Tag Archives: female prisoners

The Wheels On The Bus – Update for April 29, 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.

PUNISHING THE VICTIMS, DISSING THE JUDGE

wheelsonbus240429Nearly all inmates had been transferred out of the beleaguered Bureau of Prisons women’s facility FCI Dublin by last Tuesday, according to a BOP spokesman, with only about 23-40 prisoners–all of whom have pending releases or halfway house/home confinement transfers scheduled–remaining at the facility.

Several news outlets last week reported that the hasty transfers bore more than a passing resemblance to the Bataan Death March. Inmates reported they went without water or sanitary products, and some ended up sitting in their own excrement. A prisoner’s parent told KTVU-TV in Oakland that when the inmates asked where they were going, 

“They were told ‘none of your business,’ or ‘SFTU, see, this is why Dublin is closing, you all need to learn to keep your mouths shut. I gave up my Saturday off to move you girls.’ The other CO said, ‘I came out of retirement to help move you bitches.’

“The bus driver played a children’s recording of the Wheels on the Bus over and over again at full volume, and then played loud rap music with sexually explicit language about sex acts.

“He told them the more they fussed, the louder it was going to be,” [the parent wrote to the TV station]. “All thru the 12 hours they were called bitches. They were told they were the reason for the closing of Dublin. They should have kept their mouths shut.”

BOPbus240429The San Jose Mercury News reported that one source said of the closure and transfer, “I have witnessed people fighting. I have witnessed people crying. I have witnessed people drinking pills because they just want to pass out and not think about it. I have witnessed people vomiting. Another lady over here next to me, she was cutting herself. We have witnessed all of that. And even officers over here are crying because that’s how crazy it is.”

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to BOP Director Colette S. Peters expressing concern over claims of a chaotic transfer. The letter, signed by Committee Chairman Richard Durbin (D-IL) and four others, alleged that

“concerned stakeholders and advocates have made alarming reports about the ensuing chaos. These reports include: unavailability of medical staff; inadequate-to-no medical attention, including for individuals expressing suicidal ideation; improper medical clearance prior to transport; lack of food and water for those remaining in the facility awaiting transfer; mistreatment, harassment, neglect, and abuse while in transit; and confiscation of personal property. This reporting is appalling and even more concerning in light of the well-documented abuses that have taken place previously at FCI Dublin…”

The letter demanded that the BOP director provide the Committee with information on how the agency has prepared to close FCI Dublin, including its written plans on the “safe and humane release from custody.”

On that same day that the BOP announced Dublin would close, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, the Oakland, California, judge overseeing the class action suit against Dublin officials, ordered a halt in the transfers so that the special master she had appointed to oversee Dublin could review the process. A review of each prisoner’s status would “ensure inmates are transferred to the correct location,” the judge wrote in her April 15 order. “This includes whether an inmate should be released to a BOP facility, home confinement, or halfway house, or granted a compassionate release.”

bird240429The BOP pushed back, filing a motion for relief from the Judge’s order, questioning the authority of the special master and complaining that the judge’s order amounts to “a de facto requirement” that the BOP keep the prison open. “The Court not only lacks jurisdiction to impose such a requirement, but it is also antithetical to the overall objective of safeguarding inmate safety and welfare,” the motion complains. “Extensive resources and employee hours have already been invested in the move.”

As of yesterday, the motion has not been ruled on. Given that the BOP has already transferred up to 96% of the Dublin inmates–many in horrific conditions–the BOP appears to have presented Judge Gonzalez Rogers with a fait accompli that the Court is unlikely to be able to undo,

goodjobhomer240429In a case of the BOP really not getting it, KTVU reported that in an interoffice memo sent last week, Director Peters “commended her staff for their ‘tireless efforts in facilitating the successful transition’ of women from FCI Dublin… Peters said that the transfer involved ‘careful planning and coordination to ensure the safe transfer of women to other facilities, with special attention given to their unique programming, medical, and mental health requirements’.”

It is perhaps unsurprising that the Federal Prison Oversight Act (H.R. 3019), introduced a year ago, was approved earlier this month by the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

Under the bill, which still must be approved by the full House and Senate before becoming law, the Dept of Justice’s Inspector General would conduct periodic prison inspections of BOP facilities. The bill would require the attorney general to ensure the inspectors have “access to any covered facility, including the incarcerated people, detainees, staff, bargaining unit representative organization, and any other information” needed. The assessments “may include” incarceration conditions; staff adequacy and working conditions; availability of FSA programs; SHU practices; prison medical and mental health services; and violence, sexual abuse and excessive-force allegations.” The bill would establish an ombudsman to whom prisoners and loved ones could complain.

Associated Press, Senators demand accounting of rapid closure plan for California prison where women were abused (April 24, 2024)

KTVU, FCI Dublin prison closure: Women describe horrific journey across US (April 22, 2024)

KTVU-TV, U.S. Senators call FCI Dublin transfer of women ‘appalling’ (April 25, 2024)

Senators Richard Durbin, Cory Booker et al., Letter to Colette S Peters (April 24, 2024)

San Jose Mercury News, Chaotic Dublin prison closure leads to fighting, crying, cutting, inmates say (April 24, 2024)

Associated Press, Feds push back against judge and say troubled California prison should be shut down without delay (April 18, 2024)

KTVU, BOP director commends FCI Dublin staff, despite accounts of abusive behavior (April 24, 2024)

HR 3019, Federal Prison Oversight Act

– Thomas L. Root

Even as Inmates, Women Are Worse Off Than Men – Update for March 5, 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.

FEMALE PRISONERS PUNISHED MORE OFTEN FOR LESS, REPORT SAYS

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights last week released a report finding that many incarcerated women experience physical and psychological harms disproportionate to those suffered by male inmates, with insufficient respect for their constitutional rights.

womenprison170821The report concluded that incarcerated parents permanently lose parental rights at higher rates than parents whom courts find to have neglected or abused their children but are not incarcerated; that despite the Prison Rape Elimination Act, sexual abuse and rape remain prevalent against women in prison; and that incarcerated women are often given disproportionately harsh punishments for minor offenses compared to incarcerated men, leading to time spent in segregation and loss of good-time credits for minor violations of prison regulations, and disproportionately harsh punishment for offenses such as “being disorderly.” Men, on the other hand, tend more often to be punished for violence.

“What we saw was that women themselves are substantially more likely [than men] to be subject to disciplinary practices for minor infractions,” says USCCR chair Catherine Lhamon. “Those minor offenses include “being what’s called insolent, or disobeying an order, or swearing.” An NPR/Medill School of Journalism study in 2018 found that women were disciplined at more than twice the rate of men for minor prison rule infractions.

The USCCR report found that prison officials, supervisors, and correctional officers are inconsistently trained on the prevalence of disproportionate punishment of incarcerated women and evidence-based disciplinary practices.

U.S. Civil Right Commission, Women in Prison: Seeking Justice Behind Bars (Feb 26)

NPR, Federal Report Says Women In Prison Receive Harsher Punishments Than Men (Feb 26)

 

– Thomas L. Root

BOP Faces Serious and Ugly Suit for Sexual Assault of Female Inmates – Update for December 9, 2019

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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 RUNS SMACK INTO #METOO

A year ago, The New York Times published a scathing story of the sexual harassment suffered by female BOP officers and workers at the hands of male BOP employees. Given the detailed allegations by BOP female employees of not just harassment, but of a culture of tolerance and coverup by BOP management, no one should be surprised that allegations of charges of much uglier sexual abuse of female inmates and heavy-handed official coverup would someday bubble to the surface.

BOPsexharassment191209At the time, The Times said women who report harassment “face retaliation, professional sabotage and even termination,” while the careers of many male BOP harassers and their protectors flourish. The new charges, that the BOP staff protected male employees from criminal charges and impeded required audits under the Prison Rape Elimination Act, are even more detailed, comprising the inevitable result of a much greater mismatch of power between abuser and victim.

handson191209Last week, 14 current and former BOP inmate women, ranging in age from 30 to 56 and nearly all first offenders, jointly sued the federal government over sexual abuse they alleged they endured at the women’s federal prison camp at Coleman and at FCI Tallahassee, both in Florida. Seven of the plaintiffs are still incarcerated, but all of them sued in their actual names, despite what they allege is an official Coleman policy of punishing any female inmate making a sexual harassment claim by housing her in a nearby county jail while her allegations are being “investigated.”

The 78-page lawsuit, filed by Atlanta law firm Adams & Reese  in the Middle District of Florida, sets out in graphic detail charges ranging from verbal harassment and threats to groping to rape, and alleges not just that women who complained were punished but that the institution even interfered with the law firm’s investigation of the charges.

In what the Miami Herald called “stark, chilling detail,” the lawsuit describes how female inmates were lured into private offices or sheds with no surveillance cameras, stalked relentlessly by male correctional officers until they were forced to submit. Some officers would even display computer screens showing the women the exact location of their families, a pointed message that their relatives could be targeted if the women didn’t cooperate. Some of the accused officers, all of whom are fully identified in the lawsuit, have resigned or taken early retirement (with immunity from prosecution for the actions they admitted to, according to Bryan Busch, the plaintiffs’ attorney.

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“The prison certainly did not want this to come out so they suppressed any sort of allegations that were made, and did not conduct complete and full investigations,” Busch said.

The Prison Rape Elimination Act was enacted by Congress to require that facilities adopt a zero-tolerance approach to rape and sexual abuse. The PREA specifies, among other things, that institutions undergo annual audits to ensure their compliance with its terms. The lawsuit alleges that female inmates who had complained about sexual abuse were routinely made unavailable for interview by PREA inspectors by the institution’s transferring of them to another prison facility before auditors arrived. “By transferring victims of sexual abuse,” the complaint alleges, Coleman “shields itself from legitimate investigation and suppresses complaints by punishing the victims.”

The BOP is sued by inmates all the time, but this one really feels different. First, the lawsuit is a Golanda of detail, 78 pages of well-pled facts. It is brought by a law firm that does not appear to be a windmill-tilter, but instead focuses primarily on securities and business litigation (but with experience in prisoner abuse cases). The plaintiffs seem reasonably well funded and not dependent on a jailhouse lawyer for representation.

zerotolerance191209Most important, if the details in the lawsuit are correct, the BOP already investigated many of the officers and promised them immunity from criminal charges in exchange for full confessions. Thus, the agency’s personnel records on the officers involved probably contains a wealth of evidence of both the sexual abuse and the coverup.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has shown great interest in treatment of female BOP prisoners. Perhaps more of a concern to the BOP should be the popularity of the #MeToo movement, which focuses on male dominance in matters of sexual harassment.

The Beaubrun lawsuit (Rachelle Beaubrun, a recently-released prisoner, is the lead plaintiff) represents the most serious attack to date on the alleged sex abuse culture at the BOP. This suit has the potential to end a lot of BOP careers and disrupt BOP management culture at women’s facilities throughout the system.

Beaubrun v United States, Case No. 5:19-cv-615 (M.D.Fla. complaint filed Dec. 3, 2019)

Miami Herald, Rape is rampant at this women’s prison. Anyone who complains is punished, lawsuit says (Dec. 4)

The New York Times, Hazing, Humiliation, Terror: Working While Female in Federal Prison (Nov. 17, 2018)

– Thomas L. Root

#themtoo: BOP Not Doing Right By Female Inmates, DOJ Says – Update for September 26, 2018

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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.

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A LITTLE BIT OF NOTHING FOR THE LADIES

womenprison170821Sure, they’re all inmates. But only the most callous observer would suggest that forcing female inmates to undergo strip searches in front of male Bureau of Prisons personnel is all right, because, after all, “if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime…” and all that claptrap. It turns out that a critical shortage of BOP correctional officers is having a disparate effect on the 10,567 female inmates held in the system, the Dept. of Justice Inspector General reported last Thursday. “The lack of sufficient staff is most noticeable at larger female institutions,” the OIG Report said.

As of September 2016,  female inmates represented 7% of the BOP sentenced inmate population of 146,084. The OIG review was sparked in part by Congress and public interest groups raising concerns with DOJ about deficiencies in BOP’s current management of female inmates.

magicrabbit180927Although BOP policy requires that female prisoners can only be searched by female correctional officers, the BOP is unable to ensure a female officer is available at each post where such searches are required, the report says. The report also concluded that 90% of the female inmate population would benefit from trauma treatment, but staffing shortages make it nearly impossible to provide eligible inmates with the care they need, according to the report.

In a response attached to the report, Hugh Hurwitz, acting BOP director, said he agrees with the IG’s recommendations and vowed to improve both staffing and training.  How he is going to pull that off in light of the BOP’s budget reductions ought to be a neat trick.

Washington Times, Staffing shortages blocking female inmates from critical services (Sept. 18, 2018)

Dept. of Justice Office of Inspector General, Review of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Management of Its Female Inmate Population (Sept. 17, 2018)

– Thomas L. Root

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Women Behind (Federal) Bars – Update for July 10, 2018

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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.

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SENTENCING COMMISSION DISCOVERS WOMEN ARE LOCKED UP, TOO


womenprison180711The Sentencing Commission issued one of its regular “Quick Facts” reports last week on women in federal custody. The “quick facts” series, started five years ago as a way to give the USSC’s short-attention-span readers (which includes most of Congress) “basic facts about a single area of federal crime in an easy-to-read, two-page format,” are issued several times a year. This is the first report focusing on women in federal custody.

The report notes that for the period Oct. 2016 through Sept. 2017:

• Women made up 13.1% of federal prisoners, a slight decrease from 2013, when they were 13.3% of offenders;

• 68.0% of female federal prisoners were Criminal History Category I when sentenced;

• women used weapons less frequently (6.1% of cases) than do men (10.1%);

• 76.9% of convicted women were sentenced to imprisonment, less than the 93.8% rate for men

•  women offenders were sentenced within the guideline range 36.6% of the time, compared to 49.8% of the time for men; and

•   the average sentence for women was 28 months in 2017, compared to 27 months in 2013.

U.S. Sentencing Commission, Women in the Federal Offender Population (July 3, 2018)

– Thomas L. Root

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