Contact Information." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
  15. ↑ "Population Statistics". Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  16. ↑ "BOP: Our Locations". www.bop.gov. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Federal Bureau of Prisons: Inmates Statistics". Federal Bureau of Prisons. US Department of Justice. April 16, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  18. ↑ "BOP Statistics: Average Inmate Age". www.bop.gov. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  19. ↑ Tedford, Deborah. "Opening of U.S. detention center delivers some much-needed space." Houston Chronicle . October 16, 1999. p. A35 MetFront. NewsBank Record: 3171576. Available from the Houston Public Library. "Sixteen of the nation's 94 federal prisons are in Texas and house 14,000 convicts, Marler said."
  20. ↑ Fornaci, Philip (Director of the DC Prisoners' Project). "Federal Bureau of Prisons Oversight Hearing" (Archive). Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary. July 21, 2009. Retrieved on February 5, 2016.
  21. ↑ "BOP Statistics: Inmate Offenses". www.bop.gov. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Transfer Of State Prisoners." United States Department of Justice. Retrieved on April 14, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Female offenders." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on December 13, 2015.
  24. ↑ Tolan, Casey (August 11, 2017). "Bureau of Prisons requires free tampons for female inmates, following Harris bill". Mercury News . Retrieved August 12, 2017.
  25. ↑ Review of the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Management of Its Female Inmate Population. Washington, DC: Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Justice, Evaluation and Inspections Division. September 2018. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  26. ↑ "Juveniles in the Bureau". Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on January 1, 2010.
  27. ↑ "Community Corrections FAQs Archived December 2, 2010, at the Wayback Machine ." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved September 14, 2010.[ dead link ]
  28. ↑ "The Bureau Celebrates 80th Anniversary Archived May 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine ." Federal Bureau of Prisons. May 14, 2010. Retrieved on October 3, 2010.[ dead link ]
  29. ↑ Sargent, Hillary; Dwyer, Dialynn (July 17, 2015). "Tsarnaev moved to supermax prison. Here's how he'll live". Boston Globe . Archived from the original on |archive-url= requires |archive-date= (help). Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  30. ↑ "BOP Statistics: Sentences Imposed". www.bop.gov. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  31. ↑ "Federal Bureau of Prisons – Statistics". Federal Bureau of Prisons. US Department of Justice. November 2, 2015. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  32. ↑ La Vigne, Nancy; Samuels, Julie (December 12, 2012). "The Growth & Increasing Cost of the Federal Prison System: Drivers and Potential Solutions" (PDF). urban.org. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  33. ↑ Schwartzapfel, Beth (July 23, 2015). "Federal Prisons Could Release 1,000 Times More Drug Offenders Than Obama Did". The Marshall Project. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  34. ↑ Cohen, Andrew (November 17, 2014). "Obama's Prison Crisis". The Marshall Project. Retrieved November 2, 2015.

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