We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.
BILL INTRODUCED TO SPEED BOP CORRECTIONAL OFFICER HIRING
Representatives Glenn Grothman (R-WI) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY) last month reintroduced the BOP Direct-Hire Authority Act (H.R. 3342), legislation intended to alleviate BOP staffing shortages by circumventing Office of Personnel Management procedures that can prolong the onboarding process for new hires to over six months.
Stefanik is chair of the House Republican Leadership Committee.
“One of the main hurdles in President Trump’s effort to reopen Alcatraz will be the ability to quickly hire Correctional Officers,” Grothman said in a press release. “That is why Congress needs to quickly pass this legislation to help the federal prison system which has been understaffed and overwhelmed for years.”
A prior version of the bill was introduced last December as H.R. 6628 but died when the 118th Congress expired at the end of 2024.
Streamlining the process to hire correctional officers does not alter the desireability of the BOP as a career path. The agency continues to rank at the bottom of federal agencies as an employer, putting up dismal marks on quality of leadership, pay, recognition, and work-life balance. Leading the horse to water could get easier with passage of the BOP Direct-Hire Authority Act, but no one is floating any ideas on how to make the horse drink.
In an unrelated but dramatically illustrative example of the problem, the BOP employees union at FCI Phoenix last week bought a billboard ad near the prison demanding that the warden and regional director be fired.
The Arizona Republic reported that American Federation of Government Employees Local 3954 has accused prison leadership of failing to protect the lives of the people who work in the prisons.
H.R. 3342, BOP Direct-Hire Authority Act
The Sun, Stefanik supports reintroduction of BOP Direct-Hire Authority Act (May 14, 2025)
Arizona Republic, Phoenix federal prison union members call for warden, regional director to be removed (June 3, 2025)
– Thomas L. Root