Tag Archives: sexual abuse

How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways – Update for April 3, 2025

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

YOU ALWAYS HURT THE ONE YOU LOVE

Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s famous sonnet comes to mind in the tale of the Bureau of Prisons nurse who loved a little too much…

lovethee250403Jessica Larson, a BOP nurse at the Federal Medical Center at Rochester, Minnesota, was indicted last week for abusive sexual conduct with an inmate, identified in the indictment as “Victim A.”

Officials say that Jessica “engaged in a romantic relationship with an inmate.” The relationship included the exchange of explicit letters and an intimate encounter in a shower room.

After the interlude in the shower, other staff nurses reported the relationship. When investigators found the intimate letters and “confronted Larson about her relationship with the inmate, she submitted a report where she allegedly falsely accused the inmate of sexual assault.”

hurtonelove250403The indictment may be a first: accusing a BOP employee of criminal misconduct – a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 for making a false statement about a matter within the jurisdiction of a government agency – for filing an incident report that falsely accused an inmate of misconduct.

The BOP placed Jessica on administrative leave. Amazingly, after having thrown her inmate lover under the bus, “two months later… Larson drove more than 600 miles from her home in Iowa to Cincinnati, Ohio, to maul a love letter to Victim A, who had been transferred to another BOP facility,” the indictment alleges.

‘Sorry I accused you of a federal felony… but I still love you.’

“In Minnesota, we take sexual abuse—particularly when committed by those in positions of authority—very seriously,” Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick (D. Minnesota) said in a press release. “Likewise, lying to the United States is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. My office will continue to aggressively prosecute defendants who commit these crimes.”

KMSP-TV, Rochester prison nurse had affair with inmate, exchanged letters: Indictment (March 28, 2025)

COUNTING THE WAYS

More on the sonnet…

While Melissa Barrett was serving a 168-month sentence for drug offenses, Guidelines Amendment 821 took effect. The amendment limited the impact of criminal history “status points” that had been used to calculate Mel’s original Guideline range.

Mel was in love, too… with the idea of getting out of prison as quickly as possible (not that we blame her).  Relying on Amendment 821, she moved for a sentence reduction to 120 months.

retro240506The government agreed Mel was eligible for a retroactive sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) but not to the level she sought. Mel argued that Amendment 821 both reduced her criminal history points from three to one (putting her in Criminal History Category I) but also entitled her to a reduction in her offense level because she was now eligible for the USSG § 2D1.1(b)(17) 2-level safety valve reduction allowed for qualified defendants with only one criminal history point.

The government believed Amendment 821 should be applied only to Mel’s criminal history category, letting the court cut her sentence no lower than 150 months. The district court agreed and reduced her sentence to 150 months rather than the 120 months she had requested.

Mel argued to the 4th Circuit that the district court was wrong not to give Amendment 821 retroactive effect for safety-valve purposes. Last week, the 4th Circuit agreed.

To qualify for the safety valve, Melissa could have no more than one criminal history point (this has increased since she was sentenced, but Mel was stuck with the Guidelines that applied on her sentencing date). She also had to meet requirements of no violence in her case, no gun, no leadership role, and other standards listed in Guideline § 5C1.2(a)(1). Because she had too many criminal history points, the district court did not bother to make any other safety valve findings.

The district court believed it lacked the authority to make any new factual findings on an Amendment 821 resentencing. But the 4th held that nothing “prevents the court [in a § 3582(c)(2) proceeding] from making new findings that are supported by the record and not inconsistent with the findings made in the original sentencing determination.”

safetyvalv200618The appeals court said, “We appreciate the government’s point that a defendant’s criminal history category and her offense level are separate calculations under the Guidelines, serving separate purposes. For that reason, a retroactive change to one ordinarily will not affect the other. But this appears to be an unusual case, in that the Guidelines closely and directly connect the two, tying a defendant’s criminal history score under § 4A1.1 to both her criminal history category and her qualification for a two-level offense adjustment under § 2D1.1(b)(17). Where an amendment has this kind of direct impact on two provisions integral to a defendant’s “amended guideline range,” see USSG § 1B1.10(b)(1), retroactive application of that amendment means accounting for both.

United States v. Barrett, Case No. 24-6293, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 7111 (4th Cir., March 27, 2025)

– Thomas L. Root

The BOP – Fearlessly Meeting the Demands of This Moment – Update for March 10, 2025

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

LOOK AT ME, I’M WONDERFUL

I reported last Friday on a federal court approval of a settlement between the Federal Bureau of Prisons and about 500 female prisoners formerly housed at the now-closed FCI Dublin.

I note that one curious requirement of the decree is that the BOP to “issue a formal, public acknowledgement to victims of staff sexual abuse at FCI Dublin.”

wonderful250310I mentioned that the “acknowledgement” came on February 26 in a post by William Lothrop, who will be one of the shortest-tenured acting BOP directors in history( he retires in three weeks). Bill, like me, is apparently a late 60s  fan of the Bonzo Dog  Band, which gave us some timely classics as “I’m the Urban Spaceman.” This much is suggested by his channeling the band’s sleeper from its Keysham album entitled “Look at Me, I’m Wonderful.

If you didn’t know the history, you’d think Lothrop was taking the agency on a victory lap. He emoted on his own 33 years having “worked tirelessly with our correctional professionals to rehabilitate and prepare all inmates for successful reentry into our communities.”  Hard to tell that he was supposed to be apologizing to all of those women who were sexually assaulted by BOP employees while other BOP employees hid their heads in the sand.

After Lothrop “acknowledge[d] those women who were verified victims of sexual abuse while they were designated at FCI Dublin,” he proudly strutted that “there is absolutely no place for sexual abuse in this agency, and therefore, our agency maintains and reaffirms its zero-tolerance policy for employee sexual misconduct and retaliation. I have full faith that the FBOP and our team of dedicated correctional professionals will continue to meet the demands of this moment.”

The non-apology would be ennui-inducing enough if the BOP had stamped out sexual abuse as a result of the Dublin debacle. However, last week, we were reminded that the BOP is doing anything but meeting the demands of this moment or any other.

femalesexprisoner241219A former BOP corrections officer assigned to a female unit at FDC Chicago was charged in federal court with sexually assaulting four female inmates in late 2023. The same week, out at USP Thomson, a CO was indicted for allegedly having sex with two inmates between December 2023 and March 2024.

What did these people not get? Their fellow BOP officers and managers in Dublin were getting perp-walked on Bay Area television for sexually abusing inmates. You’d think that would suggest that sex with inmates was a bad idea.

And while it’s not sex, down in Florida, a former FCC Coleman has been indicted in MD Florida federal court for smuggling contraband tobacco into the prison last June in exchange for payment.

On a related note, at the end of January, the Dept of Justice shut down its National Law Enforcement Accountability Database (NLEAD), a national directory former President Biden created in 2022 to track police misconduct. Last week, The Appeal reported that over half of the 5,200 lost database entries, more than 2,600, related to complaints against BOP officers. Customs and Border Patrol was in second place with 1,169 records, or about 22% of the database.

Look at you, Mr. Lothrop. Look at you, BOP. You’re wonderful. Shooby-dooby-wah.

BOP, Update Regarding Former FCI Dublin Inmates (February 26, 2025)

WTTW-TV, Ex-Correctional Officer Accused of Sexually Abusing Inmates in Chicago’s Federal Prison (March 6, 2025)

WIFR-TV, Thomson prison correctional officer accused of having sex with inmates (February 5, 2025)

Florida Politics.com, Ocala prison guard faces 15-plus years on contraband tobacco rap (March 4, 2025)

The Appeal, Trump’s Deleted Police Misconduct Database Was Full of Prison and Border Incidents (February 27, 2025)

– Thomas L. Root

Feds Denied a Mulligan on FCI Dublin Settlement – Update for March 7, 2025

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

‘ONE BITE OF THE APPLE,’ FCI DUBLIN JUDGE TELLS BOP

mulligan190430A federal judge last week approved a settlement between the Federal Bureau of Prisons and about 500 female prisoners formerly housed at the now-closed FCI Dublin, slapping down an 11th-hour try by the Bureau to renegotiate the deal to align with Trump Administration “priorities.”

The San Jose Mercury News reported that U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers approved a consent decree that will for two years force the BOP to institute widespread reforms for members of the class-action lawsuit, who are now held in other facilities across the country.

The decree, to be overseen by a court-appointed monitor, includes pathways to early release and home confinement and requires the BOP to “issue a formal, public acknowledgement to victims of staff sexual abuse at FCI Dublin.”

The “acknowledgement” came on February 26th. William Lothrop, the very temporary Acting BOP Director, issued a document called an “Update” that read more like a self-pat on the back than a mea culpa. After bragging about his own “33 years of dedicated service with the FBOP” and his having “worked tirelessly with our correctional professionals to rehabilitate and prepare all inmates for successful reentry into our communities,” Lothrop blamed the Dublin Rape Club on “the actions of a few employees” that had “made it abundantly clear that significant changes were needed to ensure our agency achieved its mission.”

He finally got around to the acknowledgement:

On behalf of the FBOP, I want to acknowledge those women who were verified victims of sexual abuse while they were designated at FCI Dublin. We are thankful for the tireless efforts of the United States Attorney’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Office of the Inspector General for the seven criminal prosecutions and convictions bringing those perpetrators to justice, with an eighth trial scheduled in a few weeks. We can agree that there is absolutely no place for sexual abuse in this agency, and therefore, our agency maintains and reaffirms its zero-tolerance policy for employee sexual misconduct and retaliation.

I have full faith that the FBOP and our team of dedicated correctional professionals will continue to meet the demands of this moment.

welcometohell230518That’s it. No “we’re sorry that sexual criminals were rewarded with leadership positions in a women’s prison?” No “we’re sorry the warden himself was a pervert?” No “we’re sorry that BOP policy was to automatically disbelieve any report made by an inmate victim unless corroborated?” No “we’re sorry we treated you all like subhumans when we packed you on buses with an hour’s notice and called you disgusting names?”

No. Just that “we acknowledge” the “verified victims.” And how many of the victims were unverified? How many other women were not sexually abused but lived in endless fear because they knew that they were in hell. (Think that’s hyperbole? Remember this story).

Everyone involved in this horrific dark chapter in BOP history – especially “dedicated correctional professionals” with 33 years of dedicated service with the FBOP” – should be ashamed for what these women suffered at the hands of sexual brutes and for all of the BOP staff who chose to look the other way.

apple160516Fortunately, the consent decree does more than to merely coax a non-apology from the BOP. Among other things, it prohibits the BOP from denying gender-affirming clothing and accommodations to transgender class members or denying halfway house solely due to immigration status or a detainer. These provisions caused a last-minute delay as the BOP asked the court for more time to “renegotiate” them because they are “inconsistent with the new administration’s priorities.”

“You don’t get two bites at the apple,” the Judge told the BOP’s lawyer. “There is always an opportunity to want more after a negotiated settlement. And that’s why we get it in writing, and that’s why we get it signed, so that you cannot go back.”

The consent decree takes effect March 31, a delay intended to allow the BOP time to train staff on its implementation.

San Jose Mercury News, Judge grants landmark protections for inmates of East Bay’s ‘rape club’ prison (February 25, 2025)

Associated Press, Judge OKs prison abuse settlement, rejecting Trump administration’s push to rewrite protections (February 25, 2025)

BOP, Update Regarding Former FCI Dublin Inmates (February 26, 2025)

– Thomas L. Root

Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word – Update for April 18, 2024

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

BOP ROLLS OVER IN DUBLIN SUIT

Sir Elton was right: “Sorry” has been such a hard word to get out that the Federal Bureau of Prisons has fought hammer and tong for over 16 months to avoid having to accept responsibility for the horrendous mess that preceded the closing of FCI Dublin.

sorryA241218The BOP has finally agreed to a settlement in the FCI Dublin class action sexual abuse injunctive action lawsuit that will require the agency to open its doors to a court-appointed monitor and publicly acknowledge the systemic and rampant abuse of women at the permanently closed prison.

The BOP and plaintiffs filed a proposed consent decree that mandates increased transparency and key protections for victims, including eased routes for compassionate release and home confinement. BOP Director Colette S. Peters “will issue a formal, public acknowledgment to victims of staff sexual abuse at FCI Dublin” as part of the settlement.

Our apologies, rape victims. It’s just that we didn’t believe you because you were prisoners.

sorryC241218The BOP is getting a major concession in the consent decree, however. Originally, the class included “[a]ll people who are now, or will be in the future, incarcerated at FCI Dublin and subject to FCI Dublin’s uniform policies, customs, and practices concerning sexual assault, including those policies, customs, and practices related to care in the aftermath of an assault and protection from retaliation for reporting an assault.” As part of the consent deal, the Court is being asked to approve the “revised class definition of ‘all people who were incarcerated at FCI Dublin between March 15, 2024 and May 1, 2024, and all named Plaintiffs’.”

This change in definition eliminates from the protected class hundreds of inmates who passed through Dublin and experienced sexual abuse as far back as 2018.

Under the proposed consent decree, set for a February 25, 2025, hearing, the plaintiff class will be protected against retaliation, including a ban on putting class members in the SHU for low-level disciplinary matters. The BOP will also be required to expunge invalid disciplinary reports by FCI Dublin staff that, in some instances, may have been issued to punish or silence inmates.

sorryB241218The plaintiff class will also have confidential access to the court-appointed monitor, lawyers and community-based counselors to report abuse and consent decree violations.

Associated Press, Bureau of Prisons agrees to court monitor, public acknowledgment of staff-on-inmate sexual abuse (December 6, 2024)

California Coalition for Women Prisoners v. BOP, [Proposed] Order Granting Motion for Preliminary Approval of Proposed Consent Decree(ECF 438-4), filed Dec 6, 2024)

California Coalition for Women Prisoners v. BOP, Proposed Consent Decree (ECF 438-2), filed December 6, 2024)

– Thomas L. Root

A Little Something for Halloween – Update for October 31, 2024

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

TRICK OR TREAT

Trick – Tomorrow is November 1st, and you know what happens then…

Nothing.

nothinghere190906I get emails all the time asking me about new laws supposedly becoming effective on November 1. One hopeful prisoner wrote last week, asking me to send him all the changes in 18 USC § 924(c) taking effect tomorrow.

I was tempted to send a blank email back to him, but I have written so often about the myth of November 1st. If he hadn’t gotten it by now, a blank email would just have him blaming the Bureau of Prisons’ clunky email system for stripping the message of hope out of my response.

So, one more time: Nothing happens tomorrow, except that last May’s announced Guideline amendments become effective. None of those changes are retroactive, so nothing in the changes will benefit people who have already been sentenced.
jackolanternpumpkin241031

TreatThe Dept of Justice and other law enforcement agencies on Monday morning raided (“conducted a sweep,” The New York Times said) of MDC Brooklyn.

IG230518The DOJ Office of the Inspector General led the operation, which included DEA and FBI agents.  Donald Murphy, a spokesman for the Bureau of Prisons, said in a statement that “the operation was preplanned and there is no active threat” at the prison, where around 1,200 people are held, including Sean Combs, known as Diddy, and Sam Bankman-Fried.

Murphy said the BOP had been involved in the planning. He said the action was “designed to achieve our shared goal of maintaining a safe environment for both our employees and the incarcerated individuals housed at MDC Brooklyn.”

MDC Brooklyn has the dubious distinction of being so bad that judges have conditioned prison terms on defendants not being designated to the facility.

The New York Times, U.S. Officials Sweep Troubled Brooklyn Prison Where 2 Were Killed  (October 28. 2024)

Associated Press, Authorities launch ‘interagency operation’ at federal jail in New York housing Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs (October 28, 2024)

jackolanternpumpkin241031

Trick – In 2022, 18 USC § 2243(c) passed, making it illegal for someone acting as a federal law enforcement officer to knowingly engage in a sexual act with someone in federal custody. A Government Accountability Office report last week told Congress that no one has been charged or convicted since the law passed.

The Report somewhat hopefully chalked up the nonuse of the new statute to several anodyne factors:

First, individuals cannot be charged for prohibited conduct that occurred prior to the provision’s effective date of October 1, 2022. Second, it can take several years from the time of an alleged incident to the filing of a criminal case to a disposition of the criminal case. Finally, according to an official from DOJ’s Office on Violence Against Women, many victims do not report sexual abuse immediately due to a variety of factors, including fear of retaliation.

What a relief! I thought for a minute there might be a deliberate failure to root out violations.

GAO 25-107684, Federal Law Enforcement: Criminal Sexual Acts while Serving in Official Capacity (October 21, 2024)
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Treat – In August 2019, Tamir Abdullah, a defendant serving a federal crack cocaine sentence, moved for a sentence reduction under Section 404 of the First Step Act (the retroactive Fair Sentencing Act). The district court denied the motion a swift 4-1/2 years later.

delayed200115Last week, the 6th Circuit upheld the denial but spared no words in its condemnation of U.S. District Court Judge John Adams (N.D. Ohio), a judge who is so bad that the 6th Circuit once ordered him to undergo a mental health examination:

Although we grant district courts broad discretion in managing their own dockets, we look unfavorably upon lengthy, unjustified, and inexplicable delays on the part of district courts in deciding cases… We see no reason in the record to justifiably explain why the district court took 1,625 days to resolve a straightforward sentence-reduction motion… Nor was the order finally issued by the district court adequate. That gravely flawed order failed to analyze Abdullah’s sentence-reduction motion under the multi-step test… and instead ruled on an argument—entitlement to compassionate release due to the COVID-19 pandemic—that Abdullah’s motion plainly did not advance.

The criticism is reminiscent of similar complaints about U.S. District Judge Timothy Black (S.D. Ohio) last winter.  It cannot be said too often that a sentence reduction motion that sits undecided is sometimes worse than no remedy at all.

United States v. Abdullah, Case No 24-3093, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 26639 (6th Cir. Oct 22, 2024)
jackolanternpumpkin241031

– Thomas L. Root

Making MDC Nice for Diddy – Update for September 24, 2024

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

“URGENT ACTION” FOR MDC BROOKLYN

Last month, U.S. District Judge Gary Brown of the Eastern District of New York sentenced 74-year-old Daniel Colucci to nine months in prison for a tax crime, conditioned on the Federal Bureau of Prisons not designating him to serve it at MDC Brooklyn, a BOP facility used largely for presentence detainees.

It’s a facility Judge Brown described as being “dangerous [and] barbaric.” It’s also the new home for Sean “Diddy” Combs, 

dungeon180627The Judge apparently struck a nerve. Last week, BOP spokeswoman Randilee Giamusso told the New York Daily News, “Effective since August, the Federal Bureau of Prisons has temporarily paused all initial designations to the minimum security cadre component of MDC Brooklyn.” As of now, only 42 of the 1,200 MDC inmates are serving sentences at the facility.

Judge Brown’s opinion, which detailed conditions at MDC Brooklyn – including lengthy lockdowns, vicious assaults and significant delays in providing medical care – came several weeks after an MDC inmate was killed in a fight there. As a result of the opinion, Colucci was sent to FMC Devens.

The new policy was revealed during a September 12th sentencing of Stephen Mead in the Eastern District of New York. During the hearing, Assistant US Attorney Doug Pravda told the Court that the BOP designation policy “had recently changed, and MDC was broadly off the table,” Corrections1 reported.

Defense attorney Noam Biale, representing a pretrial inmate who did not receive his medication after an emergency appendix procedure, was quoted by the Daily News as having said “if both judges and the BOP recognize it’s not an appropriate place for people to serve their sentences, how can it be appropriate to jail people who are presumed innocent there?”

The BOP has not indicated when or if MDC Brooklyn might resume accepting sentenced inmates. Meanwhile, MDC Brooklyn is getting special attention even as a high-profile music celebrity was detained there instead of being bonded out.

BOP last week said it has cut inmate population at the MDC by 25% and increased staffing by about 20% to 469 employees, with 157 vacancies left. Before the hiring surge, the facility was at about 55% staffing, according to court filings.

An unidentified senior BOP official told The Associated Press that members of its Urgent Action Team, a group of senior officials focused on increasing facility staffing levels and ensuring adequate repairs, “have made repeated visits to MDC Brooklyn and… are giving the jail ‘sustained attention’ and ‘sustained leadership focus to mitigate issues at the lockup,” AP quoted the official as saying. The AP said the team is working to remedy “more than 700 backlogged maintenance requests and answering judges’ concerns.”

Urgent action required grunge rubber stamp on white background, vector illustration

Two weeks ago, I reported that nine FCI Waseca inmates had been hospitalized for adverse reactions to drug use. Last week, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that Waseca has been under lockdown for the past two weeks because of the incident, which also resulted in two BOP employees being sent to a hospital for potential drug exposure.

In an email sent to the newspaper by a BOP official, the hospitalized employees are back at work and the inmates have returned to the prison.

Finally, former FMC Lexington correctional officer Jacob Salcido pled guilty in US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky  a week ago to three counts of sexual abuse of a ward, admitting that over the last four months of 2020, he “knowingly engaged in sexual acts with three inmates.” He is due to be sentenced in December.

Corrections1, N.Y. facility halts intake of sentenced inmates (September 17, 2024)

Associated Press, Bureau of Prisons says it’s adding staff and making fixes at jail where Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is held (September 20, 2024)

Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Waseca women’s prison has been on lockdown for two weeks (September 18, 2024)

DOJ, Former FMC Prison Guard Pleads Guilty to Three Counts of Sexual Abuse of a Ward (September 13, 2024)

– Thomas L. Root

‘We Only Believe You When It’s Convenient,’ DOJ Tells BOP inmate Sexual Abuse Victims – Update for June 20, 2024

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

KUMBAYA MOMENT PAST FOR COMPASSION FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIMS

kumbaya221003Last November, prosecutors asked female inmate Ilene Wahpeta to provide a victim impact statement at the sentencing of Andrew Jones, a former BOP employee convicted of sexually assaulting three inmates at FCI Dublin and sentenced to eight years..

Reason reported last week that six months later, the same Dept of Justice that presented her victim testimony as a compelling basis to sentence the former CO to 96 months is arguing against Ilene’s compassionate release motion on the basis that Ilene wasn’t a named victim in Jones’s criminal case and that her claims aren’t credible.

In September 2022, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco wrote a letter to FAMM saying that she had ordered BOP Director Peters to “review whether BOP’s policy regarding compassionate release should be modified” to accommodate female prisoners who had been assaulted by federal employees. Peters responded that “she has begun to consider requests from inmates who have been abused and are not deemed to be threats to the community if they are granted their release,” according to the New York Times.

forcedsex161202Then, Sentencing Commission Guideline § 1B1.13(b)(4) was modified effective last November to include as an extraordinary and compelling reason justifying sentence reduction cases where “the defendant, while in custody… was a victim of sexual abuse involving a “sexual act,” as defined in 18 USC § 2246(2) (including the conduct described in 18 USC § 2246(2)(D) regardless of the age of the victim…”

Last week, Reason said that DOJ is actively undercutting its own policy as well as § 1B1.13(b)(4). Ilene’s case is such an example. “Lawyers representing incarcerated women filing for early release based on their status as sexual assault survivors say federal prosecutors are now routinely fighting to disqualify their clients because of an unreasonably narrow definition,” Reason reported.

DOJ has been arguing that the cases against the BOP employees accused of sexual abuse have to be completed prior to granting compassionate release under § 1B1.13(b)(4). In other cases (like Ilene’s), DOJ is saying that the victims’ claims are not credible.

“Before November 1, 2023, when this policy statement went into effect, in almost every single case the government was agreeing or not opposing the compassionate release motion,” FAMM attorney Shanna Rifkin, who has been working with BOP inmate abuse victims, says. “Since then, there has been a lot more resistance to compassionate release motions based on sexual abuse.”

When the Sentencing Commission was considering adopting what became § 1B1.13(b)(4), DOJ argued in written comments that “permitting compassionate release hearings only after the completion of other administrative or legal proceedings will help ensure that allegations are more fairly adjudicated, prevent mini-trials on allegations, and reduce interference with pending investigations and prosecutions.”

“It effectively puts the DOJ back in the driver’s seat,” Rifkin told Reason, “because who drives a criminal case? The Department of Justice. Victims of abuse have no say over when a case against their abuser will be brought, if it will be brought, and who will be charged as the victims in the case.”

womenprison240620And while a finding of guilt may sound like a reasonable standard, Reason said, it is a surprisingly difficult one to meet in cases of sexual assault perpetrated by government employees… So women who are survivors of his abuse ostensibly have to wait until the government has concluded their case in order to have a cognizable claim under this policy statement.”

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, from 2016 to 2018 perpetrators of staff sexual misconduct were only convicted, sentenced, fined, or pleaded guilty in 6 percent of substantiated incidents in federal and state prisons.

Reason, Advocates Say the Justice Department Is Failing To Provide Relief to Women Who Were Abused in Prison (June 10, 2024)

New York Times, Justice Dept. Considers Early Release for Female Inmates Sexually Abused Behind Bars (Dec 13, 2022)
– Thomas L. Root

A Short Rocket – Update for June 7, 2024

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

rocket-312767Today (and not necessarily in honor of NASA’s long-awaited success in getting the Boeing Starliner to fly), a short rocket of some stories you might have missed.

OREGON LAWMAKERS WANT ANSWERS ON SHERIDAN

Six Oregon members of Congress wrote to BOP Director Colette Peters on May 24th about the “deeply concerning allegations made by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General regarding conditions at FCI Sheridan.”

letter161227The letter, from Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, and Representatives Val Hoyle, Earl Blumenauer, Andrea Salinas and Suzanne Bonamici (all Oregon Democrats), “demand[ed] swift action to address staffing shortages, inmate medical needs, and other alarming shortcomings placing staff and inmates at significant risk.”

The letter noted that the report “raises new questions about FCI Sheridan’s certification as a Medical Care Level 2 institution. According to BOP regulations, Medical Care Level 2 institutions must be able to provide routine outpatient services to prisoners. However, DOJ OIG found inmates frequently could not get timely outpatient care.”

The lawmakers posited 15 questions about staff shortages, medical care, RDAP and security on which a BOP response is sought.

Letter from Sen Ron Wyden and others to Colette Peters (May 24, 2024)

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WELL, THIS IS A SURPRISE…

A national study performed by a collaboration between the University of California at Irvine and Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that at the peak of the COVID pandemic in 2020, people inside prisons died almost three and a half times more frequently than the free population.

deadcovid210914Over 6,000 incarcerated people died in the first year of the pandemic, researchers found, using numbers they collected from state prison systems and the BOP. A Marshall Project analysis of data the researchers released shows the prison mortality in the BOP increased by 41% between 2019 and 2020.

At the same time, incarceration rates dropped during the first year of the pandemic, but not because an extraordinary number of people were released. Instead, data show that fewer people than in a typical year were let out in 2020. According to The Marshall Project, the reduction in population was due to a dramatic reduction in prison admissions.

The study warned that death rate spikes “in 2020 probably underestimate the true rise in death rates, since many prison populations fell as the year went on.”

Marshall Project, Officials Failed to Act When COVID Hit Prisons. A New Study Shows the Deadly Cost (April 18, 2024)

Science Advances, Excess mortality in U.S. prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic (Dec 1, 2023)

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DEPENDS ON WHOSE OX IS BEING GORED

Less than a week after the DOJ OIG issued a scathing report on the BOP’s operation at FCI Sheridan—which incidentally included a finding that the facility kept lousy records on inmate-to-inmate sexual abuse—BOP Director Colette Peters found the time and inclination to praise a May 14th sentencing of an unnamed federal inmate for having masturbated in front of a BOP employee.

It seems that on May 14, 2024, U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston of the Northern District of Illinois hammered a USP Thomson prisoner with a 364-day consecutive sentence under the Assimilative Crimes Act for violating an Illinois disorderly conduct statute by… well, you know… in front of a correctional officer.

oxgored240607Director  Peters expressed “strong support” for this decision, with the BOP PR flack quoting her as saying “This sentencing is a clear message that misconduct, particularly actions that threaten the safety and integrity of our institutions, will not be tolerated. We stand resolute in our mission to foster a humane and secure environment and protect our employees and incarcerated people from any form of sexual harassment and assault.”

Tough words, which makes it all the more surprising that the Director failed to send a “clear message” to her 36,000 underlings about the mess at FCI Sheridan or, for that matter, the announcement two days later that a former correctional officer at FCI Milan had been charged with the felony of having sex with a prisoner and smuggling contraband into the facility.

Fortunately for Peters, the PR task was covered by Eastern District of Michigan US Attorney Dawn Ison, who said:

Every day, federal corrections officers display uncompromising integrity in carrying out their duties and maintaining the safety and security of our federal prisons. Unfortunately, the allegations in today’s indictment reflect a failure on the part of one corrections officer to maintain that standard. Sexual misconduct by prison officials compromises the safety and security of the whole institution and is completely unacceptable at Milan or any other correctional facility.

When a single inmate commits a misdemeanor, the Director is Jenny-on-the-spot to denounce what is otherwise a pedestrian (if disgusting) offense. But with over a dozen cases of BOP employees being charged with or convicted of sex offenses against inmates in the last year, you’d think that Ms. Peters would issue a press release on that, or at least that a government official’s comment could drop the “display uncompromising integrity” blather.

BOP,  Director Peters Commends Sentencing (May 28, 2024)

Ann Arbor News, Former federal prison guard charged for having sex with prisoner, smuggling in contraband (May 30, 2024)

– Thomas L. Root

DOJ ‘Aggressively’ Hammers BOP Guard With 24-Month Sentence for Sex Abuse – Update for May 30, 2024

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

FORMER BOP OFFICER GETS 24 MONTHS FOR SEXUALLY ABUSING INMATES

wetnoodle220906The DOJ issued a press release last week lauding a draconian 24-month sentence imposed on a former BOP correctional officer for having sexually assaulted two female inmates at FCI Aliceville (Alabama).

“Robert Smith has been held to account for abusing his position of trust by sexually assaulting an adult in his custody,” a press release quoted Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco as saying. “The Department will continue to hold accountable any BOP employee who violates their oath to protect those in their care through sexual assault.”

Assistant AG Kristen Clarke was quoted as declaring that “the Justice Department will continue to aggressively prosecute those who violate the civil and constitutional rights of people detained in correctional facilities.”

hammertime200818By comparison, the Government sought almost as much time–20 months–for former Baltimore prosecutor Marilyn Mosby, convicted of what the prosecutor admitted was the victimless crime of lying about her need to be allowed to withdraw her own money from a pension plan during COVID. (She got probation).

According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s Interactive Data Analyzer, in FY 2023, only 5% of people convicted of sexual abuse in the federal system got a sentence of five years or less.  The mean sentence for sexual abuse was 213 months, with the median being 180 months.

Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers (N.D. Cal.) has set a June 2025 trial date on a class action suit by former FCI Dublin inmates on claims the agency knew of and maintained a system allowing officers to sexually abuse and mistreat inmates.

DOJ, Former Federal Bureau of Prisons Corrections Officer Sentenced for Sexually Abusing Inmate in His Custody (May 23, 2024)

AP, Baltimore’s former top prosecutor spared prison for mortgage fraud and perjury (May 24, 2024)

Courthouse News Service, Feds headed to trial on abuse claims from shuttered Bay Area prison (May 22, 2024)

– Thomas L. Root

Last One Out of FCI Dublin, Lock the Sallyport – Update for April 23, 2024

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

BOP GIVES UP ON FCI DUBLIN

shutitdown240424Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters imposed the death penalty on the notorious FCI Dublin (California) prison last week, announcing that despite the agency’s “unprecedented steps and provid[ing] a tremendous amount of resources to address culture, recruitment and retention, aging infrastructure and—most critical—employee misconduct… we have determined that FCI Dublin is not meeting expected standards and that the best course of action is to close the facility.”

The Associated Press said that closing the woman’s low-security facility called “The Rape Club” by some BOP staff “represents an extraordinary acknowledgment by the Bureau of Prisons that its much-promised efforts to improve the culture and environment there have not worked.”

finemess190129Only two weeks ago, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers—who has described Dublin as “a dysfunctional mess”—appointed a special master to oversee the prison, largely in response to staff claims of retaliation against female inmates for reporting alleged misconduct.

In 2019, the House Subcommittee on National Security found that widespread misconduct in the federal prison system had been tolerated and routinely covered up or ignored.

Eight Dublin employees, including the former warden, have been charged with sexually abusing inmates with five having pleaded guilty.

The BOP has not provided a timeline or details about the shutdown, but rather has simply framed its planning for the move as “ongoing.” Peters was quoted in the San Jose Mercury as saying, “The closure of the institution may be temporary but certainly will result in a mission change.”

No employees will lose their jobs as a result of the planned closure, the BOP said, but they may have to move.  

That certainly ought to cull the bad apples from the barrel.

Susan Beatty, a lawyer representing a number of Dublin inmates, said the timing of the closure announcement shows the BOP seeks “to evade… outside accountability and transparency.” She said the plaintiffs’ attorneys were “inundated” with calls from Dublin inmates on Monday, many of whom said they were only told of the closure that morning, given trash bags, and told to pack out.

dublinprotest240424

At a rally last Friday outside the prison, a group called Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition demanded that abused inmates be released. According to KPIX-TV, the advocates said that “chaos unfolded” at the facility since the announcement, “traumatizing incarcerated people who have already been subjected to immense harm by the BOP, including rampant staff sexual abuse, retaliation, and medical neglect.”

A Dublin inmate reported to me:

We woke up this morning to an announcement by the Warden that effective immediately, Dublin FCI–including the camp–will be closed. There are buses for transport and hundreds of officers at the FCI taking inmates away. We were informed that some of the women at the camp will leave today. We are waiting for staff to come around and let those individuals know who will leave today. This comes after the special master came last week and introduced herself and her team to take over. The consensus is that this is the big F.U. to [Judge Gonzalez] by the BOP. “Instead of allowing someone to come in and run it, we will shut down…” The inmates at the FCI were the ones who prepared our food since the camp’s kitchen is closed due to mold and asbestos. Now that it is shut down, we don’t know how we will even be fed.

Associated Press, Bureau of Prisons to close California women’s prison where inmates have been subjected to sex abuse (April 15, 2024)

Courthouse News Service, Feds shuttering scandal-ridden Bay Area women’s prison (April 15, 2024)

San Jose Mercury News, Scandal-plagued FCI Dublin women’s prison to close after years of concerns over sexual abuse, retaliation (April 15, 2024)

KPIX, Rally urges FCI Dublin inmates released as prison at center of sex abuse scandal closes (April 19, 2024)

– Thomas L. Root