View source for Federal Bureau of Prisons

{{Organization
|OrganizationName=Federal Bureau of Prisons
|OrganizationType=Administrative and Support Agencies
|Mission=To protect public safety by ensuring that federal offenders serve their sentences of imprisonment in facilities that are safe, humane, and appropriately secure. The BOP aims to provide inmates with opportunities to engage in programs that promote positive change and prepare them for reentry into society.
|ParentOrganization=Department of Justice
|TopOrganization=Department of Justice
|CreationLegislation=34th United States Congress, July 1, 1895 (established as part of the Department of Justice)
|Employees=36000
|Budget=$8.5 billion (Fiscal Year 2023)
|OrganizationExecutive=Director
|Services=Inmate custody; Inmate rehabilitation programs; Correctional management; Reentry support
|HeadquartersLocation=38.8995, -77.01234
|HeadquartersAddress=320 First Street NW, Washington, DC 20534
|Website=https://www.bop.gov
}}
{{Short description|U.S. federal law enforcement agency}}

{{Infobox government agency
| agency_name     = Federal Bureau of Prisons
| motto           = ''Courage. Respect. Integrity. Correctional Excellence.''
| seal            = 
| logo            = Seal of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.svg
| logo_caption    = Seal of the Federal Bureau of Prisons
| logo_size       = 160
| formed          = {{start date and age|May 14, 1930}}
| superseding     = 
| jurisdiction    = 
| headquarters    = [[Federal Home Loan Bank Board Building]],<br />[[Washington, D.C.]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| employees       = 36,697<ref name="About BOP">{{cite web |url=https://www.bop.gov/about/agency/ |title=BOP:About Our Agency |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=May 2, 2020 |publisher=Federal Bureau of Prisons |access-date=May 2, 2020 |quote=36,697 Employees |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200430055056/https://www.bop.gov/about/agency/ |archive-date=April 30, 2020 }}</ref>
| budget          = {{US$|link=yes}}9.3&nbsp;billion (FY 2021)<ref>{{cite web |title=FY 2021 Budget Summary |url=https://www.justice.gov/doj/page/file/1246841/download |website=U.S. Justice Department}}</ref>
| minister2_name  = 
| minister2_pfo   = 
| chief1_name     = Colette S. Peters
| chief1_position = Director
| chief2_name     = William Lothrop, Jr.
| chief2_position = Deputy Director
| chief3_name     = Kathleen Toomey
| chief3_position = Associate Deputy Director
| chief4_name     = Seth Bogin
| chief4_position = co-Chief of Staff
| chief5_name     = Rina Desai
| chief5_position = co-Chief of Staff
| chief6_name     = 
| chief6_position = 
| chief7_name     = 
| chief7_position = 
| chief8_name     = 
| chief8_position = 
| chief9_name     = 
| chief9_position = 
| parent_department = 
| parent_agency   = [[United States Department of Justice|Department of Justice]]
| child1_agency   = 
| child2_agency   = 
| website         = {{url|www.bop.gov|bop.gov}}
}}The '''Federal Bureau of Prisons''' ('''BOP''') is responsible for all federal prisons and provides for the care, custody, and control of federal prisoners.

==History==
The federal prison system had existed for more than 30 years before the BOP was established. Although its wardens functioned almost autonomously, the Superintendent of Prisons, a Department of Justice official in Washington, was nominally in charge of federal prisons.<ref>{{cite journal|author=John W. Roberts|title=The Federal Bureau of Prisons: Its Mission, Its History, and Its Partnership with Probation and Pretrial Services|journal=Federal Probation|year=1997|volume=61|page=53|issn=0014-9128|oclc=2062391}}</ref> The passage of the "Three Prisons Act" in 1891 authorized the first three federal penitentiaries: [[United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth|USP Leavenworth]], [[United States Penitentiary, Atlanta|USP Atlanta]], and [[McNeil Island Corrections Center|USP McNeil Island]] with limited supervision by the Department of Justice.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bosworth|first=Mary|author-link=Mary Francesca Bosworth|title=The U.S. Federal Prison System|publisher=SAGE|year=2002|isbn=978-0761923046|page=[https://archive.org/details/usfederalprisons0000bosw/page/4 4] |url=https://archive.org/details/usfederalprisons0000bosw|url-access=registration}}</ref>

Until 1907, prison matters were handled by the Justice Department [[General Agent]], with responsibility for Justice Department accounts, oversight of internal operations, certain criminal investigations as well as prison operations. In 1907, the General Agent was abolished, and its functions were distributed between three new offices: the Division of Accounts (which evolved into the [[Justice Management Division]]); the Office of the Chief Examiner (which evolved in 1908 into the Bureau of Investigation, and in the early 1920s into the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]); and the Office of the Superintendent of Prisons and Prisoners, later called the Superintendent of Prisons (which evolved in 1930 into the Bureau of Prisons).

The Bureau of Prisons was established within the Department of Justice on May 14, 1930 by the [[United States Congress]],<ref>{{USStatute|71|218|46|325|1930|05|14}}</ref> and was charged with the "management and regulation of all Federal penal and correctional institutions."<ref>{{cite web|title=Statutory Authority to Contract With the Private Sector for Secure Facilities |url=https://www.justice.gov/olc/quinlan.15.htm |publisher=US Department of Justice |access-date=November 17, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209072902/http://www.justice.gov/olc/quinlan.15.htm |archive-date=February 9, 2010}}</ref> This responsibility covered the administration of the 11 federal prisons in operation at the time. By the end of 1930, the system had expanded to 14 institutions with 13,000 inmates, and a decade later in 1940, the system had 24 institutions with 24,360 incarcerated.

The state of Alaska assumed jurisdiction over its corrections on January 3, 1959, using the [[Alaska Department of Corrections]]; prior to statehood, the BOP had correctional jurisdiction over Alaska.<ref>"[http://www.correct.state.ak.us/institutions/lemon-creek-history History of Lemon Creek Correctional Center]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20151222083102/http://www.correct.state.ak.us/institutions/lemon-creek-history Archive]). [[Alaska Department of Corrections]]. Retrieved on December 13, 2015.</ref>

As a result of the [[Sentencing Reform Act of 1984]] and subsequent legislation, which pushed for longer sentences, less judicial discretion, and harsher sentences for drug-related offenses, the federal inmate population doubled in the 1980s and again in the 1990s. The population increase decelerated in the early 2000s, but the population continued to increase until 2014.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Delgado|first1=Marlo|title=Federal Bureau of Prisons|url=http://www.jaildata.com/article/federal-bureau-of-prisons/ |website=JailData.com|access-date=September 13, 2016|date=July 2016}}</ref> <ref>"[https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/population_statistics.jsp;]"</ref>

The [[National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997]] transferred responsibility for adult felons convicted of violating District of Columbia laws to the BOP.

==Administration and employees==

The current director of the Bureau of Prisons is Colette S. Peters.<ref>[https://www.bop.gov/about/agency/leadership.jsp BOP: Leadership]</ref><ref>[https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-merrick-b-garland-announces-selection-colette-s-peters-director-federal Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Announces Selection of Colette S. Peters as Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons]</ref>

As of 2020, 62.5% of Bureau employees are white, 21.3% are black, 12.6% are Hispanic, 2.3% are Asian, and 1.3% are Native American. 72% are male.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_staff_ethnicity_race.jsp|title=Staff Statistics |date=May 2, 2020 |website=Federal Bureau of Prisons |publisher=US Department of Justice |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200123064843/https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_staff_ethnicity_race.jsp |archive-date=January 23, 2020 |access-date= May 2, 2020 }}</ref> There is roughly one corrections officer for every 12.5 prisoners.<ref>{{cite news |last=Reilly |first=Steve |author-link=Steve Reilly |title=Prison violence rises as budgets slashed |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/04/30/prison-riots-and-killings-rising-states-slash-budgets-guards/545299002 |newspaper=USA Today |pages=1A, 2A |date=May 6, 2018 | access-date=August 13, 2018}}</ref>

All BOP law enforcement employees undergo 200 hours of formal training in their first year of employment and an additional 120 hours of training at the [[Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers]] (FLETC) in [[Glynco, Georgia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=World-class correctional instruction |url=https://www.bop.gov/about/facilities/training_centers.jsp |website=Federal Bureau of Prisons: About Our Facilities |publisher=US Department of Justice |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412060917/https://www.bop.gov/about/facilities/training_centers.jsp |archive-date=April 12, 2020 |access-date=November 2, 2015}}</ref>

== Past directors ==
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|-
!Director
!Took office
!Left office
|-
|[[Sanford Bates]]
|1930
|1937
|-
|[[James V. Bennett]]
|1937
|1964
|-
|Myrl E. Alexander
|1964
|1970
|-
|[[Norman Carlson|Norman A. Carlson]]
|1970
|1987
|-
|J. Michael Quinlan
|July 1987
|1992
|-
|[[Kathleen Hawk Sawyer]]
|December 4, 1992
|April 4, 2003
|-
|Harley G. Lappin
|April 4, 2003
|December 21, 2011
|-
|[[Charles E. Samuels Jr.]]
|December 21, 2011
|January 9, 2016
|-
|[[Mark S. Inch]]
|September 18, 2017
|May 18, 2018
|-
|Hugh Hurwitz (acting)
|May 2018
|August 19, 2019
|-
|[[Kathleen Hawk Sawyer]]
|August 19, 2019
|February 25, 2020
|-
|Michael D. Carvajal
|February 25, 2020
|August 2, 2022
|-
|Colette S. Peters
|August 2, 2022
|Present
|-
|}

==Types of federal prisons==
{{Main|List of United States federal prisons}}The BOP has five [[Incarceration in the United States#Security levels|security levels]]:

* [[Federal Prison Camps]] (FPCs), the BOP minimum-security facilities, feature a lack of or a limited amount of perimeter fencing and a relatively low staff-to-inmate ratio.
* Low-security [[Federal Correctional Institutions]] (FCIs) have double-fenced perimeters, and inmates live mostly in cubicles or dormitory housing.
* Medium-security FCIs and some [[United States Penitentiaries]] (USPs) are classified to hold medium-security inmates. The medium facilities have strengthened perimeters which often consist of double fences with electronic detection systems. Medium-security facilities mostly have cell housing.
* Most U.S. Penitentiaries are classified as high-security facilities. The perimeters are highly secured and often have reinforced fences or walls.
* [[Federal Correctional Complexes]] (FCCs) are co-locations of BOP facilities with different security levels and/or genders.<ref name="BOPtypes">"[http://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/index.jsp Prison Types & General Information] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915081357/http://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/index.jsp |date=September 15, 2012 }}." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved May 21, 2010.</ref>
* Administrative Security Facilities are prisons with special missions and capabilities. An example would be Federal Medical Centers, which house sick and injured inmates getting medical care that is beyond the capabilities of a normal institution.

Some units have small, adjacent, minimum-security "satellite camps". Twenty-eight institutions hold female inmates. {{Asof|2010}}, about 15% of Bureau inmates are in facilities operated by third parties, mostly private companies, while others are in local and state facilities. Some are in privately operated Residential Reentry Centers (RRC) or Community Corrections Centers. The Bureau uses contract facilities to manage its own prison population because they are "especially useful" for housing low-security, specialized groups of people, such as sentenced criminal aliens.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20060923084742/http://www.bop.gov/DataSource/execute/dsFacilityAddressLoc?start=y&facilityCode=RIV CI Rivers Contact Information]." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved January 12, 2010.</ref>

==Officers==
Officers employed by the FBOP are uniformed federal law enforcement officers who are responsible for the care, custody, and control of federal inmates. Primary Law enforcement officers working for the Bureau of Prisons have statutory powers of arrest {{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/3050 |title=18 U.S. Code § 3050 - Bureau of Prisons employees' powers }} per the United States Code, and the ability to carry a firearm off duty. The BOP has a [[Special Operations Response Team]] and Disturbance Control Team.

==Inmate population==
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" align="right"
|+ {{nowrap|Past inmate population totals<ref name="BOP-Pop-Stat"/> }}
|-
! scope="col" | FY
! scope="col" | Population
! scope="col" | Change
|-
| 2000 || 145,125 || +11,436
|-
| 2001 || 156,572 || +11,447
|-
| 2002 || 163,436 || +6,864
|-
| 2003 || 172,499 || +9,063
|-
| 2004 || 179,895 || +7,396
|-
| 2005 || 187,394 || +7,499
|-
| 2006 || 192,584 || +5,190
|-
| 2007 || 200,020 || +7,436
|-
| 2008 || 201,668 || +1,648
|-
| 2009 || 208,759 || +7,091
|-
| 2010 || 210,227 || +1,468
|-
| 2011 || 217,768 || +7,541
|-
| 2012 || 218,687 || +919
|-
| 2013 || 219,298 || +611
|-
| 2014 || 214,149 || -5,149
|-
| 2015 || 205,723 || -8,426
|-
| 2016 || 192,170 || -13,553
|-
| 2017 || 185,617 || -6,553
|-
| 2018 || 181,698 || -3,919
|-
| 2019 || 177,214 || -4,484
|}

As of 2021, the Bureau was responsible for approximately 131,040 inmates,<ref name="BOP-Pop-Stat">{{cite web|title=Population Statistics|url=https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/population_statistics.jsp|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428120639/https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/population_statistics.jsp|archive-date=April 28, 2020|access-date=March 14, 2021|publisher=Federal Bureau of Prisons}}</ref> in 122 facilities.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bop.gov/locations/|title=BOP: Our Locations |website=www.bop.gov |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428053015/https://www.bop.gov/locations/ |archive-date=April 28, 2020|access-date=May 2, 2020}}</ref> 57.9% of inmates were white, 38.2% were black, 2.5% native American, and 1.5% Asian; 93.3% were male.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_race.jsp|title=BOP Statistics: Inmate Race |date=August 9, 2021|website=Federal Bureau of Prisons|publisher=US Department of Justice|access-date=August 9, 2021}}</ref> 30.4% were of Hispanic ethnicity, which may be any of these four races.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_ethnicity.jsp|title=BOP Statistics: Inmate Ethnicity |date=August 9, 2021|website=Federal Bureau of Prisons|publisher=US Department of Justice|access-date=August 9, 2021}}</ref> 75% of inmates were between the ages of 26 and 50.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_age.jsp |title=BOP Statistics: Average Inmate Age |website=www.bop.gov |access-date=April 16, 2018}}</ref>

{{Asof|1999}}, 14,000 prisoners were in 16 federal prisons in the state of Texas.<ref>Tedford, Deborah. "Opening of U.S. detention center delivers some much-needed space." ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. October 16, 1999. p. A35 MetFront. [[NewsBank]] Record: 3171576. Available from the [[Houston Public Library]]. "Sixteen of the nation's 94 federal prisons are in Texas and house 14,000 convicts, Marler said."</ref>

{{Asof|2010}}, almost 8,000 felons in 90 facilities, sentenced under D.C. laws, made up about 6% of the total Bureau population.<ref>Fornaci, Philip (Director of the DC Prisoners' Project). "[http://judiciary.house.gov/_files/hearings/pdf/Fornaci090721.pdf Federal Bureau of Prisons Oversight Hearing]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160907070638/http://www.judiciary.house.gov/_files/hearings/pdf/Fornaci090721.pdf Archive]). Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. [[U.S. House of Representatives]] Committee on the Judiciary. July 21, 2009. Retrieved on February 5, 2016.</ref>

As of August 2020, 46.2% of inmates were incarcerated for drug offenses.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_offenses.jsp|title=BOP Statistics: Inmate Offenses |website=www.bop.gov |access-date=December 10, 2016}}</ref>

The BOP receives all prisoner transfer treaty inmates sent from foreign countries, even if their crimes would have been tried in state, DC, or territorial courts if committed in the United States.<ref>"[https://www.justice.gov/criminal-oeo/transfer-state-prisoners Transfer Of State Prisoners]." [[United States Department of Justice]]. Retrieved on April 14, 2016.</ref>

===Female inmates===
{{see also|Incarceration of women in the United States}}
As of 2015, 27 Bureau facilities house women. The Bureau has a Mothers and Infants Nurturing Together (MINT) program for women who enter the system as inmates while pregnant. The Bureau pays for [[abortion]] only if it is life-threatening for the woman, but it may allow for abortions in non-life-threatening cases if non-BOP funds are used.<ref>"[http://www.bop.gov/inmates/custody_and_care/female_offenders.jsp Female offenders]." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on December 13, 2015.</ref>

In 2017, four Democratic Senators, including [[Kamala Harris]], introduced a bill explicitly requiring tampons and pads to be free for female prisoners. In August 2017, the Bureau introduced a memorandum requiring free tampons and pads. The previous 1996 memorandum stated "products for female hygiene needs shall be available" without requiring them to be free of charge.<ref>{{cite news|author=Tolan, Casey|url=http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/08/11/tampon-inmate-bureau-of-prison-woman-incarcerated-kamala-harris/|title=Bureau of Prisons requires free tampons for female inmates, following Harris bill |newspaper=[[Mercury News]]|date=August 11, 2017|access-date=August 12, 2017}}</ref>

A 2018 review by the Evaluation and Inspections Division, Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Justice, found the Bureau's programming and policy decisions did not fully consider the needs of female inmates in the areas of trauma treatment programming, pregnancy programming, and feminine hygiene.<ref>{{cite book |title=Review of the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Management of Its Female Inmate Population |date=September 2018 |publisher=Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Justice, Evaluation and Inspections Division |location=Washington, DC |url=https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo109196 |access-date=22 September 2018}}</ref>

===Juvenile inmates===
{{Asof|2010}}, juveniles sent into Bureau custody are between 17 and 20 and must have been under 18 at the time of the offense. According to the Bureau, most of the juveniles it receives had committed violent crimes and had "an unfavorable history of responding to interventions and preventive measures in the community." In 2010, most federal juvenile inmates were from [[Arizona]], [[Montana]], [[South Dakota]], [[Nebraska]] and the [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]].<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20100330080633/http://www.bop.gov/inmate_programs/juveniles.jsp Juveniles in the Bureau]". Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on January 1, 2010.</ref>

The Bureau contracts with facilities that house [[juvenile delinquency in the United States|juvenile offenders]]. [[Title 18 of the United States Code|Title 18]], U.S.C. 5039 specifies that "No juvenile committed...may be placed or retained in an adult jail or correctional institution in which he has regular contact with adults incarcerated because they have been convicted of a crime or are awaiting trial on criminal charges." The definition includes secure facilities and community-based correctional facilities. Federally sentenced juveniles may be moved into federal adult facilities at certain points; juveniles sentenced as adults are moved into adult facilities when they turn 18 and juveniles that were sentenced as juveniles are moved into adult facilities when they turn 21.<ref>"[http://www.bop.gov/locations/cc/ccc_faqs.jsp Community Corrections FAQs] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202204923/http://www.bop.gov/locations/cc/ccc_faqs.jsp |date=December 2, 2010 }}." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved September 14, 2010.</ref>

===Death row inmates===
{{main|Capital punishment by the United States federal government}}
[[File:TerreHauteUSP.jpg|thumb|[[United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute]], the location of the federal [[death row]] for men and the federal [[execution chamber]]]]
The [[Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988]] reinstituted the federal death penalty.<ref>"[http://www.bop.gov/about/history/first_years.jsp The Bureau Celebrates 80th Anniversary] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528015805/http://www.bop.gov/about/history/first_years.jsp |date=May 28, 2010 }} ." Federal Bureau of Prisons. May 14, 2010. Retrieved on October 3, 2010.</ref> On July 19, 1993, the federal government designated the [[United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute]] in Indiana as the site of execution for both males and females sentenced to execution. The [[Federal Medical Center, Carswell]] in Texas holds the female inmates who have been sentenced to death.

Some male death row inmates are instead held at [[ADX Florence]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sargent |first1=Hillary |first2=Dialynn |last2=Dwyer |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/2015/07/17/tsarnaev-moved-supermax-prison-here-how-live/pgzDWNrA8zk4bX7qhuSL0L/story.html |title=Tsarnaev moved to supermax prison. Here's how he'll live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150901152726/http://www.boston.com/news/local/2015/07/17/tsarnaev-moved-supermax-prison-here-how-live/pgzDWNrA8zk4bX7qhuSL0L/story.html |work=[[Boston Globe]] |date=July 17, 2015 |access-date=December 13, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 1, 2015 }}</ref>

As of January 16, 2020, 49 federal inmates are on death row.<ref>{{cite web |title=BOP Statistics: Sentences Imposed |url=https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_sentences.jsp |website=www.bop.gov |access-date=12 December 2020}}</ref> Under the Trump administration, the BOP carried out 13 executions.<ref>Michael Tarm & Michael Kunzelman, [https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-wildlife-coronavirus-pandemic-crime-terre-haute-28e44cc5c026dc16472751bbde0ead50 Trump administration carries out 13th and final execution], Associated Press (January 15, 2021).</ref>

===Overpopulation and responses===
Parole was abolished for federal inmates in 1987 and inmates must serve at least 85% of their original sentence before being considered for good-behavior release. The current sentencing guidelines were adopted in response to rising crime rates in the 1980s and early 1990s, especially for drug-related offenses.<ref>{{cite web|title=Federal Bureau of Prisons – Statistics|url=https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/population_statistics.jsp|website=Federal Bureau of Prisons |publisher=US Department of Justice|access-date=November 2, 2015|date=November 2, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=La Vigne|first1=Nancy|author-link1=Nancy La Vigne|last2=Samuels|first2=Julie|title=The Growth & Increasing Cost of the Federal Prison System: Drivers and Potential Solutions|url=http://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/alfresco/publication-pdfs/412693-The-Growth-amp-Increasing-Cost-of-the-Federal-Prison-System-Drivers-and-Potential-Solutions.PDF|website=urban.org|access-date=November 2, 2015|date=December 12, 2012|archive-date=October 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151029084710/http://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/alfresco/publication-pdfs/412693-The-Growth-amp-Increasing-Cost-of-the-Federal-Prison-System-Drivers-and-Potential-Solutions.PDF|url-status=dead}}</ref> Some analysts and activists believe that strict federal [[sentencing guidelines]] have led to overcrowding and needlessly incarcerated thousands of non-violent drug offenders who would be better served by drug treatment programs.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schwartzapfel|first1=Beth|title=Federal Prisons Could Release 1,000 Times More Drug Offenders Than Obama Did |url=https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/07/23/federal-prisons-could-release-1-000-times-more-drug-offenders-than-obama-did |website=The Marshall Project|access-date=November 2, 2015|date=July 23, 2015}}</ref>

The yearly increases in the federal inmate population have raised concerns from criminal justice experts<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Voice from Prison Blog {{!}} Criminal Justice Reform & Constitutional Rights |url=https://avoicefromprison.com/ |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=A Voice from Prison |language=en-US}}</ref> and even among DOJ officials themselves. Michael Horowitz, the DOJ Inspector General, wrote a memorandum concerning this issue:

{{cquote|First, despite a slight decrease in the total number of federal inmates in fiscal year (FY) 2014, the Department projects that the costs of the federal prison system will continue to increase in the years ahead, consuming a large share of the Department's budget.

Second, federal prisons remain significantly overcrowded and therefore face a number of important safety and security issues.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cohen|first1=Andrew|title=Obama's Prison Crisis|url=https://www.themarshallproject.org/2014/11/17/a-crisis-at-the-bureau-of-prisons-persists-says-doj-watchdog|website=The Marshall Project|access-date=2 November 2015|date=November 17, 2014}}</ref>}}

===COVID-19 pandemic===
By July 30, 2020, there were 2,910 federal inmates and 500 BOP staff who had confirmed positive test results for [[COVID-19]] during the nationwide [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United States|COVID-19 pandemic]]. 7312 inmates and 683 staff have recovered. There have been 99 federal inmate deaths and two BOP staff member deaths attributed to COVID-19.<ref name="BOP-COVID-19">{{cite web |url=https://www.bop.gov/coronavirus/ |title=BOP: COVID-19 Update |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=May 1, 2020 |website=bop.gov |publisher=Federal Bureau of Prisons |access-date=May 2, 2020 |quote=The BOP has 128,696 federal inmates in BOP-managed institutions and 13,757 in community-based facilities. The BOP staff complement is approximately 36,000. As of 07/30/2020, there are 2910 federal inmates and 500 BOP staff who have confirmed positive test results for COVID-19 nationwide. Currently, 7312 inmates and 683 staff have recovered. There have been 99 federal inmate deaths and 1 BOP staff member deaths attributed to COVID-19 disease. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429140125/https://www.bop.gov/coronavirus/ |archive-date=April 29, 2020}}</ref>

The BOP conducted executions during the pandemic that reportedly did not adhere to physical distancing rules, leading to criticism that the BOP was facilitating "superspreader" events. Staff reportedly refused to wear face masks, a violation of court orders, and knowingly withheld information about confirmed COVID-19 diagnoses from people who had interacted with infected individuals along with hindering contact tracing efforts and allowing staff members who had been exposed to COVID-19 to refuse testing and work. Public health experts called for a delay in executions as they could not be carried out safely without risking the spread of COVID-19.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2021-02-05 |title=AP analysis: Federal executions likely a COVID superspreader |url=https://apnews.com/article/public-health-prisons-health-coronavirus-pandemic-executions-956da680790108d8b7e2d8f1567f3803 |access-date=2021-02-06 |website=AP NEWS}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|United States|Law}}
* [[Federal crime in the United States]]
* [[List of U.S. federal prisons]]
* [[List of United States federal law enforcement agencies]]
* [[National Institute of Corrections]]
* [[Federal Prison Industries, Inc.]] (UNICOR)

==References==
{{reflist}}
* Arons, Anna, Katherine Culver, Emma Kaufman, Jennifer Yun, Hope Metcalf, Megan Quattlebaum, and Judith Resnik. "[https://www.law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/Liman/Liman_report__Dislocation_and_Relocation_Danbury_distribution__Aug__29_2014_%281%29.pdf Dislocation and Relocation: Women in the Federal Prison System and Repurposing FCI Danbury for Men]." [[Yale Law School]], Arthur Liman Public Interest Program. September 2014.

== Further reading ==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140421081825/https://opencrs.com/document/R42937/ The Federal Prison Population Buildup: Overview, Policy Changes, Issues, and Options], [[Congressional Research Service]]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141113055621/http://www.ourarchives.wikispaces.net/Atlanta%2BFederal%2BPenitentiary%2C%2B%2BInmate%2BCase%2BFiles%2C%2B1902-1921 Atlanta Federal Penitentiary Inmate Case Files, 1902–1921 at the National Archives at Atlanta]

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{official website}}
* [https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/prisons-bureau Federal Bureau of Prisons] in the [[Federal Register]]
* [https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/ Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator]

{{Federal Bureau of Prisons}}
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