Tag Archives: Carswell

BOP’s Got Nowhere to Go But Up – Update for January 3, 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.

THE BOP’S NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

peters220929Director Colette Peters has been at the Bureau of Prisons now for five months. As she begins her first complete calendar year at the agency, she’s not lacking for material when she compiles a list of new year resolutions.

Starting my ninth year of writing about the BOP – and being an average joe who is happier suggesting resolutions to other people than I am adopting resolutions of my own – I have some suggestions for Director in the unlikely event her list is too short.

(1) Change the Culture: The BOP has nowhere to go but up. Last year, the Partnership for Public Service‘s 2021 rankings of the best places to work in the federal government ranked the BOP in 431st place. This was out of 432 agencies. The BOP ranked dead last in 8 of 15 categories, including “effective leadership,” “innovation” and “teamwork.”

BOPad230103(2) Hire people: Walter Pavlo observed last week that “hiring new staff in this environment is difficult.” National Council of Prison Locals president Shane Fousey called it, “a staffing crisis of epic proportions.” Staffing issues lead to inconsistent and nonexistent programming, poor healthcare, loss of opportunities for sentence credit and community confinement, and institutional safety issues.

Of course, you cannot hire the people you need to work at an agency that is feeding at the bottom of the federal employment hierarchy.  No leadership, no teamwork, no innovation… no employees.

Just last week, Pavlo wrote that an FCI Miami inmate died choking on his own blood while in a COVID quarantine. His cellmate (apparently, quarantine was in the SHU), pounded and screamed for help for 90 minutes before a CO – who was responsible for multiple housing units, came along for count. Kareen Troitino, the local CO union president, said of the incident, “As a cost savings initiative, the Agency is jeopardizing lives by forcing one officer to supervise two units. This loss of life would have never happened if we had one officer in each building as we had in the past.”

(3) Clean Up Internal Investigations: Last month, the Senate Permanent Committee on Investigations found that BOP employees had abused female prisoners in at least 19 of the 29 federal facilities over the past decade. In June 2021, the Dept of Justice revealed that as of 2018, inmates reported 27,826 allegations of sexual victimization, or a 15% increase from 2015. Of the 27,826 allegations, over half were staff-on-inmate sexual abuse. The BOP has over 8,000 internal affairs misconduct allegations that haven’t been investigated.

SIS230103The misconduct ranges from BOP leaks and lies that placed Whitey Bulger in general population at USP Hazelton (where he survived for under 12 hours) to ”corruption at the US Penitentiary Atlanta in Georgia to the Dept of Justice’s failure to count almost 1,000 deaths in custody across the country, to abusive and unnecessary gynecological procedures performed on women in Dept of Homeland Security custody,” according to Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA).

(4) Use the Tools Congress Gave You: Stephen Sady, Chief Deputy Federal Public Defender for the District of Oregon, recently wrote in the Federal Sentencing Reporter that the Sentencing Commission should fulfill its statutory obligation to make recommendations regarding correctional resources and programs. He told Walter Pavlo that “the BOP has failed to adequately implement critical legislation to improve the conditions of people in prison” and since the BOP hasn’t acted, the Sentencing Commission should.

The BOP could address staff shortages and morale problems by getting more people to home confinement, halfway house and early release with the need for USSC oversight, Pavlo also suggests the BOP could expand eligibility and availability of RDAP sentence reductions, “eliminate computation rules that create longer sentences… Implement broader statutory and guideline standards to file compassionate release motions any time extraordinary and compelling reasons exist… [and f]ully implement the First Step Act’s earned time credit program.’ Pavlo notes that “[n]o new legislation would be required for any of these reforms.”

nothingtosay230123(5) Practice Openness: There’s an old admonition about not picking a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel. It’s not so much ink these days, but a blemish on Peters’s honeymoon as director is the BOP’s continued awkward of the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram’s questions about allegations of systemic abuse at the women’s FMC Carswell.

Although the Star-Telegram rated its reports of Carswell mismanagement and misconduct as one of its most important stories in 2022, the newspaper complained again this week that BOP “administrators have declined interview requests, given blanket statements in answer to questions and failed to provide detailed plans about how the Bureau of Prisons intends to address the problems.”

Associated Press, Biden signs bill forcing the federal Bureau of Prisons to fix outdated cameras (December 27, 2022)

Partnership for Public Service, 2021 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings

Forbes, A Federal Public Defender Challenges U.S. Sentencing Commission To Help Fix The Bureau Of Prisons (December 28, 2022)

Forbes, Federal Inmate Dies Choking On His Own Blood While Locked In Cell At FCI Miami (December 29, 2022)

Amsterdam News, Senate committee finds widespread employee on inmate sex abuse in federal prisons (December 26, 2022)

Business Insider, Inside the federal West Virginia prison where gangster Whitey Bulger was beaten to death (December 31, 2022)

Ft Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth’s biggest stories of 2022: What will you remember most about this year? (December 31, 2022)

– Thomas L. Root

How Bad is Sex Abuse? That Depends on Who’s Doing It… – Update for September 6, 2022

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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.

‘SKY PILOT’ GROUNDED IN CALIFORNIA EVEN AS TEXAS ALLEGATIONS UNFOLD

In maybe the most reprehensible of the sex abuse charges coming out of the FCI Dublin scandal, former Bureau of Prisons chaplain James Highhouse was sentenced last week to 84 months in prison — more than double his laughably short 24-30 month Guidelines range – for sexually abusing a female inmate and lying to authorities.

skypilot220906The Assistant U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case said Highhouse engaged in predatory conduct with at least six women from 2014 to 2019. The government said he would tell women he abused at Dublin that everyone in the Bible had sex and that God wanted them to be together. An Army veteran, Highhouse pressured one inmate into sex on Veterans Day by telling her she needed to serve her country and on Thanksgiving by telling her she needed to show her gratitude for him, prosecutors said.

Highhouse warned his inmate victims not to report him, telling one of them “no one will believe you because you’re an inmate, and I’m a chaplain,” the AUSA said in a sentencing memorandum. “The staff members at FCI-Dublin solidified [the inmate’s] concerns about not being believed. One counselor was particularly vocal about inmates “snitching” on corrections officers, advising them to instead “tell Trump about it.” When [the inmate] inquired about the procedure for reporting sexual assault, a different corrections officer told her that she would be sent to the Segregated Housing Unit (SHU) if she did so. Although the purpose of doing so is for protection of the victims, the SHU is disciplinary housing, and as result, inmates lose privileges and are in essence –even if not in purpose – treated like they did something wrong.”

“Today’s sentencing sends a clear message to BOP employees that abusing their position of trust will result in serious consequences,” Dept of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz said last Wednesday.

Swetnoodle220906erious consequences? Really? Ohio State Law Professor Doug Berman observed in his Sentencing Law and Policy Blog yesterday that the Guidelines sentencing range Highhouse faced for raping female inmates (24-30 months) was risibly short, especially when compared to other Guidelines ranges for other federal offenses:

There are many disconcerting and notable aspects of this story, but I am still struck that a prison official/chaplain can sexually abuse a prisoner repeatedly and yet only face a guideline sentencing range of 24 to 30 months.  That range is, generally speaking, well below the guideline ranges typically facing lower-level drug offenders and lower-level fraudsters.

Meanwhile, a BOP spokesman said Director Collette Peters – who now has been on the job for a month –is “fully committed” to fixing Dublin’s problems and is working with new Warden Thahesha Jusino to make improvements.

DOJ and the BOP may soon get a chance to prove their commitment to rooting out abuse if a Texas congressman gets his way. Last Wednesday, Marc Veasey (D-TX) called for an investigation into FMC Carswell after the Ft Worth Star-Telegram reported allegations of systemic sexual abuse and cover-up at the women’s facility. “These claims must be investigated swiftly,” Veasey said in a tweet, “and as your member of Congress, I will do everything in my power to ensure there is justice for these victims and that institutional change will take place.”

sexualassault211014The week before, the Star-Telegram published the result of a months-long investigation into Carswell. A dozen women currently or previously incarcerated at the prison described sexual assaults and rapes by staff members, the paper reported, while a former staff member and union president said reports of misconduct are ignored or covered up.

Last Friday, the Star-Telegram decried the sexual assaults, noting that, “equally alarming, the facility showed a systemic history of covering misconduct up and creating an atmosphere of secrecy and retaliation, making it difficult for these women to report alleged abuse. All of this means that the problem is likely much larger than the reports of abuse indicate.”

Associated Press, Chaplain who sexually abused inmates gets 7 years in prison (August 31, 2022)

Dept of Justice, Federal Prison Chaplain Sentenced for Sexual Assault and Lying to Federal Agents (August 31, 2022)

US Attorney, Sentencing Memorandum (Case No 22-cr-000016, ND Cal, August 24, 2022)

Sentencing Law & Policy, Noticing surprisingly low federal guideline range for sexual abuse of prisoners (September 5, 2022)

Dublin Independent, New BOP Director Collette Peters Vows To Improve Conditions at Federal Correctional Institute Dublin (August 31, 2022)

Star-Telegram, Congressman ‘deeply disturbed’ by Star-Telegram report on Fort Worth prison rapes (August 31, 2022)

Star-Telegram, Report on Fort Worth’s women’s federal prison is devastating. Reform must happen now (September 2, 2022)

– Thomas L. Root

“It’s a Miracle!” People Say, as BOP Cures 2,000 Inmates in One Day – Update for February 8, 2022

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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.

MIRABILE DICTU

Miracle200513That is, “speaking of wonders…”

Medicine has not seen such an achievement in two millenia: between last Wednesday and Thursday, the BOP cured almost 1,968 inmates of COVID. COVID numbers, totaling 7,787 sick prisoners on January 28 had dropped to 5,581 as of last night.

Of course, if this were a real medical miracle, you’d expect the number of institutions with COVID to fall, and staff cases to decline as well. No such luck. Staff with COVID increase 152 to 2,057, and the number of institutions with outbreaks total 131. As of last weekend, Oakdale II has 397 cases, Yazoo City USP 277, FCC Lompoc has 223, and Oakdale I has 214. Twelve more locations have more than 100 sick, and 14 more have over 50. A full 86 prisons have 10 or more inmate COVID cases.

While the BOP does report daily infection tallies for each of its facilities, experts say those counts likely miss a large number of infections. Stat said the BOP does not report granular enough testing data to calculate so-called test positivity rates, a measure often used in public health to estimate what percentage of a population likely has Covid-19, given not every person in a community is typically tested at one time.

numbers180327What’s more, the BOP’s declaring inmates “recovered” from COVID has by now become a sad joke. Of the 53 BOP inmates who have died from COVID since March 1 of last year, the BOP had previously declared 53% to be “recovered.” Epidemiologist Homer Venters, M.D., has cautioned against the very questionable BOP practice:

People that tested positive, let’s say three, four weeks ago, may be considered recovered or not part of active cases…When you kind of wave a wand over people and say they’re recovered, my experience going into jails and prisons is many of them are not actually recovered. Many of them have new shortness of breath, chest pain, ringing in the ears, headaches. Other very serious symptoms.

The problem is systemic. “On his first day in office, President Biden promised to order the BOP to reevaluate its Covid-19 protocols and release additional data on the spread of the virus in prisons. But that specific order never came,”  Stat said last week. “And now, as Covid-19 is spiking in multiple federal prisons around the country, spurred by the Omicron variant and still-substandard infection control, advocates say that the BOP’s Covid-19 protocols are as broken as ever.”

Stat said that at Danbury, “it’s not just Omicron driving the surge. There were 234 new cases in a population of roughly 1,000 people during the month of January, according to data compiled by a team at the University of Iowa, but there’s no frequent testing and those in quarantine aren’t being monitored for worsening symptoms.”

inhumanecovidinmate220124And at Alderson, Stat quoted an attorney for inmates at FPC Alderson as saying the situation there is worse, although there’s even less information accessible. Available data suggest that Alderson experienced serious spikes in new Covid-19 cases during both late December and late January. The lawyer said there are likely more women with COVID in the facility than the available data show, because the facility is not testing widely.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram was blunt: “Two years into the pandemic, federal prisons — including one in Fort Worth — still do not have COVID-19 under control. Executive staff at federal prisons are failing to follow the Bureau of Prisons’ COVID-19 response plan, according to a federal report. FMC Carswell, a women’s medical prison in Fort Worth, does not have a facility-specific plan, employee union representatives said… ‘It’s been pure chaos,” [one inmate,] who is incarcerated at the prison, said. “Carswell is still without a plan.”

Jennifer Howard, president of the union representing more than 400 FMC Carswell employees, said executive staff leaves union representatives out of the loop on COVID-19 discussions and safety plans. During the most recent meeting between union representatives and Carswell executive staff, Howard said, an executive staff member told reps, “I wish we could tell you we had a plan right now.”

Stat, Despite Biden’s big promises and a far better understanding of the virus, Covid-19 is still raging through the nation’s prisons (February 2, 2022)

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Cases spike at Fort Worth prison; whistleblower complaint says top staff have no COVID plan (January 31, 2022)

KXAS-TV, Seagoville Federal Prison COVID-Cases Fall Drastically, Expert Warns Against New Data as Family Mourns Loss (August 14, 2020)

– Thomas L. Root

Has BOP Found ‘Peak COVID’? – Update for July 28, 2020

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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 COVID NUMBERS MAY BE CRESTING AS CRITICISM OF BOP PANDEMIC RESPONSE GROWS

The number of Federal Bureau of Prisons prisoners with COVID-19 increased 14% last week to 4,413 as of Sunday night (an all-time high), after falling slight on Saturday. Yesterday, however, the number of infected inmates took a 7% plunge.

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It appears that all of that decrease was due to FCC Beaumont’s dramatic (some might say ‘miraculous’) decrease in reported cases, from 463 on Sunday night to 135 on Monday night. But for that decrease, BOP systemwide cases increased by 35.

Miracle200513Other numbers were not so encouraging. Infected BOP staff increased 33% to 405, and four more inmates died. Most ominously, 108 facilities have COVID-19, 88.5% of BOP joints, an increase of 9% over last week.

Of the 4,120 active inmate cases, Texas facilities FCI Seagoville has 1,257, the women’s FMC at Carswell has 529 cases, and Beaumont Low has 463. Other significant outbreaks are at FCI Miami and Coleman Low and Medium (Florida), Victorville Medium I (California), Butner Low (North Carolina), Elkton (Ohio) and Jesup (Georgia).

A report from the Dept. of Justice Inspector General released last week criticized BOP mismanagement of the pandemic at Lompoc. The report said two Lompoc BOP staff members came to work in late March despite experiencing coronavirus symptoms, although those symptoms were not detected during screening. Officials then failed to test or isolate an inmate who reported that he had begun having symptoms two days earlier and later tested positive. And thus it started.

Medical staff shortage limited inmate and staff screening for COVID-19 symptoms, and other staff shortages resulted in Lompoc officials delaying for 15 days the full implementation of staff movement restrictions required by BOP for institutions with active COVID-19 cases.

What’s more, the BOP’s use of home confinement authority in April was “extremely limited.” As of May 13, the IG report said, over 900 Lompoc inmates had contracted COVID-19 but only 8 inmates had been transferred to CARES Act home confinement.

Fault200728In a statement following the release of the report, the BOP said it had fixed nearly all of the issues identified by the inspector general. It blamed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for many of the problems cited in the report. “These findings must be placed in context, as these were unique circumstances where the BOP, along with the rest of the country, was learning about how to treat and manage this novel virus,” the agency said.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles Federal Court, Judge Consuelo Marshall granted a preliminary injunction in a class-action lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California that accuses the BOP Lompoc management of failing to take basic hygiene steps to protect those imprisoned.

The Judge ordered BOP officials to tell the court which inmates are medically eligible under CDC risk guidelines for release as part of a plan to reduce the population.

corona200323The BOP asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit, noting it had built a field hospital and adopted mass testing in May. But after more than 70% of inmates at Lompoc Low tested positive, the judge found there was a “substantial risk of exposure to COVID-19, which is inconsistent with contemporary standards of human decency” and that the BOP had “likely been deliberately indifferent to the known urgency to consider inmates for home confinement, particularly those most vulnerable to severe illness or death.”

DOJ Inspector General, Pandemic Response Report 20-086, Remote Inspection of Federal Correctional Complex Lompoc (July 23, 2020)

CNN, DOJ watchdog report finds lack of staffing contributed to Covid outbreak in California prison (July 23)

Los Angeles Times, Judge orders release of vulnerable inmates at Lompoc prisons hit by virus (July 22)

Torres v. Milusnic, Case No 2:20cv4450 (C.D.Cal, entered July 14, 2020), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131446

– Thomas L. Root