Support the Environmental Health in Prisons Act
Contact your representative, senators and friends about an act that would help create a healthier living environment in federal prisons.
The Environmental Health in Prisons Act would create an advisory board and authorize it to analyze air and water quality, the presence of mold and contagious diseases, and extreme temperatures. Based on the findings, the board would recommend policies to mitigate these hazards and ensure safer living and working conditions within prisons.
As an example of just how unhealthy federal prisons can be, read this post about conditions in just one of the prisons. “There were numerous leaks and the air conditioning didn’t work,” our network member writes. “Warm air blew out of the vents and many of the guys kept them covered because of the black dust that blew out (I believe this was black mold spores). Many of us believed this was why so many of us had breathing problems and respiratory infections.”
What you can do
The bill has already been passed by the House. Below is suggested copy for an email that can be adapted and sent to your federal senators.
I am reaching out to strongly urge you to support the Federal Prison Oversight Act (S. 4988), which would require the federal Bureau of Prisons to operate with greater transparency and accountability.
I have read accounts of the conditions in federal prison, and the treatment of adults in custody it is often inhumane and counterproductive if we want them to return to their communities as healthy, productive individuals. [Make your email a little different than others by describing the situation of an incarcerated loved one or friend, or what you read in this report.]
Yet, when prisoners attempt to report policy violations using the established grievance system, they are refused the necessary forms, witness the forms being torn up, discover that the forms have mysteriously disappeared, etc. Often, they are retaliated against by being transferred or sent to the SHU (“hole”) for a trumped-up charge.
It’s time to stop these abuses and force the BOP to be as accountable for the behavior of the staff at its 122 prison facilities as individuals who commit crimes are required to be. The Federal Prison Oversight Act would go a long way toward making that happen by tasking the DOJ Office of Inspector General to regularly visit and report on BOP facilities, develop recommendations to fix the observed problems, and assign each facility a risk score — with higher-risk facilities required to be inspected more often. The IG also would report its findings and recommendations to Congress and the public, and the BOP would be required to respond to all inspection reports within 60 days with a corrective action plan.
Even more important, the act would create an independent ombudsman’s office within the DOJ, which would establish a secure hotline and online form that allows prisoners, family members and other representatives of incarcerated people to confidentially and safely submit complaints and inquiries.
For all these reasons, please sign on to support independent oversight of the BOP and co-sponsor the Federal Prison Oversight Act.
Thank you for your service and for considering my views.