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“Data Collected Under the First Step Act, 2019”

By Douglas Berman

The title of this post is the title of this notable new document that the Bureau of Justice Statistics released this morning.  The document reports a range of data about the federal prison system, and here are excerpts from the start of this document:

The First Step Act of 2018 (FSA) requires the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), through its National Prisoner Statistics program, to collect data from the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) on a number of topics and to report these data annually.  BJS is required to report on selected characteristics of prisoners, including marital, veteran, citizenship, and English-speaking status; educational levels; medical conditions; and participation in treatment programs.  Also, BJS is required to report some facility-level statistics, such as the number of assaults on staff by prisoners, prisoners’ violations that resulted in time-credit reductions, and selected facility characteristics related to accreditation, on-site health care, remote learning, video conferencing, and costs of prisoners’ phone calls.

The statistics in this report are for calendar year 2018, which is prior to the enactment of the FSA, and were collected in 2019.  Data for 2019 will be available from BOP in the second half of 2020.  Unless otherwise noted, all counts in this report include federal prisoners held in correctional facilities operated either by the BOP or by private companies contracted by the BOP.  Other reporting required by the FSA, such as the establishment of new methods by BOP to score risk-assessment or recidivism-reduction programs, will be included in BJS’s annual reports when data become available.

Key findings….

  • At year-end 2018, a total of 80,599 prisoners — or 45% of all BOP prisoners — were the parent, step-parent, or guardian of a minor child (dependents age 20 or younger, per BOP definition).
  • At year-end 2018, a total of 51,436 prisoners (about 29% of all BOP prisoners) had not attained a high-school diploma, general equivalency degree (GED), or other equivalent certificate before entering prison.
  • At year-end 2018, a total of 23,567 prisoners identified English as their second language (13% of all BOP prisoners).
  • At year-end 2018, a total of 33,457 prisoners were non-citizens (19% of all BOP prisoners)….
  • In 2018, all 122 BOP-operated facilities had the capability for prisoners to use video-conference technology to participate in judicial hearings, foreign embassy consultations, reentry-related communication from probation offices, pre-reentry preparation, disciplinary hearings, and the Institution Hearing Program….
  • A total of 87,628 prohibited acts occurred in BOP-operated facilities during 2018, of which 39,897 were committed in medium-security facilities (45%).
  • A total of 55,361 individual prisoners committed the 87,628 prohibited acts.
  • During 2018, there were 1,270 physical assaults on BOP staff by prisoners, with 21 of the assaults resulting in serious injury to the staff member.