We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.
MONEY AND WASTE – THE BOP LAST WEEK
The Trump Administration’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget wish list proposes a $1.7 billion increase to the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ current $8.1 billion budget, building on the $5 billion extra funding for prison repair and staffing the BOP got in last summer’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Tucked into the $1.7 billion is $152 million allocated for the first year of costs to rebuild Alcatraz as a high-security federal prison facility, consistent with President Trump’s fixation of the symbolism of Alcatraz for a “tough on crime” administration. Last summer, the BOP trumpeted, “Alcatraz will stand as a beacon of American resolve, where the most dangerous offenders face accountability. For the public, it’s a promise fulfilled—a stronger, safer America. And for President Trump, it’s a project that will make our nation proud.”
We’re always proud to spend billions on a new supermax when we have a perfectly serviceable one in the high plains of Colorado.
The BOP could use some of its money more judiciously, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) told the Internet newsroom NOTUS last week. Booker complained that the BOP frequently transfers inmates to halfway houses long past when they are eligible, wasting millions of dollars in interest payments to nonprofits. “And while BOP said it’s making progress on addressing the delays,” NOTUS reports, Booker “said it’s not happening fast enough.”
“At best, this is an infrastructure and process failure; at worst, a blatant disregard for the law and public safety,” Booker, one of the co-sponsors of the First Step Act, said in a statement to NOTUS.
Homeland Security Today, Trump FY2027 Budget Proposes Record Homeland Security Boost, $1.5T Defense Spending Surge (April 5, 2026)
Filter, White House Budget: No Funds for Housing, Some for Reopening Alcatraz (April 9, 2026)
NOTUS, Bureau of Prisons Wastes Millions Holding Inmates It Could Transfer to Halfway Houses (April 7, 2027)
~ Thomas L. Root