Congress passed legislation that overhauls oversight and brings greater transparency to the crisis-stricken Federal Bureau of Prisons. following a report from the Associated Press which exposed systemic corruption in the federal prison system and increased congressional scrutiny.
The bill, passed unanimously by the Senate on Wednesday, would force the Justice Department’s Inspector General to conduct comprehensive inspections of the prison agency of the company’s 122 facilities, provide problem-solving recommendations and assign each facility a risk score.
The Federal Prison Oversight Act, which the House passed in May, now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.
The bill would also establish an independent ombudsman to investigate problems within the agency following rampant employee sexual abuse of inmates, prisoner escapes and high-profile deaths. It was introduced by Senators Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., Mike Braun, R-Ind., and Dick DurbinDill.
One ongoing investigation by the Associated Press uncovered deep, previously unreported flaws in the Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department’s largest law enforcement agency, with more than 30,000 employees, 158,000 inmates and an annual budget of about $8 billion.
AP reports revealed rampant sexual abuse It is other criminal conduct for the team, dozens of leakschronic violence, deaths and severe staff shortage that has difficult responses to emergenciesincluding inmate assaults and suicides.
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Associated Press reporter Farnoush Amiri in Washington contributed to this report.
