ACLU Applauds Legislation Creating Oversight and Accountability in Federal Prisons

WASHINGTON – Congress passed the Federal Prison Oversight Act (H.R.3019/S.1401) yesterday, a bipartisan bill that will establish an independent oversight office to investigate and address the dangerous health and safety conditions in the federal prison system. The American Civil Liberties Union worked with a broad range of advocacy partners in support of this legislation.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), which manages the federal prison system incarcerating 160,000 people across the country, is in crisis. A severe staffing shortage and overcrowded facilities have led to unsafe and cruel conditions, sexual and physical assaults, overuse of solitary confinement, and a lack of medical and mental health care. The systemic issues plaguing federal prisons are well documented, including the sexual abuse of incarcerated women uncovered at Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Dublin in California, which to date has resulted in federal convictions for eight corrections officers and the prison warden.

“The ACLU applauds the bipartisan efforts of Sens. Ossoff, Braun, Durbin, and Manchin, and Reps. McBath and Armstrong to provide a common-sense solution to this ongoing crisis” said Nina Patel, senior policy counsel at the ACLU’s Justice Division. “The act creates oversight and accountability mechanisms that are essential to protect the civil liberties and dignity of individuals who are incarcerated in federal prisons.”

In addition to empowering the U.S. Department of Justice to address the widespread safety issues in federal prisons, the Federal Prison Oversight Act protects people in custody who initiate a complaint, investigation, or inspection from retaliation. Such retaliation is common practice, including at FCI Dublin, where women subjected to sexual abuse faced retaliation for reporting the abuse, including the denial of medical and mental health care, punishment of solitary confinement, and an inability to have contact with their families.

“The ACLU has raised the alarm for decades as the federal prison system lurched from one crisis to the next, regardless of administration,” said Corene Kendrick, deputy director of the ACLU’s National Prison Project. “The independent oversight and transparency required in this bill is the first step to protect the civil liberties and dignity of the 160,000 people incarcerated in federal prisons across the country. We thank Sen. Ossoff and Rep. McBath for tirelessly leading the efforts to shine a light on what happens in federal prisons.”

The Federal Prison Oversight Act will now go to President Biden to be signed into law.