Federal Bureau of Prisons

Federal Bureau of Prisons

Seal of the Federal Bureau of Prisons

Flag of the Federal Bureau of Prisons
Agency overview
Headquarters Washington, D.C.
Motto Correctional Excellence. Respect. Integrity.
Employees 39,925
Annual budget 6.445 billion USD (FY 2013)
Agency executive
  • Charles E. Samuels, Jr., Director
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.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP or FBOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency. A subdivision of the U.S. Department of Justice, the BOP is responsible for the administration of the federal prison system. The system handles inmates who have violated, or are accused of violating, federal law. The BOP also holds inmates who have committed felonies in Washington, D.C.

The BOP is also responsible for carrying out all judicially ordered federal executions (other than those carried out under military law) in the United States.

History

The Federal Prison System existed for more than 30 years before the BOP 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,[1] starting with the passage of the "Three Prisons Act' in 1891, which authorized the Federal Government's first three penitentiaries: USP Leavenworth, USP Atlanta, and USP McNeil Island with limited supervision by the United States Department of Justice afterwards.[2]

Until 1907, prison matters were handled by the Justice Department's General Agent. The General Agent was responsible for Justice Department accounts, oversight of internal operations, and certain criminal investigations, as well as prison operations. In 1907, the General Agent's office was abolished, and its functions were distributed among three new offices: the Division of Accounts (which evolved into the Justice Management Division); the Office of the Chief Examiner (which later evolved by 1908, into the Bureau of Investigation, and later by 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 then evolved by 1930 into the Bureau of Prisons).

The exterior of Federal Correctional Institution, Milan

Pursuant to Pub. L. No. 71-218, 46 Stat. 325 (1930), the Bureau of Prisons was established by the U.S. Congress within the U.S. Department of Justice (which itself was created in 1870, to be headed by the Attorney General, whose office was first established in the first Presidential Cabinet under President Washington and created in 1789, along with the Secretaries of State, Treasury and War). The new Prison Bureau was now under the Administration of the 31st President Herbert Hoover, (1874-1964), and was charged with the "management and regulation of all Federal penal and correctional institutions."[3] This responsibility covered the administration of the 11 federal prisons in operation at the time. By the end of the year 1930, the system had already expanded to 14 institutions with 13,000 inmates. By a decade later in 1940, the Federal prison system had 24 institutions with 24,360 incarcerated.

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.[4]

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

Employees

As of 2015, 63% of BOP employees are white, 21% are black, 12% are Hispanic, 2% are Asian and 8% identify themselves as another race. 73% are male.[5]

All BOP employees undergo 200 hours of formal training in their first year of employment. Employees must also complete additional 120 hours of training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, Georgia.[6]

Types of federal prisons

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

The BOP has five security levels. Federal Prison Camps (FPCs), the BOP minimum security facilities, a lack of or a limited amount of perimeter fencing, and a relatively low staff to inmate ratio. Low security Federal Correctional Institutions (FCIs) have double-fenced perimeters, and inmates live in mostly cubicle or dormitory housing. Medium security FCIs and some United States Penitentiaries (USPs) are classified to hold medium security inmates. The medium facilities have strengthened perimeters, which often consist of double fences with electronic detection systems. Medium security facilities mostly have cell housing. Most U.S. Penitentiaries are classified as high security facilities. The perimeters, highly secured, often have reinforced fences or walls. Federal Correctional Complexes (FCCs) are co-locations of BOP facilities with different security levels and/or genders.[7] Some units have small, minimum security camps, known as "satellite camps," adjacent to the main facilities. 28 Bureau of Prisons institutions hold female inmates.

As of 2010 about 15% of the inmates under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Prisons are in facilities operated by third parties. Most of them are in facilities operated by private companies. Others are in facilities operated by local and state governments. Some are in Residential Reentry Centers (RRC) (AKA: Community Corrections Centers) operated by private companies. The bureau uses contract facilities to manage its own prison population. The bureau stated that contract facilities are "especially useful" for housing low-security, specialized groups of people, such as sentenced criminal aliens.[8]

Inmate population

As of 2015, US federal prisons currently hold approximately 205,000 inmates in 122 facilities.

Also as of 2015, 59% of federal inmates are white and 38% are black; 93% are male.[9]

As of August 2013, of the male inmates, 15% were housed in the Northeast, 19% were housed in the Southeast, 16% were housed in the Mid-Atlantic region, 12% were housed in the North Central region, 24% were housed in the South Central region, and 13% were housed in the Western region. Of the female inmates, 9% were housed in the Northeast, 22% were housed in the Southeast, 17% were housed in the Mid-Atlantic region, 11% were housed in the North Central region, 23% were housed in the South Central region, and 18% were housed in the Western region.[10]

As of August 2013, of the male inmates, 13% received sentences while being in the Northeast, 10% of men received them in the Southeast, 11% received them in the Mid-Atlantic region, 12% received them in the North Central region, 28% received them in the South Central region, and 26% were sentenced in the Western region. Of the female inmates, 13% received sentences while being in the Northeast, 13% of women received them in the Southeast, 13% received them in the Mid-Atlantic region, 14% received them in the North Central region, 26% received them in the South Central region, and 22% were sentenced in the Western region.[10]

As of 1999 14,000 prisoners were in 16 federal prisons in the state of Texas.[11]

As of 2010 felons sentenced under D.C. law made up almost 8,000 prisoners, or about 6% of the total BOP population, and they resided in 90 facilities.[12]

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.[13]

Female inmates

As of 2015 27 BOP facilities house women. The BOP has the Mothers and Infants Nurturing Together (MINT) program for women who enter the BOP as inmates while pregnant. The BOP only pays for abortion 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.[14]

With the 2014 repurposing of FCI Danbury for men, female inmates in the Northeast no longer had a prison in their region, and the imbalance of female inmates in regards to their locations in the BOP increased.[10]

Juvenile inmates

As of 2010 typically juveniles sent into BOP 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 BOP, 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, and the District of Columbia (in no particular order).[15]

The BOP contracts with facilities that house juvenile offenders. Title 18 U.S.C. 5039 specifies that "No juvenile committed, whether pursuant to an adjudication of delinquency or conviction for an offense, to the custody of the Attorney General 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.[16]

Death row inmates

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.[17] 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.[18]

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. In addition, strict-sentencing guidelines were adopted in response to rising crime rates in the 1980s and early 1990s, especially for drug-related offenses.[19][20] 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.[21]

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:

"First, despite a slight decrease in the total number of federal inmates in fiscal year (FY) 2014, the Department projects that the costs of the federal prison system will continue to increase in the years ahead, consuming a large share of the Department’s budget. Second, federal prisons remain significantly overcrowded and therefore face a number of important safety and security issues."[22]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Roberts, John W. (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.
  2. ↑ Bosworth, Mary (2002). The U.S. Federal Prison System. p. 4. ISBN 0761923047.
  3. ↑ "Statutory Authority to Contract With the Private Sector for Secure Facilities". United States Department of Justice. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  4. ↑ "History of Lemon Creek Correctional Center" (Archive). Alaska Department of Corrections. Retrieved on December 13, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Staff Statistics". Federal Bureau of Prisons. US Department of Justice. September 26, 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "World-class correctional instruction". Federal Bureau of Prisons: About Our Facilities. US Department of Justice. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "Prison Types & General Information." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  8. ↑ "CI Rivers Contact Information." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
  9. ↑ "Federal Bureau of Prisons: Inmates Statistics". Federal Bureau of Prisons. US Department of Justice. September 26, 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  10. 1 2 3 Arons, et al, p. 6-7.
  11. ↑ 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, accessible with a library card. "Sixteen of the nation's 94 federal prisons are in Texas and house 14,000 convicts, Marler said."
  12. ↑ 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.
  13. ↑ "Transfer Of State Prisoners." United States Department of Justice. Retrieved on April 14, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Female offenders." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on December 13, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Juveniles in the Bureau" (Archive). Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on January 1, 2010.
  16. ↑ "Community Corrections FAQs." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
  17. ↑ "The Bureau Celebrates 80th Anniversary." Federal Bureau of Prisons. May 14, 2010. Retrieved on October 3, 2010.
  18. ↑ Sargent, Hillary and Dialynn Dwyer. "Tsarnaev moved to supermax prison. Here’s how he’ll live" (Archive). Boston Globe. July 17, 2015. Retrieved on December 13, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Federal Bureau of Prisons - Statistics". Federal Bureau of Prisons. US Department of Justice. November 2, 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  20. ↑ 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 2 November 2015.
  21. ↑ Schwartzapfel, Beth (July 23, 2015). "Federal Prisons Could Release 1,000 Times More Drug Offenders Than Obama Did". The Marshall Project. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  22. ↑ Cohen, Andrew (November 17, 2014). "Obama’s Prison Crisis". The Marshall Project. Retrieved 2 November 2015.

Further reading

External links

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