Federal Prisoners and Social Media

While changing the way the law handles alleged criminal misconduct is important, how the criminal justice system rehabilitates offenders is also important. How inmates learn about technology is crucial to their success, so says Chandra Bozelko in “Inmates Need Social Media. Take It From a Former Prisoner.” 

Indeed, the transition from incarceration to freedom is tough. New freedom carries new risks, new responsibilities, and new rewards. One of the challenges is to socialize offenders. Bozelko suggested that allowing inmates more access to social media while in prison will accomplish this task. To learn more from Bozelko, check out this article https://www.wired.com/story/inmates-need-social-media-take-it-from-a-former-prisoner/

Federal "Stop and Frisk" Policies

“Stop and frisk” policies are a known point of controversy. New York City had such a policy until a federal lawsuit was filed and a judge issued an injunction to stop it. “Stop and frisk” refers to law enforcement officers who stop a person and frisk (search) them without a search warrant or any probable cause whatsoever. 

These types of warrant-less searches occur in many parts of our nation. According to an article in Reason the American Civil Liberty Union (ACLU) has filed a class action lawsuit against Madison County alleging “stop and frisk” searches conducted by Madison County Sheriff’s department are illegal. View the full article http://reason.com/archives/2017/09/19/mississippis-jump-out-boys"  for yourself.

Law enforcement claims they are searching people that fit a particular appearance because many crimes are committed by people with that appearance. The police claim “Stop and frisk” policies are part of the reason New York City’s crime rate dropped over the last 20 years. 

Others claim the policy is nothing short of racial profiling. They claim it is a violation of the Fourth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Some people believe a federal law should be passed to prohibit “stop and frisk” policies. 

BOP Program Statement 5522.03: Whole Body Imaging

BOP Program Statement Update

BOP Program Statement 5522.03: Whole Body Imaging

This policy is used to help implement requirements and guidelines governing the use of Whole Body Imaging on inmates to reduce the risk of weapons and contraband within the prison system.

The Whole Body Imaging Program uses ionizing radiation to detect contraband. Each secure BOP facility is required to deploy a Whole Body Imaging scanner. Inmates are required to submit to testing. Inmates who refuse to be tested are subject to disciplinary action.

Since inmates receive radiation during each test, it is critical to ensure that the limit on the number of scans allowed per inmate is not exceeded. Supporters of Whole Body Imaging point out that the amount of radiation exposure per scan is microscopic. A typical chest x-ray has several hundred times more radiation exposure than a typical Whole Body Image scan.

Inmates are required to stand in front of the scanner with their legs spread slightly and arms extended. The scans take about eight seconds. The BOP has policies on who can view the images. Cross-gender viewing of scanned images is only permitted if the WBI system is equipped with BOP approved privacy filters. These filters protect images of the inmate’s personal anatomy from being viewed by members of the opposite gender. Investigative staff authorized by the Warden and of the same sex as the scanned inmate can look at images without the privacy filters. Also, any BOP staff can look at any images during an emergency.

Concerns:

Ionizing radiation can cause harm to humans. While small doses appear to be less harmful, there are no studies showing the impact of receiving Whole Body Imaging scans conducted on inmates leaving UNICOR facilities five days per week year after year.

While the BOP Program Statement requires Correctional Officers to use filtering software to prevent viewing of images of the opposite gender’s personal anatomy, inmates point out that many officers do not follow BOP policies in other areas. Why would they follow the BOP policies here? Recall that Whole Body Imaging scanners have been required at many U.S. airports since the attacks of 9/11/2001. Many TSA agents were caught making personal copies of the images they found during the tests. Many of these scanners were removed from airports because of the breach of trust by these federal agents.

Enduring Years in Prison: How Do They Do That?

Thousands and thousands of individuals are incarcerated around the United States. What is it that gets an individual through such an ordeal? How do they persevere? Do they even persevere?

These questions have been asked countless times over the decades, but there is no one explanation. Finding purpose and looking toward a goal do seem to be common themes for those individuals who successfully navigate decades in prison and come out on the other side.

Read about one man's journey toward freedom and how he used running - and that is running laps around a prison yard at a high speed - to see him through the years. This inner drive inspired others to meet him on the outside and accompany him on a run to his home (26 miles away) on his release day.

http://www.salon.com/2017/07/22/his-first-run-outside-27-miles-from-prison-to-home/

(Credit Getty/Michael Svoboda)

Halfway Houses

In early 2017, H.R.2988 was introduced. If enacted, the law would amend Title 18, U.S. Code, to remove the requirement that residents of residential reentry facilities (halfway houses) pay 25 percent of any gross income earned during work release to offset the cost of being housed, and for other purposes.

Concerns:

Halfway houses cost money to operate. It makes sense that criminals who are released back into society should have to pay for their room and board. That is fair.

On the other hand, halfway houses are usually very profitable because they charge the 25 percent of gross income earned during work release even when the offender no longer lives at the halfway house but is still serving work release (halfway house time). This allows the halfway house to collect money from several offenders for each bed that has to be paid for. This is profitable.

BOP Program Statement 5200.04: Transgender Offender Manual

This policy is meant to provide guidance to staff in dealing with transgender inmates. Prisons must ensure transgender inmates can access programs and services to meet their needs. Sufficient resources must be allocated by the prison. Staff must be trained on the increased risk of suicide, mental health issues, and victimization of transgender inmates.

The Health Services Division oversees all medical and psychiatric activity as it applies to transgender inmates. Hormone or other medical treatment may be provided after an assessment of the inmate by institution medical staff.

Transgender inmates will be pat-searched in accordance with the gender of the institution. An exception can be obtained by the Warden and documentation of the exception is carried with the inmate at all times.

In deciding where a transgender inmate will live, the BOP staff have to determine “whether the placement would present management or security problems.” … “Transgender inmates shall be given the opportunity to shower separate from other inmates.”

Concerns:

The BOP already has a serious problem with trying to get people to live together in housing units. Many inmates are assaulted on a frequent basis because of their race, gang membership, or sex offender status. If the BOP has trouble mixing these groups of inmates, many question whether it can ever safely integrate transgendered inmates into the system.

The BOP’s financial resources are extremely limited. Many inmates are denied medical care because it is too expensive. Getting an MRI may only take a few days in the free world but can take six months in the BOP. Getting a simple pair of eyeglasses may only take a few days in the free world but can take a year or more in the BOP. Given that the financial resources are extremely limited, some worry that the transgendered population will be neglected. Others argue the transgendered community will get special treatment. 

World of The Arts Supports Criminal Justice Reform

Multi-million dollar paintings and criminal justice are often only in the news with the heist of a famous work of art.

Recently, that all changed and the art world was turned upside down when Agnes Gund sold Roy Lichtenstein's 1962 work Masterpiece. Not only did the 165 million dollar sale become one of the fifteen most expensive pieces of art known to have been sold, but the sale also creates a fund to support criminal justice reform. The ultimate goal is to reduce mass incarceration in the United States.

Read more about this event at NPR's the two-way.

BOP Program Statement Update

BOP Program Statement 5576.04:  Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) Aerosol Spray

This policy stems from the Eric Williams Correctional Officer Protection Act of 2015. The policy amends United States Code Title 18 and approves the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to issue Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) spray to officers of the BOP. The update is consistent with the Department of Justice’s Policy Statement on the Use of Less-Than-Lethal Devices. OC spray is only supposed to be used “when reasonable force, based on the totality of the circumstances at the time of the incident, is necessary to protect any person from physical harm.”

OC spray will not be routinely issued to correctional officers (CO’s) in minimum or low security prisons. Instead, the spray will be issued in high security institutions, medium security institutions, and administrative facilities.

The OC spray has an effective range of 10-12 feet under ideal circumstances. OC is inflammatory, causing a burning sensation to the skin, tearing and closing of the eyes, and swelling of the mucous membranes. 

DOJ CO’s “are prohibited from using less-than-lethal devices to punish, harass, or abuse any person.”

Concerns: 

There is a concern that arming the CO’s with OC spray will jeopardize the safety of the CO’s because inmates will periodically overwhelm the CO’s and obtain the OC spray. This will place the CO’s at risk.

Alternately, while there are many good CO’s in the BOP, there are some who are corrupt and will never follow all rules in program statements. Even though the CO’s are prohibited from using the OC spray to punish or abuse inmates, there is concern that the spray will ultimately be used in this manner. 
 

Criminal Justice Reform

On January 3, 2017, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX-18) introduced H.R.61 – Fair Chance for Youth Act of 2017. This bill would amend the federal criminal code to create a process to expunge and seal certain youth criminal records. In this bill, a youth is defined as a person who was arrested, prosecuted, or sentenced for a criminal offense committed at age 21 or younger. 

A youth would be able to expunge records related to: 

(1) a misdemeanor conviction
(2) a nonviolent felony drug conviction   
(3) a conviction for any nonviolent offense committed prior to turning age 18   
(4) an arrest or prosecution for a nonviolent offense that is disposed of.

A youth would be able to petition to seal records related to:

(1) a nonviolent conviction
(2) a conviction for any offense committed prior to turning age 18
(3) an arrest or prosecution for a nonviolent offense that is disposed of.

Each federal district court would be required to establish a Youth Offense Expungement and Sealing Review Board to review and make recommendations to grant or deny expungement petitions. The court must consider and decide each petition for which it receives a Review Board recommendation.

Concerns: 

The United States already have a system that allows minors aged 16 years and under to seal their criminal history. By raising the age to 21 years, this essentially gives misguided youth another “get out of jail free” card. As minors become adults, it is in their best interest to teach them personal accountability. 

If crimes are to be expunged for offenders who committed them between ages 17 and 21 years, then it becomes harder to sentence them as a repeat offender when they commit a repeat offense. This will potentially encourage future bad behavior. 

The Writer’s Notebook

Three easy steps for the writer in all of us.

Do you want to be a writer? Do you feel you can make a difference or tell a story through the written word? Do you feel ready to make that commitment with the written word?

The task seems daunting. The amount of resources available for the wanna-be writer can be overwhelming. How is it possible to start or even succeed as a writer?

Here is the easy answer:  Anyone can do it. 

There is no one magic formula to bring out the writer in all of us, but there is a writer within each of us. But there are three simple steps which, if taken, will set you on the path to success.

Write

Write every day. Start by getting a notebook. Buy an expensive, leather-bound journal at your local bookstore or grab a seventeen cent, college-ruled spiral notebook at Wal-Mart. If it strikes your fancy and makes you want to open the cover, then use it. But write every day.

If you have a thought for a story or plot, then write it down. If a turn-of-phrase catches your ear, then add it to the notebook. Document a dream, write a list of anything, rehash a conversation, or make up a conversation.

 The more you write, the easier it gets, and then…the more you will write. 

Just think about it:  This very blog entry began as a line in a ratty, cast-off spiral notebook. 

Find a Style Guide

Eventually, you will have grammar, punctuation, and usage questions. This is the natural process of wanting to become better at what you do. Style resources abound. 

Many writers and publishing companies use The Chicago Manual of Style as their go-to writer and editor resource. Buy the latest copy, or use the online version at www.chicagomanualofstyle.org. 

GrammarGirl, at http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl, is a great online resource with quirky methods for remembering those stodgy grammar rules that we all learned in school but pledged to forget as soon as possible.

Grammar perfection is at the tip of your fingers, literally, when you utilize the free and premium grammar tools at www.grammarly.com .

Read

Read…And read and read and read. You get the idea. Read novels, poetry, any well-written magazine you can get your hands on, newspapers—either print or online—manuals, information on boxes, etc. The more you read, the more you know. The more you know, the more you can apply to your own writing. 

Reading well-written material builds a framework in your mind for creating your own well-written material. 

Don’t know where to start? Find a favorite fiction book series to read. Then read another series. 

Grab an online or print subscription to The New Yorker magazine, Wired magazine or The New York Times. 

Find a topic that interests you and read non-fiction works related to that topic. For example, if you want to know more about the struggles of women in Afghanistan, read We Are Afghan Women:  Voices of Hope. Conduct some searches, and you will find countless more books about the people, culture, history, and wars in Afghanistan.

Complete these three easy steps. Then repeat. And repeat again and again. Your journey as a writer has just begun.