Tag Archives: Blackburn

BOP Says CARES Act Worked, Suggests Support for New Program – Update for April 8, 2024

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We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

BOP STUDY SHOWS CARES ACT REDUCED RECIDIVISM

caresbear231116You may remember a Senate effort last fall, S.J.Res. 47, to force those still on CARES Act home confinement back to prison. That measure, sponsored by Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and co-sponsored by 27 other Republicans, was sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee where it is languishing with no hearings and no prospects for being reported out.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) declared at the time that extending CARES Act home confinement — especially now that federal inmates have been vaccinated or offered the vaccine for COVID-19 — “betrays victims and law-enforcement agencies that trusted the federal government to keep convicted criminals away from the neighborhoods that the offenders once terrorized.”

cotton190502Good ol’ Tom. Every federal prisoner has an inner rapist/drug dealer just waiting to erupt upon release from prison to terrorize women and children.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons issued a study last week showing that “the CARES Act’s provision for early and extended home confinement did not negatively impact recidivism rates. In fact, it may have contributed to a reduction in post-release recidivism, offering a promising direction for justice-involved stakeholders seeking effective strategies to reduce incarceration and its associated costs, while also promoting public safety and successful reintegration into society.”

The study determined that prisoners with a CARES assignment failed no more or less than comparable persons in home confinement (during the final 6 months/10% of their sentences). The CARES Act and were less likely to recidivate in the year following release from custody (3.7% vs 5.0%) and marginally less likely to be re­arrested for violent offenses (0.9% vs 1.3%). And those with a CARES assignment fail less often than comparable persons after release.

BOP Director Colette Peters said, “This study suggests that reducing incarceration for appropriate people through measures like early and extended home confinement does not compromise public safety and in fact, suggests it may contribute to successful reintegration into society.”

recidivism240408Writing in Forbes, Walter Pavlo said, “The BOP intends to build on the information from this study and others on home confinement. Prisons remain crowded and many inmates are serving longer sentences in expensive institutions than are necessary. Home confinement, which is a major benefit to both inmates and taxpayers, is a big part of the First Step Act. Whether the BOP can fully implement the program to get inmates out of prisons and into the community faster remains a challenge.”

BOP, CARES Act: Analysis of Recidivism (March 29, 2024)

BOP, CARES Act Shows Promise in Reducing Recidivism, Reinforcing the Benefits of Reduced Incarceration (March 29, 2024)

Forbes, Bureau of Prisons Releases Encouraging Study on CARES Act (March 30, 2024)

– Thomas L. Root

President Vows to Block GOP Plan to Lock Up People Remaining on CARES Act Home Confinement – Update for December 1, 2023

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We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

BIDEN THREATENS VETO OF BLACKBURN EFFORT TO CANCEL CARES ACT HOME CONFINEMENT

return161227The White House has threatened to veto a Republican-sponsored Senate resolution that would send about 3,000 federal offenders who were released to home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic back to prison.

NPR reported yesterday that as early as next week, the Senate could vote on S.J.Res. 47, sponsored by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and more than two dozen other Republican senators. The resolution would negate Dept. of Justice rules that permit over 3,000 federal prisoners sent to home confinement during the COVID pandemic by the CARES Act to complete their sentences at home absent misbehavior.

The resolution is brought under the Congressional Review Act, legislation passed 27 years ago to create a process for Congress to overturn federal agency rules.

Blackburn’s office told NPR that “the COVID national emergency is over, and criminals need to be behind bars, not on the streets.” NPR reported that DOJ says only 27 of the 13,000 prisoners released to extended home confinement during COVID were rearrested or returned to prison custody for committing a new crime.” Blackburn’s office alleges that some of those 27 people “face charges for assault, drugs and human smuggling,” according to NPR, “but analysts who follow the criminal justice system say the people released during the pandemic have a very low recidivism rate – less than 1%, much smaller than the rate for all federal prisoners, according to government statistics.”

Writing three weeks ago in The Hill, Sarah Anderson of the R Street Institute noted that CARES Act home confinement recidivism “is a less than 0.2 percent recidivism rate, which is less than 1/200th of the federal government’s overall self-reported recidivism rate of 43 percent. Put differently, a staggering 99.8 percent of those sent to home confinement under the CARES Act succeeded in establishing and maintaining law-abiding lives outside of federal brick-and-mortar custody. Advocates of public safety and the rule of law should count that as a bonafide win.”

veto231201In a statement of administration policy released Wednesday, the Office of Management and Budget said flatly that President Biden will veto S.J.Res. 47 if it makes it to his desk. OMB cited the extraordinarily low recidivism rate among those released to home confinement and the reduced cost to taxpayers compared to incarceration:

Of the over 13,000 people released to home confinement under the CARES Act, less than one percent have committed a new offense—mostly for nonviolent, low-level offenses—and all were returned to prison as a result. Moreover, since home confinement is less than half the cost of housing someone in prison, this program has saved taxpayers millions of dollars and eased the burden on [Federal Bureau of Prisons] staff so they can focus on the higher risk and higher need people in Federal prison.

Daniel Landsman, Vice President of Policy for FAMM, said, “Our federal prison system is approaching crisis level with understaffing and its ability to properly care for and keep safe both the people who live and the people who work in their facilities… [T]he thought of adding, in one fell swoop, 3,000 or so people back into the population when we’re already struggling to adequately staff and keep people safe just doesn’t make sense to me.”

recividists160314Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) issued a policy brief last June that declared “CARES Act home confinement has been a resounding success in safely reintegrating individuals into the community without compromising public safety.”

The effect of a Biden veto would probably be to kill S.J.Res. 47. With the Democrats controlling the Senate and the Republicans having a razor-thin majority in the House, the likelihood of both chambers to rustle up a two-thirds majority to override a Biden veto is extremely remote.

S.J.Res. 47, Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Justice relating to Office of the Attorney General; Home Confinement Under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (October 30, 2023)

Reason, Biden Threatens To Block GOP Plan To Send 3,000 People Back to Federal Prison (November 30, 2023)

Reason, 11,000 Federal Inmates Were Sent Home During the Pandemic. Only 17 Were Arrested for New Crimes (August 22, 2022)

Dept of Justice, Office of the Attorney General; Home Confinement Under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, 88 FR 19830 (April 4, 2023)

Office of Management and Budget, Statement of Administration Policy: S.J. Res. 47 – A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Justice relating to “Office of the Attorney General; Home Confinement Under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act” (November 30, 2023)

Sen Cory Booker (D-NJ), CARES Act Home Confinement – Three Years Later (June 23, 2023)

The Hill, The Senate should codify — not reject— CARES Act’s home confinement policy (November 9, 2023)

NPR, Hundreds released from prison during pandemic may be sent back under Senate proposal (November 30, 2023)

– Thomas L. Root

Demagoguing Home Confinement – Update for November 16, 2023

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We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

SENATE REPUBLICANS SEEK TO CORRAL CARES ACT TERRORISTS

Just when CARES Act prisoners still serving home confinement thought it was safe for them to believe they would remain at home, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R–TN) has introduced S.J.Res. 47, legislation that would reverse a DOJ rule allowing prisoners on CARES Act home confinement to complete their sentences at home.

caresbear231116On October 30, Blackburn and 26 co-sponsoring Senators introduced the bill under the Congressional Review Act, 5 USC Ch. 8, which would overturn a Justice Department rule allowing some federal offenders to remain under house arrest after the end of the government’s COVID-19 emergency declaration.

“While there are certainly plenty of legitimate issues with the BOP that merit senators focusing oversight on the Bureau, CARES Act home confinement is an example of a program that is working—rehabilitating people while holding them accountable, all while driving down costs and maintaining community safety,” Kevin Ring, vice president of criminal justice advocacy at Arnold Ventures, a private philanthropy group, said.

cotton171226Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) – whose opposition to the First Step Act was responsible for getting those prisoners with 18 USC § 924(c) convictions excluded from obtaining FSA credits for successfully completing recidivism reduction programs written into the law –declared that extending CARES Act home confinement (especially now that every single federal inmate has been vaccinated or offered the vaccine for COVID-19) “betrays victims and law-enforcement agencies that trusted the federal government to keep convicted criminals away from the neighborhoods that the offenders once terrorized.”

There’s nothing quite as easy to demagogue as crime and punishment.

Never mind that the Bureau of Prisons has refused CARES Act home confinement to anyone convicted of sex crimes, terrorism, violent offenses, or even those who had a violent disciplinary report while in prison. CARES Act home confinees had to have low or minimum security status and be at low or minimum risk of recidivism under the Dept. of Justice PATTERN scoring system.

The Congressional Review Act, which was passed 27 years ago, creates a process for Congress to overturn federal agency rules. In 2017, a Republican-controlled Congress used the CRA to invalidate dozens of Obama-era federal rules. Any member of Congress can introduce a CRA joint resolution of disapproval, which is referred to the relevant Senate or House committee. A CRA resolution must be passed by a majority in both the House and Senate and then signed by the president. If the President vetoes the CRA resolution, Congress can override the veto with a two-thirds majority in both houses.

flyelephantgun231116Given that the Biden Administration pushed the new rule and the Senate is controlled by Democrats, passage of S.J.Res. 47 is doubtful. If it would pass both houses, but Biden vetoes it, there is no chance two-thirds of Congress would override it.

Last week, BOP Director Colette Peters told a House subcommittee that “as of August 31, 2023… less than 0.05% of people [on home confinement] have been returned to custody for committing new crimes.” Given that statistic, S.J.Res. 47 seems a lot like shooting a fly with an elephant gun.

S.J.Res. 47, Congressional disapproval of the rule submitted by the Dept of Justice relating to CARES Act (October 30, 2023)

Reason, Senate Resolution Would Send Federal Offenders Back to Prison 3 Years After Being Released to Home Confinement (November  6, 2023)

National Health Law Program, Congressional Review Act (October 2020)

– Thomas L. Root

Is Senate Fed Up With BOP? – Update for July 13, 2023

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We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, SENATORS MAY BE TELLING BOP

Phineas T. Barnum reputedly said, “there’s no such thing as bad publicity.” But P.T. Barnum never served as Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

badpublicity230714It’s been a rough ride. First, the Dept. of Justice Inspector General has issued a scathing report of BOP mismanagement and maladministration that led to the suicide of high-value celebrity prisoner Jeffrey Epstein and the murder of Whitey Bulger. There has been a steady stream of death-of-a-thousand-cuts reports of BOP employees being convicted of everything from inmate sexual abuse to cellphone smuggling to COVID fraud. The Washington Post fumed last week that “regardless of the offense, any unnatural death in custody is a failure of the prison system.”

This week has seen well-loathed U.S. Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar – serving an endless string of life sentences for an endless string of revolting assaults of women gymnasts – stabbed multiple times at USP Coleman by attackers unknown. BOP employees promptly blamed the attack on a short-staffed facility.

It wasn’t long before the Associated Press reported that Nassar was attacked inside his cell, “a blind spot for prison surveillance cameras that only record common areas and corridors.” The AP said, “In federal prison parlance, because of the lack of video, it is known as an ‘unwitnessed event.’”

It isn’t clear that even full implementation of the Prison Camera Reform Act (Pub.L. 117-321), hardly prevented Capitol Hill from finally having had enough of the BOP follies.

Enough is more than enough. After several half-hearted attempts to address BOP management weaknesses, a bipartisan group of senators yesterday announced the introduction of the Federal Prison Accountability Act of 2023 (no bill number assigned yet), intended to increase oversight at federal prisons.

FPAA would require the president to seek Senate advice and consent when appointing the BOP director, who would be appointed to a single, 10-year term. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said requiring Senate confirmation of the BOP director would “bring badly needed transparency and accountability to the federal prison system.”

“The Director of the Bureau of Prisons leads thousands of employees and expends a massive budget,” Grassley said in a press release. “It’s a big job with even bigger consequences should mismanagement or abuse weasel its way into the system.”

sexualassault211014It took awhile to get here. Following an 8-month investigation last year that revealed rampant sexual abuse of female prisoners and a failure to prevent recurring sexual abuse, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) introduced the Federal Prison Oversight Act (S.4988) late last year. The bill – which would have required the DOJ Inspector General to conduct inspections of the BOP’s 122 correctional facilities, provide recommendations to problems and assign each facility a risk score – was window-dressing, a political statement with no chance of passage in the waning days of the 117th Congress.

Three months ago, however, Ossoff introduced a revised version of FPOA (S.1401), with Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) filing a companion bill in the House (H.R.3109). The new FPOA would have, among other actions, created a hotline for prisoners to report misconduct.

mismanagement210419Now, three months later, the latest effort to reform federal prisons would subject the BOP director to the same congressional scrutiny as other law enforcement agency chiefs such as the director of the FBI, which Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said is needed. “The Director of the Bureau of Prisons oversees more than 34,000 employees and a multi-billion dollar budget, and should be subject to Senate review and confirmation as well,” McConnell said.

Grassley introduced FPAA along with McConnell and Sens Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Lee (R-UT), John Cornyn (R-TX), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mike Braun (R-IN) and Ossoff. With that kind of legislative horsepower behind it – not to mention black eyes like Jeffrey Epstein, Whitey Bulger and Larry Nasser – it’s safe to predict that Director Colette Peters may be the last BOP Director to not be approved by the Senate.

The Hill, Bipartisan senators introduce bill to increase federal prison oversight (July 13, 2023)

Sen. Charles Grassley, Senators Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Increase Accountability at Federal Prisons (July 13, 2023)

Associated Press, Larry Nassar was stabbed in his cell and the attack was not seen by prison cameras, AP source says (July 11, 2023)

Associated Press, Former federal prison guard sent to prison for violating civil rights of injured inmate (July 11, 2023)

Washington Post, Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide reveals grave failures of U.S. prisons (July 10, 2023)

– Thomas L. Root