U.S. SENATE HOLDS BIPARTISAN HEARINGS ON DISASTROUS STATE OF U.S. PRISONS AND THE URGENT NEED FOR REFORM

Both Hearings Addressed Understaffing and Overcrowding That Contribute to Dangerous Prison Conditions for Inmates and Corrections Staff

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Today, the Senate held two important hearings on the urgent need for reform in prisons. The Senate Judiciary convened a full committee hearing in an effort to find ways to prevent deaths of incarcerated individuals in federal prisons, while the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism held a subsequent hearing examining the crisis of inadequate correctional staffing and its toll on both corrections officers and incarcerated persons. 

Coming in the wake of a new bombshell DOJ watchdog report showing over 300 preventable deaths in federal prisons over an eight-year period, the Senatorial hearings covered issues related to the operation and management of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) that have contributed to preventable deaths in custody, including the overuse of solitary confinement, BOP employee misconduct, inadequate medical care, poor facilities maintenance, and critical staffing shortages.

Last spring, a bipartisan group led by Senator Jon Ossoff (R-GA) introduced legislation––the Federal Prison Oversight Act––that would strengthen oversight over the federal prison system, including creating an independent ombudsman, so that serious safety and welfare issues do not get lost in the federal government bureaucracy. Despite the clear and urgent need for reform, the bill awaits a vote in committee. 

“Today is an important day in the Senate for incarcerated people, their families, corrections staff, and the policy and advocacy teams who work to improve justice in this country every day,” said Inimai Chettiar, Deputy Director for the Justice Action Network. “Chair Durbin, Senator Booker, and the committee took a critical first step in holding hearings to get to the bottom of the Department’s report and the crisis of understaffing that contributed to preventable deaths in our nation’s prisons, but we cannot forget it’s just a first step. The committee should take up Senator Ossoff’s Federal Prison Oversight Act just as quickly, and certainly prior to spring break. We cannot wait until the next appalling report on prison conditions to take meaningful legislative action.” 

“I’m glad to see the Senate taking the understaffing of our federal prisons and the conditions it creates for both inmates and corrections staff seriously,” said Former Congressman Doug Collins, R-GA. “These hearings following this month’s shocking DOJ report on preventable deaths proves that congress can move quickly when it wants to. They ought to move just as quickly to bring my fellow Georgia lawmaker, Senator Ossoff’s Federal Prison Oversight Act to a committee vote. In a time when Democrats and Republicans don’t agree on much, transparency and oversight of our prisons consistently brings the parties together in polls and with overwhelming results. It’s a win for everyone – especially the overworked men and women who have dedicated their lives to corrections work in our federal facilities every day.”

***Chettiar and former Rep. Collins available for interview***