Congress Forces BOP to Upgrade Security Cameras

“Broken prison camera systems are enabling corruption, misconduct and abuse” within America’s 122 federal prisons, declared U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), when Pres. Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D) signed Ossoff’s bipartisan Prison Camera Reform Act of 2021 into law on January 10, 2023.

When he introduced the legislation, Ossoff said that federal prisons “must be cleaned up and held to the highest standards,” so surveillance camera blind spots, lost footage and technical failures are simply unacceptable.

The federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has long been criticized for insufficient and malfunctioning security cameras. A 2016 report by the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General found that BOP camera problems compromised investigations into staff misconduct and civil rights violations, as well as contraband smuggling, escapes and prisoner deaths.

Camera deficiencies took center stage in the suspicious 2019 suicide of billionaire financier and convicted child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein at the now-shuttered Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City. In March 2022, AP News reported that a lack of cameras in critical areas also permitted prisoner sexual abuse by staff at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, which was so pervasive that the lockup became known as the “rape club.”

The legislation was sponsored by Ossoff, along with Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), as well as U.S. Reps. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) and Fred Keller (R-Pa.). It mandated that BOP evaluate its security camera, land-mobile radio and public address systems and submit an upgrade plan to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees within 90 days. BOP must also provide annual progress reports to those committees and complete implementation of its upgrade plan within three years. See: Prison Camera Reform Act of 2021, S. 2899 (117th), 2022.

In a statement, BOP claimed that it “appreciates the work and support of Senator Ossoff and other members of Congress, as well as the President of the United States.” Shane Fausey, President of the Council of Prison Locals of the American Federation of Government Employees – the union representing BOP guards – agreed that the upgrade will enhance “the level of safety in our nation’s federal prisons.”

Additional source: NBC News

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  2. From the Editor, by Paul Wright
  3. Four Hawaii Prison Guards Sentenced for Beating Prisoner – But One Wins Back-Pay, by David Reutter
  4. Sheriffs Offered Caribbean Cruises and Florida Retreats As Part Of Jail Telecom Contracts, by Hayden Betts
  5. $1 Million Settlement Reached After Detainee’s Suicide in Washington Jail, by David Reutter
  6. The Lecturer at the Lockup: Maine Prisoner Is First to Teach College Courses from His Cell
  7. Arkansas Parole Board Denies Release to Sex Offender For Failure to Find Appropriate Housing, by David Reutter
  8. Unyielding Pursuit of Justice or Unfulfilled Promises: Doubts Surround California Habeas Attorney
  9. After $300,000 Settlement for Detainee’s Death, Texas County Looks to Replace Jail
  10. LGBTQ+ Detainees at Rikers Island Suffer Under Mayor Adams, by Kevin Bliss
  11. $8.25 Million Verdict Against Former Colorado Sheriff for Detainee’s Sexual Assault During Jail Transfer, by Matthew Clarke
  12. Life Sentence for Alabama Jail Escapee After Suicide of Guard Lover Who Helped Him, by Chuck Sharman
  13. Calls for California Sheriff’s Department Oversight After Jail Deaths, $30,000 Settlement for Botched Traffic Stop
  14. Innovative Brazilian Prison Claims “Here the Man Enters, the Crime Stays Outside”
  15. Oregon Parole Hearing Exclusion Rule Invalidated, by David Reutter
  16. U.S. Marshals Pull Out of Virginia Jail After Two Escapes in One Day
  17. Government Watchdog Adds BOP to List at “High Risk” of Mismanagement, by Kevin Bliss
  18. BOP Guard, Nurse in Virginia Indicted in Prisoner’s Death
  19. Washington Supreme Court: Requiring Certificate of Merit for Medical Malpractice Suits Held Invalid
  20. Four Deaths in Seven Weeks at Pennsylvania Prison
  21. Two Dead and $4.675 Million Paid After Deputies’ Alleged Misconduct in California’s Sonoma County, by Casey Bastian
  22. Congress Forces BOP to Upgrade Security Cameras, by Mark Wilson
  23. Prisoner Health Update: Over-the-Counter Medications, by Eike Blohm, MD
  24. San Diego County Pays $4.35 Million After Jail Guards Failed to Stop Detainee From Blinding Herself, by David Reutter
  25. New York Prison System Found Liable for Failure to Protect Prisoner from Assault
  26. Prison Ministry Sues Indiana Jail Over Book Ban
  27. Insider Trading Charges Dropped Against JPay Founder, by Matthew Clarke
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  29. FBI Crime Report Lacking Data from Police Agencies Serving 25 Percent of U.S. Population
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  31. Incarceration Increases Death Risk for Cancer Patients
  32. $120,000 Paid to Muslim Detainees for Discrimination by Maryland Jail, by David Reutter
  33. Oregon Will Hold Release Hearings for 73 Prisoners Sentenced to LWOP as Juveniles, by Mark Wilson
  34. Federal Watchdog Finds BOP Staffing, Maintenance in Crisis
  35. Senators Slam “Egregious” Prisoner Sexual Abuse by BOP Employees, by Mark Wilson
  36. Minnesota Supreme Court Denies Qualified Immunity for Delayed Transfer of Sex Offenders, by Mark Wilson
  37. Former BOP Employees Guilty of Assaulting a Prisoner and Taking Bribes at Troubled Federal Prison in Massachusetts
  38. Second Circuit Affirms $600,000 Punitive Damage Award to New York Prisoner Brutally Beaten by Guards, by Kevin Bliss
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  41. HRDC Granted Injunction to End Censorship in Arkansas Jail, by David Reutter
  42. $50,002 Jury Award to Illinois Prisoner Retaliated Against for Daughter’s Facebook Posts, by David Reutter
  43. As e-Messaging Takes Off in U.S. Prisons, Complaints Over Service and Costs Multiply, by David Reutter
  44. California Guard Charged with Raping 22 Prisoners
  45. Maryland Sheriff Charged with Illegally Procuring Machine Guns from ATF, by Kevin Bliss
  46. Nevada Pays $75,000 for Religious Discrimination Claims of Prisoners in Episcopal and The Way Faith Groups, by David Reutter
  47. California Supreme Court Remands Guards’ Overturned Murder Convictions In Detainee Death At Santa Clara County Jail
  48. Former Connecticut Prisoner’s Challenge Proceeds Against “Pay-to-Stay” Fees
  49. Alabama Denies Parole to 90% of Eligible Prisoners
  50. No Summary Judgment for Private Transportation Company in Maryland Detainee’s Suit Alleging “Horrific” 2,000-Mile Journey, by Keith Sanders
  51. $5,000 Settlement for Warrantless Search of Pro Se North Carolina Prisoner’s Cellphone, by Matthew Clarke
  52. Challenge Survives to Maryland County’s Cash Bond Program, by David Reutter
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  54. Oregon Governor Commutes All Death Sentences, by Mark Wilson
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  56. Solitary Confinement is a Catch-22 for Colorado Prisoners and a “Moral Injury” for Mental Health Workers
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