Eureka – Outside the Box
Last week, I was invited by Kevin Ring to participate on a panel in the Capitol Building regarding the subject of "Compassionate Release". FAMM was previewing a new video called "5 to Life" highlighting the many frustrations families feel while trying to navigate the Federal Bureau of Prisons for a terminally ill family member. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z929XbFeoCw&feature=youtu.be The video reinforces some of the more disturbing aspects of government bureaucracy and the BOP culture in general. The agency has very little compassion for people and families caught up in the American justice system. It was satisfying to participate in the panel discussion after the viewing to repeat my mantra about how many Federal prison reform initiatives can be accomplished internally, without legislation through leadership under the existing policy framework. It might sound simplistic; but leadership, accountability, transparency and a broader application of policy can lead to significant reforms. It was delightful to hear Judge [...]
Just what we need! Another national crime commission. NOT
Once again, another "bi-partisan group of U.S. senators introduced a bill last week to create a "National Criminal Justice Commission" to review every aspect of the nation's justice system from policing to prisons. It's my opinion the national justice reform movement has become just as dysfunctional as our political system. It is time to stop the studies, blue ribbon commissions and right left coalitions and get something accomplished. I testified to the Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections a while back. In hindsight, I feel it was just another example of politicians, academics and lawyers making non-binding recommendations on the prison reform road to nowhere. These commissions do nothing more than feed egos and drain resources away from tangible reform efforts. It's frustrating to experience this beltway dysfunction year after year when the answers are right under our noses. My mantra is, and always has been, many positive reform efforts in all areas of our justice system can be [...]
Let’s have the DOJ re-create the wheel on Federal prison reform! “NOT”!!
I felt it was time for a 2017 blog and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates’s remarks at Harvard’s Law School were the catalyst to set me in motion. https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/deputy-attorney-general-sally-q-yates-delivers-remarks-harvard-law-school-sentencing-and My mantra has consistently been that many Federal prison reform initiatives can be accomplished under the existing policy framework through leadership, accountability and thinking outside the box. There is no need to re-create the wheel of bureaucracy which takes years to implement and in many cases requires new legislation. The academics, administrators and lawyers driving the reform bus have a limited understanding of BOP policy, culture and nuance. A perspective from the trenches is missing from the dialogue and that also includes the constructive feedback from justice involved people! Two aspects of the deputy’s speech were troubling to me from a prison reform perspective. The first quote is from the above DOJ link: (bolded for emphasis) “there were no uniform standards for [...]
The sky is not falling and the glass just might be half full!
I consider myself a passionate prison reformer from outside the beltway. I’m not an academic or lawyer; just someone who worked for decades in the trenches of the Federal prison system. I feel I have a pulse on the agency with insights regarding prison policy, nuances and organizational culture. My bottom line is there can be many proactive prison reforms accomplished under existing BOP policy through leadership. My experiences in participating in the national reform dialogue often gives me pause for reflection on the state of prison reform. Despite the NGO complex, right/left coalitions and tens (if not hundreds) of millions of dollars pouring into reform; very little Federal progress has been made in the past several decades. In steps Donald Trump! Is the sky falling? During the past few days, the reform world has been upside down because their strategy and agenda was contingent on a Clinton victory. The numerous articles I [...]
Crunch Time for Federal Prison Reform
I listened in on the Washington Post Criminal Justice forum yesterday. One of the panels involved Congressman Goodlatte of the House Judiciary who seemed a bit pessimistic about movement on criminal justice reform during this lame duck session of Congress. What was telling is rather than speak of an upcoming vote, he mentioned there was a member “briefing” last week and there would be one again this week. Kevin Ring of FAMM was equally sullen and it seemed like the only person on the panel with passion was Steve Cook of the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys who oppose reform as articulated in their September 8 letter to House members. http://www.naausa.org/site/index.php I pull no punches with my take on reform that it is big business within the beltway and profitable like the Prison Industrial Complex. It’s great for lobbyists, politicians, egos and what I refer to as the Beltway [...]
Surprise, surprise. NOT!
Terminating private prison contracts should not come as a surprise to anyone. It is simply “The Perfect Storm” of events. First, The advocacy world understands future trends were already pivoting away from mass incarceration. It actually started at the state level and the Feds are simply late to the table. For many years we have been hearing about the “Right/Left” coalition on justice reform specifically partially focused on prison population reduction. Second, the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ budget is over 6 billion dollars and consumes a very large percentage of the entire DOJ budget. The status quo was simply unsustainable. Lastly, look no farther than the many scandalous stories about riots, medical care and the recent Mother Jones expose with Shane Bauer. There is no doubt that the hiring practices, lack of transparency and profit motive of private entities negatively impact facility operations, programs and services. I’ve worked in the prison industry for 30 years [...]