US House votes, with overwhleming bipartisan support, for “Federal Prison Oversight Act”

As reported here at Reason, the US House of Representatives prove last night that bipartisanship is not entirely dead: “The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday night by a nearly unanimous vote to create independent oversight of the scandal-ridden federal prison system.”  Here is more (with links from the original):

By a vote of 392-2, the House passed the Federal Prison Oversight Act, a bill introduced by Reps. Lucy McBath (D–Ga.) and Kelly Armstrong (R–N.D.) that would require the Department of Justice’s inspector general to conduct detailed inspections of each of the 122 facilities in the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) system, and, more significantly, create an independent Justice Department ombudsman to investigate complaints from inmates and staff.

“Incarcerated Americans should not fear death when they enter our Federal prison system, and correctional officers should not fear for their safety in their workplace,” McBath said in a press release.  “Our Federal prisons must serve as institutions that rehabilitate and prepare Americans for reentry into society, and that cannot happen without putting meaningful accountability measures in place.”

A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate by Sens. Jon Ossoff (D–Ga.), Mike Braun (R–Ind.), and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D–Ill.).

The Bureau of Prisons has been dogged by chronic understaffing, crumbling facilities, and scandal.  There have been high-profile deaths like Whitey Bulger and Jeffrey Epstein.  Reason has documented numerous cases of atrocious medical neglect, including one that a federal judge called “inconsistent with the moral values of a civilized society.” And the BOP announced in April that it was shutting down a women’s prison where eight employees so far, including a former warden, have since been convicted or pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting incarcerated women under their control. 

The legislation was first introduced in 2022, shortly after a Senate committee released the results of an investigation into widespread corruption and abuse at a federal prison complex in Atlanta.  Congressional investigators found that senior leadership at both the complex and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) had been aware of the problems for years but failed to act.

“My bipartisan Senate investigations of corruption, abuse, and misconduct in the Federal prison system have revealed an urgent need to overhaul Federal prison oversight,” Ossoff said in a press release. “I now urge Senate leadership to bring our bipartisan bill for a vote and send it to the President’s desk.”

The cover-up culture exposed by the Senate is widespread and deeply rooted in the BOP, and it operates against both inmates and whistleblower employees.  In 2021, the BOP closed down a minimum-security women’s camp in Florida.  A Reason investigation detailed how a cadre of guards at the camp abused incarcerated women with impunity for years, and how those guards were allowed to retire and escape prosecution, despite giving sworn statements to investigators admitting to assaulting inmates.