Of prisons and pardons, updates on stories to watch amid federal transition

I have blogged recently about on-going challenges and recent transitions at the federal Bureau of Prisons (post here) and also about Prez Trump appointing Alice Marie Johnson (posts here and here).  Here is some newer press coverage on these two posts:

From the Washington Post, “At Federal Bureau of Prisons, senior retirements add to uncertainty.”  An excerpt:

At least six top officials at the Federal Bureau of Prisons have announced plans to retire amid questions within the agency about its direction unTrump’s newly-appointed pardon czar outlines priorities in role: ‘I’m ready’der President Donald Trump, according to the union representing BOP employees and internal communications reviewed by The Washington Post.

The departures could gut veteran leadership at an agency that oversees the nation’s 155,000 federal inmates as it tries to implement Trump’s cuts and directives and faces what the Justice Department inspector general has called an “ongoing crisis” involving staff shortages, crumbling facilities, sexual assault and contraband in prisons.

From Fox News, “Trump’s newly-appointed pardon czar outlines priorities in role: ‘I’m ready’.‘”  From the video transcript:

“I plan to fulfill the trust the President has placed in me.  He has given me specific marching orders and actually…. I’ve been working on this non-stop since my release this is a continuation of the work I’ve already been doing.

“I brought many pardon cases before the President in the past.   One thing i can say about President Trump, he was very interested in their families, he wanted to know if they have a solid reentry program in place.  I wanted to make sure that I brought him the best candidates because what is happening in this nation is really, really sending a message to the world that we care about the least of his people….

“I have to make sure that the communities are ready to receive them.  My number one thing in recommendations is safety in the communities.   I want to make sure they have jobs, that they are ready to go home to.  The ability not only for a second chance but for their best chance of success.

“And then it takes follow-up.  I don’t want to help people come home and then at the same time they are set up for failure.  We’ll be making sure we check in with them not in concert with probation, not to catch them doing something wrong, but to make sure that they have things that will help them make right decisions, that includes making sure they have mental health.  Sometimes when you’ve been in prison for long years, you need to reintegrate.  It affects your mentally.  I want to make sure those people that are coming home have good family support and if they don’t have family, they have good faith support.”