Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Prisons
Summary
This is a hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, titled Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, on Thursday, February 3, 2022. The contents list opening statements by Sheila Jackson Lee, Chair of the Subcommittee, and Andy Biggs, Ranking Member, and a witness, Michael Carvajal, Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons. One member's remarks say the PATTERN risk assessment tool, at the core of implementation of the First Step Act, has not been effectively utilized. The closing remarks give members five legislative days to submit additional written questions for the witness or additional materials for the record.
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Cite this document
“Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/chrg-chrg-117hhrg47550-chrg-117hhrg47550/
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OVERSIGHT OF THE
FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME, TERRORISM,
AND HOMELAND SECURITY
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEETH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2022
Serial No. 117–53
Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary
(
Available via: http://judiciary.house.gov
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
47–550 WASHINGTON : 2022
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
JERROLD NADLER, New York, Chair
MADELEINE DEAN, Pennsylvania, Vice-Chair
ZOE LOFGREN, California JIM JORDAN, Ohio, Ranking Member
SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
STEVE COHEN, Tennessee LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas
HENRY C. ‘‘HANK’’ JOHNSON, JR., Georgia DARRELL ISSA, California
THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida KEN BUCK, Colorado
KAREN BASS, California MATT GAETZ, Florida
HAKEEM S. JEFFRIES, New York MIKE JOHNSON, Louisiana
DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island ANDY BIGGS, Arizona
ERIC SWALWELL, California TOM MCCLINTOCK, California
TED LIEU, California W. GREG STEUBE, Florida
JAMIE RASKIN, Maryland TOM TIFFANY, Wisconsin
PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky
VAL BUTLER DEMINGS, Florida CHIP ROY, Texas
J. LUIS CORREA, California DAN BISHOP, North Carolina
MARY GAY SCANLON, Pennsylvania MICHELLE FISCHBACH, Minnesota
SYLVIA R. GARCIA, Texas VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana
JOE NEGUSE, Colorado SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin
LUCY MCBATH, Georgia CLIFF BENTZ, Oregon
GREG STANTON, Arizona BURGESS OWENS, Utah
VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas
MONDAIRE JONES, New York
DEBORAH ROSS, North Carolina
CORI BUSH, Missouri
AMY RUTKIN, Majority Staff Director and Chief of Staff
CHRISTOPHER HIXON, Minority Staff Director
SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME, TERRORISM, AND HOMELAND SECURITY
SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas, Chair
CORI BUSH, Missouri, Vice-Chair
KAREN BASS, California ANDY BIGGS, Arizona, Ranking Member
VAL DEMINGS, Florida STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
LUCY MCBATH, Georgia LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas
MADELEINE DEAN, Pennsylvania W. GREGORY STEUBE, Florida
MARY GAY SCANLON, Pennsylvania TOM TIFFANY, Wisconsin
DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky
TED LIEU, California VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana
J. LUIS CORREA, California SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin
VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas BURGESS OWENS, Utah
STEVE COHEN, Tennessee
KEENAN KELLER, Chief Counsel
JASON CERVENAK, Minority Counsel
(II)
C O N T E N T S
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2022
Page
OPENING STATEMENTS
The Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee, Chair of the Subcommittee on Crime,
Terrorism, and Homeland Security from the State of Texas ........................... 2
The Honorable Andy Biggs, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee Crime,
Terrorism, and Homeland Security from the State of Arizona ........................ 31
WITNESS
Michael Carvajal, Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons
Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 48
Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 50
STATEMENTS, LETTERS, MATERIALS, ARTICLES SUBMITTED
Materials submitted by the Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee, Chair of the Sub-
committee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security from the State
of Texas, for the record
A letter from Alison Guernsey, Clinical Associate Professor, Iowa College
of Law ................................................................................................................ 6
A statement from Homer Venters, Adjunct Faculty, NYU School of Global
Public Health .................................................................................................... 38
A collection of letters of experiences of 17 women across five federal facilities
provided by the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcer-
ated Women and Girls, submitted by the Honorable Cori Bush, Vice-Chair
of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security from
the State of Missouri, for the record ................................................................... 88
Materials submitted by the Honorable Ted Lieu, a Member of the Sub-
committee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security from the State
of California, for the record
An article entitled, ‘‘Bureau Of Prisons Special Tactical Force Under Scru-
tiny For Use In DC Protests And Training Mishaps,’’ Forbes ...................... 108
An article entitled, ‘‘The Story Behind Bill Barr’s Unmarked Federal
Agents,’’ Politico ................................................................................................ 113
An article entitled, ‘‘Man is 16th to die from COVID–19 at Fort Worth
prison; cases spike at women’s facility,’’ Fort Worth Star-Telegram, sub-
mitted by the Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee, Chair of the Subcommittee
on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security from the State of Texas,
for the record ........................................................................................................ 132
APPENDIX
Materials submitted by the Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee, Chair of the Sub-
committee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security from the State
of Texas, for the record
A statement from Jesselyn McCurdy, Managing Director of Government
Affairs and Sakira Cook, Senior Director, Justice Program of the Leader-
ship Conference on Civil and Human Rights ................................................. 138
An article entitled, ‘‘Flaws plague a tool meant to help low-risk federal
prisoners win early release,’’ NPR .................................................................. 145
(III)
IV
Page
An article entitled, ‘‘Fatal Gang Fight Spurs Nationwide Lockdown of Fed-
eral Prison System,’’ The New York Times .................................................... 152
A report entitled, ‘‘Reducing Jail and Prison Populations During the Covid–
19 Pandemic,’’ Brennan Center for Justice .................................................... 153
A report entitled, ‘‘Cases spike at Fort Worth prison; whistleblower com-
plaint says top staff have no COVID plan,’’ Fort Worth Star-Telegram ..... 203
An article entitled, ‘‘Stroke Victim ‘Dumped’ By Prison Guards At Bus
Stop, Massive Search Launched: Attorney,’’ Baltimore Daily Voice ............ 209
QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES FOR THE RECORD
Questions to Michael Carvajal, Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons, sub-
mitted by the Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee, Chair of the Subcommittee
on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security from the State of Texas,
for the record ........................................................................................................ 214
OVERSIGHT OF THE
FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS
Thursday, February 3, 2022
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME, TERRORISM, AND HOMELAND SECURITY
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
Washington, DC
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:05 a.m., via Zoom,
Hon. Sheila Jackson Lee [Chair of the Subcommittee] presiding.
Members present: Representatives Jackson Lee, Bass, Demings,
McBath, Dean, Scanlon, Bush, Cicilline, Lieu, Cohen, Biggs,
Chabot, Steube, Tiffany, Massie, and Fitzgerald.
Staff present: John Doty, Senior Advisor and Deputy Staff Direc-
tor; David Greengrass, Senior Counsel; Cierra Fontenot, Chief
Clerk; John Williams, Parliamentarian and Senior Counsel;
Merrick Nelson, Digital Director; Keenan Keller, Chief Counsel for
Crime; Mauri Gray, Deputy Chief Counsel for Crime; Nicole Ban-
ister, Counsel for Crime; Veronica Eligan, Professional Staff Mem-
ber/Legislative Aide for Crime; Jason Cervenak, Minority Chief
Counsel for Crime; Ken David, Minority Counsel; Kiley Bidelman,
Minority Clerk; and Carter Robertson, Minority USSS Detailee.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Good morning. I just had the privilege of at-
tending the Nation’s Prayer Breakfast and so as I look at the hear-
ing that we held last week, I am committed that we will have not
only justice accountability, but that we will look to prison reform
and have restoration. I have the faith that this will happen. I hope
this hearing will bring us to that point.
The Subcommittee will now come to order. Without objection, the
Chair is authorized to declare recesses of the Committee at any
time.
Good morning, again, and welcome to today’s Oversight Hearing
of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. I would like to remind the Mem-
bers that we have established an email address and distribution
lists to circulate exhibits, motions, or other written materials that
the Members might want to offer as part of our hearing today. If
you would like to submit materials, please send them to the email
address that has been previously distributed to your offices, and we
will circulate the materials to the Members and staff as quickly as
we can.
I would also ask all the Members to please mute your micro-
phones when you are not speaking. This will help prevent feedback
(1)
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and other technical issues. You may unmute yourself any time you
seek recognition.
I now recognize myself for an opening statement. Today’s hearing
on Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Prisons is a follow up to the
hearing the Subcommittee held on January 21, 2022.
It was our commitment to our Members that they would have the
actual representative at this time of the Federal Bureau of Prisons
to be able to hear directly from the leadership and to secure an-
swers.
The hearing last week probed the Bureau’s implementation of
the First Step Act, the impact of COVID–19 on BOP, the Bureau’s
response to the pandemic, and the implementation used of compas-
sionate release within the Bureau among other topics, very crucial
topics in the line of justice and accountability.
During that hearing, many questions were raised and many of
our Members thought it best to speak directly to the Director of
BOP. Therefore, I am pleased to have Director Michael Carvajal
here today so that we may delve deeply into many issues faced by
the Bureau. Two years into the pandemic, COVID–19 remains the
most pressing and impactful issue facing the Bureau of Prisons as
the virus continues to wreak havoc among many of the Bureau’s fa-
cilities. I am uncomfortable as to whether or not they have met the
challenge and met the task.
From the outset, the virus has had exacerbated the increased
health risks for people living or working in confined spaces which
is especially true for prison systems where social distancing must
be balanced with a need to ensure safety and security.
We continue to hear horror stories of BOP facilities struggling to
contain the virus. For instance, we heard last week from Senator
Chris Murphy that approximately 40 percent of inmates at the
Danbury Federal Correctional Institution in Connecticut were in ei-
ther isolation or quarantined with only 80 correctional officers
available for service which means that every officer on duty is re-
sponsible for three prison units. We in the Congress must collabo-
rate to ensure that the remnants of the past can be corrected by
this Administration that has a new approach, new commitment to
the reformation of this system.
Then on Monday, we learned that Federal Medical Center,
Carswell, the women’s facility in Fort Worth in Texas, my state,
has the fourth highest COVID positive numbers of any group facil-
ity in the country with 248 inmates and 46 members who are
COVID positive. Eight women have died of COVID–19 at FMC,
Carswell, since the beginning of the pandemic, while 18 inmates
have died of COVID at Fort Worth male facility.
In the past two weeks, the number of COVID–19 positives in the
BOP system has fluctuated between 6,000 and 9,000 inmates.
In that same two-week period, five more inmates in BOP custody
have died of COVID–19, bringing the number of inmates to die of
COVID–19 related illnesses to 284. It appears that there are just
too many inmates in the Bureau’s custody to control and success-
fully reduce the spread of COVID–19 and it appears that there has
been a slow and ineffective utilization of compassionate release
which should be complied with discretion that the Bureau has.
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The Bureau of Prisons has several mechanisms within the au-
thority to reduce the number of inmates in its custody, compas-
sionate release, the CARES Act, and the First Step Act, modified
even by then Attorney General Barr. Although using overly-restric-
tive criteria, BOP released thousands of prisons under the CARES
Act who have reestablished themselves with their families and in
their communities and importantly, have not re-offended. The Bu-
reau and DOJ should be commended for their decision to rescind
the previous Administration’s opinion that would have called many
of these individuals back into custody unnecessarily.
I think it is important to note that these individuals that had
been released were more released on their application for compas-
sionate release as opposed to the BOP assisting their prisoners and
determining that they could be released which causes the problems
that we have now.
However, thousands of prisoners continue to test positive for
COVID–19 and others die, BOP has failed to effectively utilize its
authority to request compassionate release for inmates. I think
they are just waiting. Some may die.
From January 1, 2020–January 30, 2021, during the height of
the pandemic, the Bureau of Prisons filed less than one percent of
the total compassionate release motions filed throughout the entire
country. In an attempt to respond to this issue and to help allevi-
ate the rise of spreading COVID, we have expanded compassionate
release, and later expanded compassionate release again to allow
inmates to file their own motions 30 days after they first made a
request with their warden. Notably, as few as one fourth of 284 in-
mates who died in custody of COVID-related illnesses, actually
filed a motion for compassionate release, raising questions about ef-
ficiency and efficacy of the process.
One is left to wonder how justice was served by the process for
the 62 inmates who filed for compassionate release themselves or
through counsel and whose preexisting medical conditions were
cited by the Bureau after they died of COVID-related illness while
in custody. Why couldn’t there be a response? The Bureau not only
grapples with inmate infections and deaths, but also with staff
member infections and death.
In the last two weeks, the number of COVID–19 positive staff
members have ranged from 900 to almost 2,000 and 7 staff mem-
bers have died of COVID-related illnesses. While staffing shortages
have long been a problem for the Bureau of Prisons has made a
bad situation even worse. Statistics do not hold well for the State
of operations for Bureau facilities across the country.
As staff members become infected or are required to quarantine
due to exposure, COVID–19 directly affects the remaining staff’s
ability to provide safety, security, general, and COVID-related med-
ical services, and recidivism-reducing programming to inmates.
I do want to take this moment as I conclude my remarks to be
able to give appreciation to the corrections officers and staff that
operate with compassion, hopefully sensitivity, and strength as
they work every single day. Ninty-eight facilities remain at Level
3 of the modified operational levels which includes social distancing
in all areas of Bureau facilities. As of Monday, all Federal prisons
are under a national lock down as two inmates died during a fight
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involving multiple inmates at U.S. Penitentiary Beaumont, includ-
ing those in gangs. Although details are not forthcoming due to the
on-going FBI investigation, this incident raises concern about the
safety and security of the facility, particularly in my backyard,
Beaumont, which has been compromised by longstanding staffing
shortages.
The consequences of staffing shortages at BOP have been wit-
nessed time and time again. The death of Jeffrey Epstein was
linked in part to the hours of overtime that officers guarding him
were required to work and augmentation which required an em-
ployee who was not a corrections officers to guard him. I went to
that facility. I saw the needs, the freezing cold, and the needs of
those employees that were there. They begged for help and did not
get it. Epstein’s death precipitated the closing of the Metropolitan
Corrections office. Our Chair has worked very hard on this issue.
So, I hope as we go forward that we will listen to the issues. We
know some issues are being investigated by the OIG. We under-
stand that the conditions at many of the prisons are not what they
should be. We know that the PATTERN risk assessment tool which
is at the core of the implementation of the First Step Act and other
programs has not been effectively utilized. We hope to answer that
question on the PATTERN program that indicates that the Na-
tional Institute of Justice identified errors in PATTERN Version 1
that I understand are being addressed to revise the version of PAT-
TERN. Inmates who were assessed under the current version of the
tool were disadvantaged by those errors. They must be reassessed
under the new version.
Prison is a place of accountability and punishment, but it should
also be a place of redemption, restoration, service, and certainly a
place that is decent for staff to work at. I look forward to this dis-
cussion with our Director, and I look forward to continuing to try
and restore the Federal Prison Bureau in the way that it should
perform.
Without objection, I will submit into the record the following doc-
uments, written testimony submitted by Alison K. Guernsey for the
January 21, 2022, Subcommittee hearing entitled ‘‘The First Step
Act, The Pandemic, and Compassionate Release: What Are the
Next Steps for the Federal Bureau of Prisons?’’ A letter from Alison
K. Guernsey, dated February 1, 2022, and two accompanying at-
tachments; written statements submitted by Dr. Homer Venters for
the January 21, 2022, Subcommittee hearing, ‘‘The First Step Act,
The Pandemic, and Compassionate Release: What Are the Next
Steps for the Federal Bureau of Prisons?’’
[The information follows:]
MS. JACKSON LEE FOR THE RECORD
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Ms. JACKSON LEE. I now recognize the distinguished Member
from Arizona, the Ranking Member for his opening statement.
Thank you and welcome, Mr. Biggs.
Mr. BIGGS. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I first thank you,
Madam Chair, for holding this hearing and I also thank you for
bringing in Director of Prisons, Director Carvajal, because I think
about your swift response to many of us who requested that his
presence be here and I appreciate your response to that, Madam
Chair, and we are grateful for that.
I welcome Director Carvajal as well. Thank you for your service,
sir. We are glad to have you here today.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is tasked with protecting society
by confining offenders in the controlled environments of prisons
and community-based facilities. BOP’s duty is not merely to pro-
vide housing, food, and security for Federal inmates, but also to
help inmates become law-abiding citizens upon release.
All Americans have an interest in BOP’s mission because the
vast majority of Federal inmates, well above 90 percent, will some-
day be released into our communities regardless of our efforts to
reduce recidivism. BOP’s job is not an easy task, and it has only
become more complicated due to COVID–19. In response to
COVID–19, BOP undertook a number of steps to safeguard the
health, safety of inmates, Bureau of Prisons staff and the public.
BOP prioritized inmates for home confinement who did not post
significant risk to the public, restricted the number of visitors, and
limited the movement of inmates among detention facilities. These
are reasonable measures, but my colleagues on the other side of the
aisle want to go even further. They have tried to use COVID–19
as a reason to let more convicted criminals back on to our streets.
They even wrote Attorney General William Barr, urging him to
‘‘use every tool at his disposal to release as many prisoners as pos-
sible.’’
They even passed legislation in the House that would pay states
to release inmates in State prisons and local jails. Think about
that. My colleagues across the aisle want to use our tax dollars to
incentivize States to put more convicted criminals on the streets
earlier.
The consequence of these actions has deadly real-world results as
we have unfortunately seen. In March of 2021, Eric Reinbold was
released from BOP custody after being granted compassionate re-
lease based on COVID vulnerability. By July, just four months
later, Reinbold was accused and charged with murdering his wife.
Just a few weeks ago in Oregon, Clifford Uptegrove was charged
with first degree robbery, first degree theft, and felony fleeing and
unlawful use of a weapon. Uptegrove had been granted compas-
sionate release for COVID-related reasons the previous year.
In spite of these innumerous crimes that have been committed
by inmates released early, my colleagues across the aisle are call-
ing for more inmates to be released regardless of their crime or
prison sentence. Democrats on this Committee want to open the
jails and defund the police. They are turning a public health crisis
into a public safety crisis as well.
I tell you, Director Carvajal, to please pass on our appreciation
to your officers and employees. They have a tough job and I want
47
them to know they have our support. To that end, I understand
that many BOP officers have voiced concern over the Biden vaccine
mandate. I strongly oppose any efforts to mandate COVID–19 vac-
cines and have introduced legislation to prevent Federal agencies
from imposing COVID–19 vaccine mandates.
I look forward to hearing from Director Carvajal today. I also re-
quest that, Madam Chair, that we soon have the D.C. Director of
the U.S. Marshals Office in for a hearing as well. I think some of
the evidence that came out of last week’s hearing would do well for
both sides of the aisle to hear from the Marshals Office. I appre-
ciate you again bringing in Director Carvajal. It is good to have
him here.
I thank you, Madam Chair, and I yield back the balance of my
time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank the Ranking Member for his state-
ment. I acknowledge at this time the service of our Chair, Mr. Nad-
ler, and the service of our Ranking Member, Mr. Jordan. I thank
them for their leadership of this Committee.
It is now my pleasure to introduce today’s Witness Michael
Carvajal, who is the Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He
began his career with the Bureau of Prisons in 1992 as a correc-
tional officer at the Federal Correctional Institute, Three Rivers,
Texas. He is, in essence, a committed, dedicated servant to the
Federal Bureau of Prisons. He served in position of leadership in
Texas, Kansas, Louisiana before becoming the Regional Director of
Northeast Region in 2016.
Mr. Carvajal became the Assistant Director for the Correctional
Programs Division in 2018 and held that position until he was ap-
pointed Director in 2020 in the last Administration.
Let me again take note of his service and as well, the many cor-
rections officers that I have had and staff, the privilege of meeting
throughout the system. As I indicated, our task here is to provide
a reform and restoration and continue the improvement on the in-
stitution of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. We welcome you, Mr.
Carvajal, Director Carvajal, and we thank you for your participa-
tion.
I will begin by swearing in our Witness. I ask our Witness to
turn on your audio and make sure that I can see your face and
raise your right hand while I administer the oath.
Do you swear or affirm under penalty of perjury that the testi-
mony you are about to give is true and correct to the best of your
knowledge, information, and belief, so help you God?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, I do.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Thank you. Let the record show the Witness
answered in the affirmative. Thank you. Please note that your
written statement will be entered into the record in its entirety.
Accordingly, I ask that you summarize your testimony in five min-
utes. To help you stay within the time frame, there is a timing
light on your screen. When the light switches from green to yellow,
you have one minute to conclude your testimony. When the light
turns red, it signals that your five minutes has expired. I now rec-
ognize Director Carvajal for five minutes. Thank you. You are rec-
ognized.
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STATEMENT OF MICHAEL CARVAJAL
Mr. CARVAJAL. Thank you and good morning, Chair Jackson Lee
and Ranking Member Biggs, other distinguished Members of the
Committee. It is my honor to speak today on behalf of the 37,000
Bureau of Prisons correction professionals who worked day-in and
day-out to support our critical law enforcement mission.
The Bureau’s work is incredibly challenging and has been exacer-
bated by the COVID–19 virus. Our management of the pandemic
has been highly scrutinized despite the fact that we have worked
in lockstep with the CDC in shaping the guidance for the benefit
of everyone who works in the corrections environment. The Bureau
was one of the first Federal agencies to offer COVID testing and
vaccinations and in January 2021, the CDC recognized the Bureau
for leading all jurisdictions and Federal entities in its rate of vac-
cination utilization. Approximately 80 percent of our staff and 70
percent of our inmates have been fully vaccinated and we continue
to increase those rates.
After issuance of the CARES Act, the Bureau began screening
and transferring both vulnerable and eligible inmates to residential
re-entry centers and home confinement. The Bureau has trans-
ferred more than 37,000 inmates to community custody with more
than 9,000 of those transferred pursuant to the CARES Act, after
review of medically vulnerable inmates for potential placement and
home confinement continues, based on assessments and the bal-
ance with our law-enforcement mission.
Another common criticism is that we are under-staffed. The nar-
rative is routinely misrepresented without reference to factual
data. We have approximately 1,100 correctional officer vacancies.
However, 7 institutions out of the 121 make up almost 40 percent
of these vacancies. Increasing and maintaining our staffing levels
within appropriated funding levels remains our priority. Last cal-
endar year, we hired over 3,000 staff and at one point, advance
hired 1,000 staff above our funding levels. We have proven that we
can hire employees. Although hiring is not an issue at the majority
of our locations, we are routinely outbid by competing State and
local corrections or law enforcement agencies who pay a higher
wage. Accordingly, we continue to work with the Department to
consider the use of additional incentives so we may be more com-
petitive.
Another area of misguided criticism is the implementation of the
First Step Act. The Bureau worked with the Department on the de-
velopment of the risk and needs assessment system and supported
the National Institute of Justice who developed the approved risk
assessment, called PATTERN. Staff were trained on the First Step
Act including the new PATTERN tool and we worked with the
union to negotiate policies to support implementation of the law.
We recomputed the sentences of over 153,000 inmates to ensure
that they received good conduct time under the new law. We are
delivering more than 80 different programs based on individual in-
mate assessments. We hired additional staff to expand our re-entry
program, and we initiated additional activities to support inmates
about mental health issues, disabilities, or other special needs.
We have expanded programming for female inmates, drug treat-
ment, and vocational training. Over 75,000 inmates participated in
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First Step Act programs by the end of 2021 in spite of the con-
straints caused by the pandemic. We are modernizing the inmate
education platforms to include the use of tablets for better program
assess ability and we have created an online system to directly con-
nect the community volunteers to BOP facilities.
Additionally, we are exploring ways to provide inmates with ID
cards compatible with State requirements under the REAL ID Act.
We engaged external experts to evaluate our inmate programs and
we are working with the NIJ to engage academic consultants to re-
view our risk and needs assessment system.
We are also developing a stronger data analytics platform to en-
hance monitoring and evaluation of our programs and our spend-
ing. The BOP worked in concert with the Department to finalize
the role regarding First Step Act time credits. We applied the Rule
retroactively and immediately released almost 4,000 inmates from
home confinement and RSD. We are releasing approximately 1,600
inmates from BOP facilities and transferring nearly 2,500 inmates
intotpre-release custody. In sum, over 8,000 inmates have had their
time credits applied towards pre-release custody or supervised re-
lease.
The Bureau supports and has always been committed to the im-
plementation of the First Step Act and we are statutorily compli-
ant. Last year, the Government Accountability Office reported
highlighted areas where the Bureau needed to improve and in re-
sponse, I established a task force to address these identified areas.
As a result of the task force’s work, eight of the priority rec-
ommendations identified are now closed. Our work in this area con-
tinues.
Chair Jackson Lee, Ranking Member Biggs, and other distin-
guished Members of the Committee, this concludes my statement.
[The statement of Mr. Carvajal follows:]
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Mr. BIGGS. Madam Chair, I think you are still on mute.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. That is because of my very delicate fingers.
I pressed it and it doesn’t seem to want to open up, so try to hit
it real hard.
Let me do something a little different, if I might, and I am not
sure if Ms. Bass here on?
Ms. BASS. Yes, yes. I am here.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Ms. Bass, I am going to yield to you for begin-
ning at this time and I will follow. Thank you so very much.
Ms. Bass is recognized for five minutes.
Ms. BASS. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Good morning, Director Carvajal. I am glad to have you here be-
fore the Committee today and I am sure you are aware that two
weeks ago, this Subcommittee held a hearing on matters pertaining
to the Bureau of Prisons, the First Step Act, and the COVID epi-
demic. I was glad to hear from several experts on these topics, but
I am afraid I am still left with a few questions, questions that I
believe you might be the one to answer.
Let me just take a minute to thank you for your service to BOP
and then also to acknowledge your quick responsiveness on several
occasions when I reached out with particular specific situations.
One of the ways the CARES Act attempted to address the
COVID epidemic within our prison system was by providing the
BOP with additional authority to grant compassionate release for
incarcerated persons who met a number or criteria to demonstrate
a low risk of re-offense as opposed to the way it was described a
few minutes ago, Democrats asking for the prison doors to just be
opened indiscriminately.
Can you tell me how many people within the BOP have been
granted early release under this program? I wanted to know for
those people that were granted, how many re-offended?
I know there have been individual cases, but I want to know if
you have numbers overall or percentages of how many people were
re-incarcerated due to a technical violation such as missing a cur-
few or a phone call? Or how many people were released and are
unaccounted for? How many people offended again with violent
crimes?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Thank you, Congresswoman Bass, and I appre-
ciate the opportunity to make some distinctions here. I think that
there is often confusion. I am going to try to clarify while I am up
here. First, as I stated in my opening remarks, we released over—
or transferred over 37,000 under the CARES Act to home confine-
ment and community placement.
Compassionate release is a separate entity. The BOP does not
have the authority to independently release someone from our cus-
tody. Under the statute and our current policy, we make a rec-
ommendation to the court. The court makes the final decision, not
the Bureau of Prisons. The Bureau of Prisons doesn’t take a posi-
tion on the motion in and of itself. As you stated, there is criteria.
We use our policy criteria to evaluate and ensure that each indi-
vidual case is compelling and—extraordinary and compelling cir-
cumstances that they are fully considered. These are individualized
cases. We also take into account public safety and victim impact,
65
but I stress that we do not independently do that, and the court
makes the final decision.
We do not track data. I don’t have it in front of me for compas-
sionate release because when the inmate receives a reduction in
sentence, they are no longer in our custody.
I can answer the other part of your question of the 37,000 that
we transferred to home confinement in the community, approxi-
mately 9,000 of those were specific to the CARES Act. Three hun-
dred twenty, approximately 320 that I am aware of have committed
violations have been brought back to secure custody. Eight of those
were new crimes that I am aware of. One was a serious crime. I
don’t have the details in front of you. I am sure that we can get
them for you.
Ms. BASS. You said again 320, could you repeat that again?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, 320 of the inmates under CARES Act home
confinement have re-offended and have been brought back to se-
cure custody.
Ms. BASS. So, you don’t know of those 320 how many were tech-
nical violations that brought them back? You said eight committed
new crimes. Could I assume that the rest were technical or not?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, I can clarify that. I appreciate that, Con-
gresswoman Bass. The most common offense, about 160 of the 320,
were for abuse of alcohol or drugs. Some of them were escapes.
They weren’t where they were supposed to be. Most of them were
violations of that nature, some with misconduct. Eight of those
were new crimes committed. The rest were technical violations.
Ms. BASS. Can you talk about, in my remaining seconds, vaccine
distribution, (1) among staff, how many staff have been vaccinated,
and (2) the inmates?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Sure, our staff, we have approximately 80 percent
of our staff, which is about 30,000 staff that are fully vaccinated.
We have about 95,000 inmates, 93,000–95,000 inmates, it is a mov-
ing target, changes constantly, that is about 70 percent of our pop-
ulation. We continue to offer the vaccine and the booster to all in-
mates and of course, people can change their mind at any time if
they choose to come back and get it, we make the vaccine available.
Ms. BASS. For the 20 percent of the staff that are not vaccinated,
what protocols do you have in place? Do they have to get tested
weekly or what is in place?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, prior to the mandate, we were offering week-
ly testing. It was voluntary. Obviously, when the mandate came
out, we mandated weekly testing for unvaccinated. There was a
preliminary injunction issued in January by a judge. We are ob-
serving that. We ceased enforcement of the vaccine mandate and
all processes with it, but we continue to encourage staff and in-
mates to become vaccinated, and as I say, that is a moving target,
but we average about 80 percent staff, 70 percent inmates.
Ms. BASS. Thank you. My time has expired.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. My fingers are now working, Ranking Member
Biggs, and it is my pleasure to yield to you your five minutes for
your questioning of the Director. Thank you very much.
Mr. BIGGS. Thank you, Madam Chair. Director Carvajal, again,
thanks for being here today. A Federal court issued an injunction
to block implementation of President Biden’s vaccine mandate for
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Federal employees. Were any BOP employees fired for not receiving
the vaccine prior to the injunction being issued?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congressman, I don’t have the exact numbers off
my head, but we can certainly follow up and get that information
back to you.
Mr. BIGGS. So, Director, are you saying that, yes, you believe
some were required, but you don’t have the exact number?
Mr. CARVAJAL. I do believe some were, Congressman, but I do
not have that information in front of me, and I could certainly get
it back to you.
Mr. BIGGS. Thank you.
Do you know if those employees will be rehired?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congressman, again, I will consult with my
human resource directors. There are processes. So, we are observ-
ing the processes, and they do have a new process. So, we can get
back to you with that exact information.
Mr. BIGGS. Thank you very much.
Other Federal agencies are creating databases to track employ-
ees who request religious exemptions to President Biden’s vaccine
mandate for Federal employees. Has the BOP created a database
to track religious exemption requests?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Again, Congressman, with the mandate, we were
exploring and reviewing and approving, as necessary, religious and
medical exemptions. We have ceased that process because of the
preliminary injunction, and we are following the guidance given to
us, and we—
Mr. BIGGS. Okay. I just want to make sure I understand this. I
am sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just want to make sure I
understand this. So, you were constructing a database and you are
not now? Is that what I understood? That is what I understood.
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congressman, obviously, we track it. We
have a process to keep track of the information. So, yes, there is
a database. Along with everything else we do, it is tracked for ac-
countability purposes, so that we know what the status is and
things of that nature. We have since ceased the enforcement of
that.
Mr. BIGGS. Okay. I appreciate Ms. Bass’ line of questioning be-
cause I have a lot of the similar-type questions. In my opening
statement, I mentioned a couple of examples of individuals released
from BOP custody because of COVID–19, and they committed seri-
ous crimes afterwards. Is BOP tracking recidivism rates to see if
individuals who have been released because of COVID–19 have
committed crimes after their release?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congressman, the recidivism data that we use,
our recidivism rate for the Bureau of Prisons is 43 percent. The
States actually own the recidivism data. We work with them. I
don’t know that enough time has elapsed since the passage of the
CARES Act, but I would have to ask specific questions about that.
Again, there is a difference between someone we release and track-
ing them and someone who is still in our custody in home confine-
ment.
Mr. BIGGS. So, I understand that the court makes the final deter-
mination on a compassionate release petition. Are you tracking
67
those who have been released on compassionate release for recidi-
vism rates?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congressman, I don’t want to misspeak. Again,
when we release someone from our custody, we do not, the Bureau
of Prisons does not track them. They are released from our custody.
They are returning citizens. The State, again, owns the recidivism
data. We work with them and other entities to get that, but I can
have my staff get back with you. I, obviously, don’t know the exact
procedures, but we can get that information for you.
Mr. BIGGS. So, okay. I appreciate that. I wish you would and
reach out to my staff.
In particular, for instance, I want to make sure I understand
this. So, in Arizona, if someone is given a compassionate release,
you guys don’t track it, but the Arizona law enforcement, Depart-
ment of Corrections, maybe the Department of Public Safety, some-
body is tracking it and gives you data? Is that your understanding?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congressman. It is a collaboration of us
working with the State and other law enforcement entities. There
are a lot of moving parts here. Again, it is way above my head, but,
yes, that data, obviously, being tracked.
Mr. BIGGS. Yes, and I guess I have been asking about compas-
sionate release, and I would assume the First Step Act, the same
thing under a recidivism issue?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes. Obviously, there is interest in our First Step
Act data, and we are working with NIJ and outside consultants to
review data and things like that. We are working on a platform.
I know one of the criticisms early on is that we didn’t have that
data. Again, there is a lot of moving parts. It isn’t because we don’t
want to track it. There is a lot of entities here. We have to collabo-
rate with other local, State, and Federal law enforcement agencies
to appropriately do that.
Mr. BIGGS. Well, Director, I hope that we can get that informa-
tion sooner rather than later. Whatever we can do to help facilitate
that, please let me know. I will have my office reach out to you,
and if you would have yours reach out to mine. I think this infor-
mation is critical because I think everybody wants to understand
that.
Thanks again for being here.
Madam Chair, my time has expired. I yield back.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank the Ranking Member very much. I
will now yield myself the customary 5 minutes.
My time is short, Mr. Carvajal. Thank you so very much. I ap-
preciate your respect of that.
Following the deaths of two inmates in the U.S. Penitentiary in
Beaumont, Texas, on Monday, all BOP facilities have had a
lockdown. Can you explain the decision to institute the lockdown,
the national lockdown, and how long are inmates confined to their
cells during the 24-hour period? If you can just give a brief answer
on that, we will take a longer one in writing. Director?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congresswoman, a decision to lockdown the
entire agency is a serious one. We did it because we felt we needed
to find out what is going on. I won’t get into specific operational
things, but the groups involved, there are approximately 2,500 in
our custody spread throughout the agency. We need to make sure
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that we separate them and secure them. I am hoping that the
lockdown will be short-lived. We do not like keeping inmates,
again, in their cells, and we will do our best to get them out quick-
ly but keeping the safety of everyone in mind.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Thank you.
If you would give this Committee an update on the moment that
the lockdown stops, we would appreciate it, for all the Members.
Following up, Beaumont Low in Texas, a low-security facility,
currently has 10 infected inmates; 942 inmates have recovered
from COVID—that seems very high—out of 1,974 total inmates, in-
cluding the camp and the correctional institution, which includes
low-offense individuals. That is almost half of the inmate popu-
lation that has been infected with COVID–19. Twenty staff are
COVID-positive right now and 40 have recovered.
How many inmates were placed into home confinement from FCI
Beaumont Low? How many inmates were released on the compas-
sionate release from FCI Beaumont Low? Are old inmates at low-
security facilities such as FCI Beaumont Low given priority to be
assessed for release under the CARES Act compassionate release
or First Step Act? If so, what age inmates are given priority? If not
by age, are any inmates at FCI Beaumont Low given priority to be
assessed for release? You can answer the last question first, please.
Director?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congresswoman. I don’t have the exact data
for every specific institution like Beaumont Low. We could cer-
tainly get you that data. I know we have it; I just don’t have it off
the top—
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Thank you. Do you use the CARES Act? Is
that ongoing to be utilized today since it is still operable in law?
Do you use that?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Absolutely. We continue to screen inmates for the
appropriate placement under the CARES Act.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Under the CARES Act, with your discretion,
individuals do not have to meet the 50 percent time of their sen-
tence, is that correct?
Mr. CARVAJAL. That is one of the criteria, along with others.
There are only four hard criteria.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. It is correct—right, but they do not have to
meet a 50 percent incarceration rate of their sentence?
Mr. CARVAJAL. In instances like that, we do have the discretion.
There usually is a higher-level review. If the staff at the institution
feel that it is appropriate outside of the CARES Act, we have proce-
dures in place to review cases such as that.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Yes, but you have that authority. Mr.
Manafort and Mr. Cohen, to your knowledge, did not have 50 per-
cent of their sentence, is that correct?
Mr. CARVAJAL. I am not going to talk about individual specific
cases, Congresswoman, but we have procedures in place. We have
a Committee that reviews them. I can certainly go through that
process if you would like.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Thank you. I would appreciate it if you could
provide us in writing, if you are not going to discuss it on the indi-
viduals released under the 50 percent rule.
69
Let me ask you, what are you doing to prevent more COVID–19
deaths in the BOP facilities?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congresswoman, we have been in lockstep with
the CDC and other entities from day one. We are doing the same
thing that everyone else in the country and the world is doing. We
are learning how to mitigate this virus. As stated earlier, it is hard
to social distance inside a prison. We have learned from that. That
is why we appreciate the ability under the CARES Act to transfer
people out, because we were able to lower our population in those
low-security facilities, as the one you described, who it is harder to
maintain. We are following CDC guidance. We do everything in col-
laboration with them. Frankly, our pandemic plan actually assisted
in writing the correctional guidance for the pandemic.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Thank you. Thank you, Director. I will get the
rest in writing. Thank you very much.
Are you aware of the racially disparate impact of the PATTERN
risk assessment tool, and that inmates of color may be more likely
to be scored as high risk than white? With this in mind, have you
considered revising the threshold cutoff between risk categories,
which would enable more individuals to earn credits for an early
release and maximize the benefits of the First Step Act, and take
away the racial disparity that we see very clearly? Director?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congresswoman, I want to stress one thing.
The PATTERN tool, the BOP did not develop it. It is developed by
NIJ and approved by the Attorney General. We are aware of
changes. We appropriately make those adjustments and rescore in-
mates anytime there is a change. We work with the Department
to do that. We are the end user of that tool; we did not create it.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Finally, do you think it would help inmates
on the compassionate release if BOP filed the motions rather than
the inmates?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congresswoman, as I stated earlier, we don’t have
the authority to independently release someone. We work with the
Department of Justice, and we make recommendations to the court.
The judiciary makes the final decision. We do make staff available
to gather documents. We work with the attorneys. We work with
the public defenders and the courts to ensure that all the docu-
ments are available, so that we can go—it is just not a quick proc-
ess. That is what people need to understand. The compassionate re-
lease process is a difficult one, and it has to be done individually.
Each individual case has to be fully considered under its unique
circumstances. It is not a fast process.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Thank you. My time has expired. Thank you
very much. We will pursue that with you.
I now yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio, Mr. Chabot.
Mr. CHABOT. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I want to thank you, Director Carvajal, for being here with the
Committee today.
Before coming to Congress over a quarter century ago now, I
served as a local elected official on the Cincinnati City Council and
on the County Commission, Hamilton County, Ohio. In those two
capacities, I was very involved with our incarceration at the local
level—things like double-celling inmates to help with the over-
crowding situation that we had, and then, work release programs,
70
where we got inmates out picking up trash on the highways, cut-
ting down weeds, two-for-one-type programs, and those types of
things.
So, when I got here to Congress and onto this Committee, the Ju-
diciary Committee, I wanted to continue in that effort. One of the
closest things was prison industries are now UNICOR, which I
wanted to discuss here in a second.
I also got involved and worked with, for example, former Rep-
resentative Rob Portman, who is now a United States Senator. He
was one of the principals moving forces for the Second Chance Act,
which we worked with him on, and then, the First Step Act, which
we passed some time ago. I worked with Adam Schiff in a bipar-
tisan manner on the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, to make sure
that Members—we have sent out letters over the years urging
Members to support funding for that particular program.
So, before I ask you about UNICOR Prison Industries, I just
wanted to say that most of the inmates we have at the Federal
level—this is certainly the case at the local level as well—these in-
mates, whereas, most of them, for the most part, do need to be re-
moved from society because they have committed a crime, and, yes,
punishment is involved. The fact is the vast majority of these folks
are going to be out on our streets someday. So, we are a lot better
off as a society if we recognize that and, if possible, reform some
of them and get them job skills that they can actually work in the
private sector someday, to keep them from coming back. Now, it
doesn’t work perfectly, but it can work. I strongly support those
and will continue to do that.
Back to prison industries, which, then, transformed into
UNICOR, this is the program that we have where the prisoners at
the Federal level actually are in work programs. So, they are learn-
ing a skill that they will, hopefully, be able to carry over into the
private sector, which should help recidivism rates, which means
that people don’t come back to prison. The recidivism rates are far
too high, as we know; people do tend to come back. This is one
where the rates tend over time to better when you actually give
these people a skill. Oftentimes, we might think of a stereotype of
people are making license plates, or something, but it could be fur-
niture; it could be a whole range of things.
So, I would just like to give you a little time here, if you could,
to tell us how that program is going; what your experience has
been. How has it affected recidivism rates? Is it a positive thing,
those types of things, Mr. Director?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, thank you, Congressman.
UNICOR absolutely is a benefit to the agency. It was established
by Congress in 1934. The sole mission of UNICOR is to train and
employ inmates, for exactly what you said, and give them a skill
to return as productive members of society.
The last recidivism review they did on UNICOR, which is several
years old, 24 percent of inmates that worked for Federal Prison In-
dustries were less likely to recidivate; 16 percent of them were
more likely to be gainfully employed upon release. So, it is a good
program. We like to say it is one of our No. 1, if not the No. 1, evi-
dence-based programs because it teaches the skills you spoke of.
71
You are correct, approximately 95 percent of people in our custody
are going to return to society. So, it is important to do that.
We have a board of directors. They take their statutory respon-
sibilities very seriously. They do minimize the impact to any given
industry. Certainly, we do that through public comment, board
hearings, things of that nature. For those that think we are taking
from local industry, there are procedures in place to stay compliant
with that.
Mr. CHABOT. Thank you very much.
I don’t have a lot of time left. So, just let me ask one other thing.
I know that one of the greatest challenges that you all have when
inmates are there, they are criminals, so they have got there be-
cause they committed a crime. They can prey on each other, or they
can make it very dangerous for the guards. So, a program like pris-
on industries, is that also a mechanism for a tool for maintaining
kind of good behavior and making sure that it is a less dangerous
environment than it otherwise might be?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Absolutely, Congressman. One of the biggest
things that we battle in a prison is idle minds. So, anything we can
do to keep people productive and learning a trade or a skill is our
goal.
Mr. CHABOT. Thank you very much. I think my time has expired,
Madam Chair. So, I yield back.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. The gentleman’s time has expired. Let me for
a moment thank the Members who are here today. I will yield to
Ms. Demings in a moment, but I want to acknowledge Congress-
woman Dean, Congresswoman Scanlon, Congressman Cicilline,
Congressman Lieu, Congressman Cohen, Congressman Biggs, Con-
gressman Chabot, Congressman Steube, Congressman Tiffany,
Congressman Massie, Congresswoman Spartz, Congressman Fitz-
gerald, and Congressman Owens. Thank you for your presence here
today.
It is my pleasure now to yield 5 minutes to the gentlelady from
Florida. You are now recognized, Ms. Demings. Thank you so very
much for your service.
Ms. DEMINGS. Well, good morning, and thank you so much,
Madam Chair. Thank you for the exceptional work that you are
doing in this particular area.
Director Carvajal, it is great to see you, and thank you for join-
ing us.
I just want to, first, just make it quite clear that we all under-
stand that there are some people who need to be locked up, but we
also understand that many of them will integrate back into society,
and it is incumbent upon us to make sure that they have the train-
ing, tools, techniques that they need to be successful. We all under-
stand that.
Director, you spoke a little bit about UNICOR and how success-
ful it has been. Could you just talk a little bit more about that pro-
gram and how we can even improve upon the success of that pro-
gram? How can Congress be a better partner in helping those that
will be coming back into society?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, I appreciate that, Congresswoman. I think
speaking about it and being able to support the program, in and
of itself—oftentimes, we are criticized that we are taking jobs from
72
the local communities. As I stated earlier, we have a Board of Di-
rectors who oversees that. It is a great program—the more that we
can keep inmates, teaching them the trades and working.
The other thing that I think that hits home is that we are teach-
ing them the soft skills of re-entry. Some of these folks have never
had an actual job in a factory and punched a clock, so to speak.
They are also earning a decent living for being incarcerated. Part
of that is paying their financial responsibility. A lot of them are
able to help support their families. Again, teaching that soft skill,
which is 50 percent of our mission, re-entry.
I have to stress that we want the same thing. We want people
to go back to society as productive members of society, and we are
committed to doing that. Half of our mission is keeping people safe
and secure. The other half, which we are equally committed to, is
making sure that they get the skills to go back and be productive
members of the community.
Ms. DEMINGS. Director, thank you for that.
You also talked about in your opening statement some of the
challenges that you have in terms of needing staff and require-
ments, that you are being outbidded by other State and local orga-
nizations or agencies. I am certainly sensitive to that.
Could you talk a little bit more about what—look, increased sala-
ries are probably ‘‘the answer,’’ but could you talk about some of
the other maybe creative ways that you are looking to not only re-
cruit COs, but to retain them?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes. Thank you, Congresswoman. Very much a
priority for us. It always has been. Again, I stated earlier that
there is a narrative out there that we can’t hire. That is not true.
We have proved we can hire.
We have several locations that are chronically difficult to staff.
In those places, as you stated, we have a hard time competing with
local industry or other correctional agencies. We don’t set the pay
bands for that. OPM does that. We are working with the Depart-
ment on other types of incentives. We use recruitment and reten-
tion incentives. We use relocation incentives. All of those are things
that we work with to get approval from the Department and sup-
port going to OPM to be able to look at these areas.
Some of the hard-to-staff places, as the Congresswoman stated
earlier, are Beaumont. Beaumont, as the rest of the U.S. pay scale,
it is really hard to compete with local industry there, when they,
frankly, can get paid more working down the street. That is one of
the challenges. Beaumont is a great facility. I spent four years of
my career there. So, it is not the facility; it is us being able to com-
pete with the location.
Ms. DEMINGS. Director, finally, I remember hearing some con-
cerns about or centered around officer safety because of staffing
shortages, where personnel that weren’t necessarily trained as cor-
rectional officers, if you will, were being utilized in that capacity.
Could you talk a little bit more about that? If that is just a rumor,
set all of us at ease about it.
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congresswoman, I absolutely appreciate the
opportunity to set the record straight here. First, we would not put
untrained people in there. We are very fortunate, as a correctional
agency—it is one of the things we pride ourselves on—that all our
73
staff are correctional-trained correctional workers. They receive the
same training regardless of where they work. We have uniformed
staff that are correctional officers, and the nurses, the food service
people, the teachers, everyone goes through the exact same train-
ing. That gives us the ability to utilize these staff safely, Okay? So,
that narrative is inaccurate when you hear it.
We are challenged with staffing. I will tell you that we are fund-
ed at 90 percent. During my tour as Director, our priority has been
staffing. We have funded all the positions that we get money for.
As I mentioned earlier, at one point, I hired 1,000 over. My staff
went 1,000 over. We are able to do that because our human re-
sources know our attrition rate. So, we try to get ahead of it, but
it is a constant challenge. There is a lot of moving parts. It is a
very large organization. Thirty-eight thousand staff is a lot of peo-
ple to keep track of. Ms. Demings. Thank you so much, Director.
Madam Chair, I am out of time. I yield back. Thank you.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. The gentlelady yields back. Her time has ex-
pired. Thank you so very much.
My pleasure to yield now 5 minutes to Congressman Steube. You
are recognized.
Mr. STEUBE. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Director, thanks for being here. Obviously, the Committee has a
lot of questions, and we appreciate your attendance today.
On July 1st of last year, I wrote a letter to both you and the Di-
rector of the D.C. Department of Corrections about the treatment
of the January 6th suspects. Your office responded on July 21st.
The D.C. Department of Corrections has so far refused to answer,
and we are almost a year after the fact that I sent the letter.
Director, I recognize that many of the most egregious examples
of mistreatment of January 6th inmates happened not in your sys-
tem, but in the D.C. Jail. It has reported that January 6th inmates
in the D.C. Jail who are not vaccinated for COVID–19 are forced
into solitary confinement for 14 days after meeting with their attor-
neys. Yes or no, does BOP have the same policy in your facilities?
Mr. CARVAJAL. No, Congressman, we do not.
Mr. STEUBE. Well, I am glad to hear that, and that also high-
lights how out of step and illegal the policies are of the D.C. Jail
regarding January 6th inmates.
It has also been reported that January 6th inmates in the D.C.
Jail have not been allowed haircuts or to attend religious services
unless they are vaccinated for COVID–19. Yes or no, does BOP
have the same policy?
Mr. CARVAJAL. No, Congressman, we treat all people in our cus-
tody—everybody has equal access and is treated with dignity and
has access to everything equally, regardless of—
Mr. STEUBE. Thank you for your response. This further shows
how egregious the D.C. Jail’s mistreatment are of January 6th in-
mates.
It has further been reported that January 6th inmates in the
D.C. Jail have been denied medical treatment. This was largely the
basis for a Federal judge finding the warden in contempt. In your
experience as a career law enforcement officer and a prison official,
is this acceptable conduct by a correctional institution to deny med-
ical treatment?
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Mr. CARVAJAL. Congressman, I am not going to comment on
what another correctional agency does without knowing all the in-
formation. I just stress to you that, in the BOP, which is who I rep-
resent, everyone has equal access to medical care programs, com-
munity placement, things of that nature. I would refer you to D.C.
Corrections.
Mr. STEUBE. Well, I did, and they are not answering my ques-
tions. So, I am just highlighting the differences in how you run
your agency and how they are running theirs.
Additionally, I would like to ask for an update on the statistics
provided to me in your office’s response to that July 1st letter. If
you know the answers offhand, that would be great, but I under-
stand if you don’t have that in front of you or you don’t know. I
would like your commitment today to follow up with my office on
the following:
First, the number of January 6th inmates in your, in BOP’s custody that
are awaiting trial and the number of such inmates who are in special hous-
ing units.
Second, the number of January 6th inmates serving sentences and the
number of such inmates who are in special housing units.
I would ask your commitment today to get me those responses.
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congressman, I could get you those re-
sponses. I am aware of we have 19 in our custody. Eight of those
are pretrial. As to their specific housing today, I don’t want to
misspeak, but I will certainly follow up with that information with
your staff.
Mr. STEUBE. Okay. I would appreciate that.
You said 19 in custody, and how many in pretrial confinement?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Nineteen in custody. Eight of those are pretrial.
I don’t know their exact status today. I don’t want to misspeak.
Mr. STEUBE. If you could provide the details of that, not just to
me, but I am sure the Members of this Committee would also be
interested in that information.
I have got a little bit of time left. So, one more question. In your
office response to my letter, it was noted that judges, quote, ‘‘rou-
tinely make recommendations to the Bureau regarding placement
of an inmate at a specific institution or enrolled in programs.’’ Your
office also noted that the Bureau’s policy requires, and I quote, ‘‘a
good-faith effort to follow these judicial recommendations.’’
I would point out that such judicial recommendations are often
very much at the discretion of the judge. While I generally have
faith in our judiciary to fairly call balls and strikes on purely legal
matters, on discretionary issues such as this, it is obviously pos-
sible for personal biases to come into play.
So, my question is this: If a judge makes a recommendation on
the terms of a January 6th inmate’s custody, and that rec-
ommendation was influenced by the judge’s political leanings, BOP
would be compelled by policy to make a good-faith effort to follow
the recommendation, is that correct?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congressman, recommendations that are made by
the judiciary, we certainly respect them and work with them, but
there is a lot of moving parts inside our agency. We make the final
determination. It is simply that, a recommendation, and we give it
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the look, but, ultimately, we make those decisions based on the
best place to quarter and keep people safe and secure.
Mr. STEUBE. Thank you, Madam Chair. My time is expired.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. The gentleman’s time has expired. Thank you.
It is my pleasure to now yield 5 minutes to the gentlelady from
Pennsylvania, Congresswoman Dean.
Ms. DEAN. I thank you, Madam Chair, for hosting this important
hearing.
I thank you, Director Carvajal, for your work.
I was happy to hear last April before a Senate Judiciary Com-
mittee that BOP was working to expand mental health treatment
and vocational training and life skills. I also hope the BOP is ex-
panding substance use disorder treatment, recovery therapy, and
the rest.
One thing I have in mind, in particular, are educational opportu-
nities. We know they make all the difference in helping to break
this cycle of recidivism and reincarceration, which is why I intro-
duced Elijah Cummings’ PREP Act, legislation that would ensure
that incarcerated individuals receive educational opportunities they
need to successfully re-enter their communities, re-enter their lives
after completing their sentences.
Can you give us information on the number of people today en-
rolled in your system in educational opportunities?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congresswoman. The current information is
we have over 75,000 inmates enrolled in one of our 80 Evidence-
based Recidivism Reduction Programs and Productive Activities.
Even since COVID, although we were hindered by the pandemic
and we had to slow things down, over 151,000 inmates completed
programming. Of course, the literacy programs, the GED, we offer
many trades. We have over 200 career technical educations. We
have done a lot of work with expanding programs specifically for
the female offenders. We have dedicated staff just to make sure
that we process that population’s special and unique needs. We are
working with the Department of Labor to expand apprenticeship
programs because we know that vocational trades help people get
jobs when they go out.
Ms. DEAN. Some of the things that the PREP Act would do would
be higher education, college credits. What percentage of inmates
are enrolled in educational programming?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congresswoman, I don’t have the exact numbers
off the top of my head, but I will certainly follow up. I am sure we
could get you that information.
Ms. DEAN. Okay. Terrific. If you would share that with the Com-
mittee, that would be great.
What programs are in place regarding addiction and substance
use disorder? What percentage of inmates struggle with either
mental health or addiction? How many are being offered treat-
ment?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congresswoman, we have many drug-abuse pro-
grams available. We have a Residential Drug Abuse Program that
is one of our best evidence-based programs. We also, under the
First Step Act, expanded our MAT treatments. It targets a specific
subset for people with opioid use disorder. We currently work on
expanding those treatments.
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I don’t know the exact percentage. It is a high amount of people
that come into our system with drug and alcohol abuse programs.
I don’t have the exact percentages, but we could certainly get them
to you.
Ms. DEAN. I would really appreciate it if we could get the per-
centages and, also, to understand if treatment is universally avail-
able throughout the system. We know that there is a high correla-
tion of addiction and substance use disorder and incarceration.
On to the solitary confinement in the few minutes that I have
left. We read reports; we hear from inmates and their families on
the dangerous side effects of solitary confinement, the serious, last-
ing psychological damage, contrary to the very set of questions I
just asked you.
Pre-pandemic, it was conservatively estimated that 60,000 to
80,000 people were confined to solitary, and we understand that
solitary may have been used as a substitute during COVID for iso-
lation, medically required isolation. Can you give us an update on
the use of solitary confinement, and importantly, I hope on a rec-
ognition that it is a failed practice?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congresswoman. We average around 9,000
inmates at any given time in our restrictive housing units. About
8,000 of those are for administrative purposes—pending place-
ments and conducting investigations. Sometimes there are separa-
tions for their own safety. There was 1,100 in there pending dis-
ciplinary action. We try to use alternative sanctions. We try to
limit the time that someone spends in restrictive housing.
One of the things that we have done to address this issue, for
just some of the reasons you stated, is that we have expanded what
we call our Reintegration Housing Unit Program, which allows that
group of inmates who tend to spend time in restricted housing a
general-population-type atmosphere, a smaller general population,
so that we can remove them from restricted housing.
So, that is something that we monitor daily. We are committed
to ensuring that everyone in there has access to programming.
They do medical and everything else. We also ensure that we make
rounds daily and check on the inmates. They have constant inmate
contact.
Ms. DEAN. Director, I thank you for your answers and I look for-
ward to the information coming to the Committee.
I yield back.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank the gentlelady. Her time is expired.
I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to Mr. Tiffany. Mr. Tiffany, you
are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. TIFFANY. Thank you, and good morning, Madam Chair.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Good morning.
Mr. TIFFANY. First, Director, can those that were fired, your
staff, as a result of not taking the vaccine, can they get their jobs
back?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congressman, we have processes for all that, and
I’m certain that we will follow them and afford us the appropriate
due process, following OPM guidance and regulations and all the
rules and laws.
Mr. TIFFANY. Are prison ministries allowed in the Bureau of
Prisons?
77
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congressman, they are.
Mr. TIFFANY. Have they been in during COVID?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Well, we had to restrict through our COVID oper-
ations, obviously, people coming in, for their safety and for ours.
We don’t want to introduce COVID into our environments. So, it’s
been restricted, but we worked on that and we have a matrix out
there operational.
The institution CEO, if they fall into that criterion, they can
make those adjustments daily. So, for any given place, Congress-
man, I can’t answer that today, but we can certainly get you the
information if you’re interested in a specific location.
Mr. TIFFANY. Please do that. With the explosion in crime in the
United States in the last couple of years, have you seen an increase
in the inmate population in the Bureau of Prisons?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Actually, Congressman, our population has de-
creased over the last several years.
Mr. TIFFANY. Is part of that as a result of the COVID releases
that you’ve done? I think you detailed those numbers earlier.
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congressman, it is. Please keep in mind that
we’re on the back end of the criminal justice system, so it takes
time to go through the system. So, I would defer some of that infor-
mation probably to the DOJ. We get them at the back end of it.
Mr. TIFFANY. Thank you very much. Whether you’re vaccinated
or unvaccinated, you can still contract COVID–19. Why are we still
releasing inmates?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congressman, if I understand your correction—or
your question correctly, under the CARES Act, is that what your
question is, why are we releasing inmates under the CARES Act?
Mr. TIFFANY. Yeah, yes.
Mr. CARVAJAL. Because it is a statute, we’re following it, the
guidance that we were given. So, we follow the law, Congressman.
Mr. TIFFANY. Do you think we should rethink that, as the Con-
gress sets this policy, or can change the policy?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congressman, I would defer to you and the Mem-
bers of Congress to answer that.
Mr. TIFFANY. So, we had the two stabbing deaths down in I be-
lieve it’s the Beaumont facility in Texas. Prior to the stabbing inci-
dent, if these two people would have had COVID, is it possible they
could have asked for release under the law?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Well, Congressman, I want to make sure I paint
the right picture here. We’re going to appropriately review every-
body by the criteria, but the level, the security level where this in-
cident happened and the fact that these individuals were members
of a security threat group and at a high security, the chances of
them being released were probably very slim.
Because one of the criteria is you cannot have a crime of vio-
lence, and it appears that these individuals were involved in vio-
lence, precisely why prisons exist. There is a small fraction of peo-
ple, as these, that are going to continue their criminal activity.
Mr. TIFFANY. It’s not completely ruled out that they could have
gotten released.
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congressman, that’s why we have the criteria,
and we utilize our good discretion and judgment and follow that
statute.
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Mr. TIFFANY. Federal prison inmates are keeping large sums of
money, as much as $100,000 each in government-run deposit ac-
counts, effectively shielded from court orders, including people like
the pedophile Larry Nasser, the Boston bomber, and Mr. Tsarnaev.
What’s specific plans does the Bureau have in place to ensure vic-
tims get what they are owed?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Hey, Congressman, good question. First, I want
to stress something that currently the BOP does not have the au-
thority to seize funds independently from an inmate without their
consent. We are working with the Department of Justice to change
that Rule that will allow us to automatically encumber funds or a
portion of their funds to pay fines and restitution. Our inmate trust
fund collections about six million annually to make sure that they
pay restitution, but I stress again that we don’t independently have
the authority to retrieve funds.
We work with other law enforcement entities. In that case, the
United States Marshal’s Office, the United States Attorney’s Office,
and the courts, in those matters when we have to do that.
Mr. TIFFANY. Yeah, I think that’s something, Madam Chair, that
should really be looked at. The other thing that I would urge,
Madam Chair, we need to hear, after hearing Mr. Steube’s ques-
tioning, and I’m so glad the representative from Pennsylvania was
concerned about the solitary confinement.
We need to have a hearing on the January 6th detainees. We
need to have a full airing of what is going on with those January
6th detainees, because they are being submitted to conditions that
many on this Committee, including the other side of the aisle, find
reprehensible. It’s time to have a hearing on January 6th detain-
ees.
I yield back.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank the gentleman. The gentleman’s time
has expired, and I’m pleased to yield to the gentlelady from Penn-
sylvania, Ms. Scanlon. You’re recognized now for five minutes.
Ms. SCANLON. Thank you, Madam Chair, appreciate you having
this hearing today. Thank you, Director Carvajal, for being with us.
I was hoping you could help me clarify just for a minute what
the baseline population that we’re talking about here, sorry. As I
understand it, the inmate population for the Bureau of Prisons
from 1940–1980 was around 24,000. Is that right?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, ma’am. If my memory serves me correctly,
yes. I don’t have that information right in front of me.
Ms. SCANLON. I’m actually pulling it off your website here. Then
the population doubled in the ’80s to about 58,000, doubled again
in the ’90s to 136,000, and continued to climb until 2013, at which
point the Bureau of Prisons was housing about 217,000 people. Is
that right?
Mr. CARVAJAL. That is correct.
Ms. SCANLON. Okay, what is your current census of inmates in
the Bureau of Prisons?
Mr. CARVAJAL. I’m not sure I understand your question, Con-
gresswoman.
Ms. SCANLON. Are you currently housing about 153,000 inmates?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Oh, yes, I’m sorry, I just didn’t hear you. About
153,000, 134,000 at our 120 Bureau facilities. There’s about 62,000
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in for—private contract facilities, 7,100 in RRCs, and the 5,400 I
mentioned in home confinement for CARES Act.
Ms. SCANLON. Okay, thank you, I was having trouble figuring
out where all the numbers were.
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, those are rough estimates, they change daily.
Ms. SCANLON. Okay, I think everyone on the Committee knows
that by the time we got to 2013, or so we had widespread agree-
ment, everyone from the Koch brothers to the Obama Justice De-
partment saying we are over-incarcerating people in this country
and it’s a huge financial drain as well as a huge waste of human
capital and a human rights problem.
Now, there’s been some emphasis on the purpose of the Bureau
of Prisons to be punishment, but it also has a rehabilitative pur-
pose, doesn’t it?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congresswoman. I’d like to stress something,
that we’re not here for punishment. The taking of their time by the
courts and the criminal justice system, that’s the punishment.
We’re here to house people that are remanded to our custody, and
more importantly, to prepare them to re-enter society, keep them
safe while we’re here.
We’re not here as punishment, that’s not how we look at this
agency.
Ms. SCANLON. Okay, I’m particularly interested, as some of my
colleagues have been, in the rehabilitative function, the efforts that
are made to ensure that when people are released from prison,
they’re able to successfully re-enter, and that they’re not worse off
than they were before they went in. Because that doesn’t seem to
serve society well either.
What is the current recidivism rate, to your knowledge, from the
Federal prisons?
Mr. CARVAJAL. It’s about 43 percent.
Ms. SCANLON. Okay, you might want to update the website, it’s
saying 34 percent. Has there been a significant change in recent
years?
Mr. CARVAJAL. No, ma’am, I’ll have to have my staff look at that
website. I’ve never—I’m not familiar with it being in the ’30s.
Ms. SCANLON. It’s on the home page.
Mr. CARVAJAL. We’ll correct that.
Ms. SCANLON. So, with respect to—my colleague Ms. Dean talked
a little bit about some of the educational programs. I recently had
a constituent reach out about a relative’s participation in the Bu-
reau of Prison’s Drug Abuse Rehabilitation Program, or RDAP.
They’ve encountered problems getting all their earned credits
counted towards release because the program was paused by
COVID–19. Eventually this constituent’s relative was able to get
the credits, but they had to go to court, and that’s not a particu-
larly cost-effective method of dealing with this for anyone.
I know that RDAP was paused at many facilities. Is that still the
case? If not, is it back up and running at all facilities where it was
previously offered?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congresswoman. As I stated earlier, COVID
certainly impacts our institutions. We have an operational matrix
dictates how they operate. We have been affected by it. I know that
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certain inmates have been affected. We expect our staff to work
with them.
I’m not familiar with the particular case you’re talking about, but
we can certainly get back with you on that, the specifics of that
case.
Otherwise, we go to the point of trying to work with them so that
they can benefit from home confinement, finishing the program,
getting their time credits in. The whole goal is for them to get the
time credits.
Again, I’d like to stress that we’re not trying to keep people in
except unless they need to be in. If they earn any time credits, we
want them to go back to society as appropriate.
Ms. SCANLON. Okay, one last question, I’m running out of time.
I was very interested in the effort to put more apprenticeship pro-
grams in there so that people have hard skills that are going to en-
able them to become employed when they get out. What is the tra-
jectory on that? How many places have apprenticeship programs,
and what efforts are being made to expand that?
Mr. CARVAJAL. We’re—
Ms. JACKSON LEE. The gentlelady’s time has expired. Director,
I’ll allow you to answer the question. Thank you.
Ms. SCANLON. Thank you.
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congresswoman, we can get back to you with that
specific information. We are working with Department of Labor to
grow that program.
Ms. SCANLON. Okay, thank you, appreciate it. Yield back.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Thank the gentlelady for her questioning.
Now, it’s my privilege to yield five minutes to Mr. Massie. The
gentleman is recognized for five minutes.
Mr. MASSIE. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I want to thank you, Director Carvajal, for your staff being re-
sponsive to one of my inquiries about how many vaccination ex-
emptions have been granted at the BOP. It looks like, as of Janu-
ary 20, there were 4,738 exemptions. Most of them were religious
exemptions.
Instead of asking you, I want to inform you that this has had a
very negative effect on the morale of the officers, that fact they are
required to live under a vaccine mandate and the inmates are not.
It’s interesting that the inmates have more rights than the officers
themselves.
They also resent that they’ve had to apply for religious exemp-
tions when, in fact, they should have been granted a medical ex-
emption. At least some of them have been able to get the exemp-
tions.
You may want to check in on whether you completely suspended
this mandate, because there are officers who are still required to
do the weekly testing if they’re not vaccinated, per the mandate,
and also to certify that they have a religious exemption. Even as
of this week they’ve had to do that.
I appreciate the accommodations that you have made, because it
will negatively affect morale in recruiting if we do keep this vaccine
mandate in place.
I want to ask you how many correctional officers were budgeted
for the BOP by Congress? I’ll give you my number, it’s not a
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gotcha. The number I have, I’m just trying to see if it’s correct, is
20,446.
Mr. CARVAJAL. That, yes, Congressman. Again, I appreciate the
opportunity to clarify that. Specific correctional officers, what we
call the correctional officer that work those posts, is approximately
14,000.
The 20,000 you’re referring to is 6,000 additional support posi-
tions that fall under the correctional officer series. This is a classi-
fication issue, and it’s often confusing, that encumbers other posi-
tions that work in correctional services. The actual, true correc-
tional officers that we look at is approximately 14,000.
Mr. MASSIE. Have the 6,000 been hired?
Mr. CARVAJAL. We have a currently, Congressman, about 1,100
correctional officer vacancies right now. Almost half of those are at
seven locations that are hard to fill.
Mr. MASSIE. Okay. There’s one facility in my district, Ashland
FCI, where five years ago they had 130 officers, and now they have
100 and they’re told they’re going to 98, yet they’ve got more in-
mates. We see that augmentation is being used there.
So, I’m concerned that the inmates are going up and the officers
are going down. Because I’d like for it to be a safe environment,
and I think if it’s understaffed, it’s not safe. Also, they’re utilizing
overtime virtually every day at that facility, and it would be cheap-
er for the taxpayers if we had more slots filled.
I’ve heard that augmentation is being used there to backfill some
of those slots. I’m not going to debate whether they’re trained
enough, you’ve already addressed that, and you assured us they
are. What is augmentation and where do those people come from
when they go serve in roles that correctional officers might other-
wise fill?
Oh, I think you’re muted, Director.
Mr. CARVAJAL. Sorry. Augmentation is a necessary tool that we
use in our agency to make sure that we complete the first part of
our mission, and that’s to keep everyone safe and secure, to be able
to do the second part of our mission, which is give people a chance
to return.
As you stated, we often use, we try not to do it, but it’s certainly
a tool that we have to use, we use people from other disciplines,
such as teachers, nurses, and things of that nature. We try to limit
that. Those decisions are based upon a roster locally. The CEO
makes those determinations.
I stated earlier we have approximately 1,100 correctional officer
vacancies. I’d like to stress, Congressman, that we are funded at
90 percent. We have 38,884 positions. We are funded for 35,161.
That’s about 3,723 vacancies, about $500 million we’re short.
Our correctional official fill rate has got as high as 94 percent,
it’s currently 92 percent. So, our goal is to fill every single position
that we are funded for, but I can’t spend money we don’t have.
Mr. MASSIE. Okay. I would for you to look specifically at Ashland
FCI. My concern about augmentation should be a concern we all
have, is when you take away from being teachers to being guards
or other services, then the teaching doesn’t happen. Then we can
see higher recidivism, because we know that vocational schools and
education correlate to recidivism.
82
I would hope that you can get those slots filled, that we get more
slots. We can rely less on overtime and less on pulling those teach-
ers away who are so important and the other people who are im-
portant for complying with First Step Act.
Thank you, Madam Chair, for indulging me, and I yield back.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Thank you, the gentleman’s time has expired.
It’s my privilege now to yield five minutes to the gentlelady from
Georgia, and I thank her for her very powerful remarks this morn-
ing at the National Prayer Breakfast. The gentlelady from Georgia,
Ms. McBath, is recognized for five minutes.
Ms. MCBATH. Thank you, Chair Lee, and good afternoon, Direc-
tor Carvajal. I thank you for being here today, and I thank you for
your service as the Director, as you will soon be leaving the Bu-
reau. We just want to thank you for your service.
During this Subcommittee’s last hearing, we had an opportunity
to review implementation of the First Step Act. At the BOP, and
the impact that COVID–19 has had on the BOP operations.
I used that opportunity to inquire at that time into the BOP’s
policies addressing the treatment and care of pregnant women.
Specifically, the BOP’s alignment with national guidance for the
health and safety of pregnant woman.
Since that time, I was pleased to hear that the BOP has taken
actions to better align its policies on about five of the eight care
topics that the GAO found to not fully be aligned with the national
guidance recommendations.
I hope that the Bureau will continue to work to ensure that all
eight of those care topics are met, so that the health and wellbeing
of pregnant women at the BOP facilities are fully protected and
cared for.
Today, however, I do want to examine how BOP is handling its
re-entry services. The successful re-entry of citizens into society is
integral to annual recidivism efforts, crime in our communities,
and the financial health of these offenders’ rejoining society.
However, it’s difficult to, I guess actually to assess recidivism
patterns unless you are properly collecting the data on it. For ex-
ample, the last Federal justice statistics publication on recidivism
of Federal offenders that I was able to locate was published in June
2016.
The latest publication on the employment statuses on released
Federal offenders was published last December but cover Federal
inmates released back in 2010. So further, the latest, the latest
BOP publication on recidivism that I was able to find was from
2006.
Director Carvajal, what steps has the BOP taken to improve its
data collection to effectively track the progress of incarcerated indi-
viduals as they transition from prison to re-entry centers or home
confinement?
Does the BOP have plans to create standard metrics to evaluate
re-entry outcomes, such as job placement, recidivism, so that the
BOP facilities can share their best practices?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congresswoman. I appreciate your interest
in this. This is very important to us. It’s a very complicated process
for the gathering of recidivism data. We work in conjunction with
83
the States and other law enforcement entities. We are not sole
owners of that data.
I will tell you that staff are working with other components to
set up a platform, and we’re committed to working on bettering
that platform to get that data and to track it.
Ms. MCBATH. Sir, then once that is done or initiated and com-
pleted, could you just please, I’d love, my staff, we would love to
have what that platform looks like and what it entails, if you
would.
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, we can do that, Congresswoman.
Ms. MCBATH. Thank you. I’m also curious to know how many re-
entry coordinators did the Board of Prisons have per prison or per
prisoner? How many vacancies are there for these jobs? You’ve
made mention of the number of vacancies that you have, but how
many vacancies are for these jobs and what steps has the Board
of Prisons taken to fill these positions?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congresswoman. We are committed to filling
all our vacancies. As I stated earlier, we strive to do that. I don’t
know the exact number of re-entry affairs coordinators, but those
are positions that we strive to fill, as we do all our positions.
As I stated earlier, we have filled every position we have funding
for, and we’re committed to continue to do that. I can get you the
exact numbers, I can get back with you on that, I don’t have them
in front of me.
Ms. MCBATH. No, we really appreciate that effort. I think my col-
leagues and I would be really interested to have that information,
and I really appreciate that.
Well, as has been stated by many of my colleagues before me,
we’re very, very concerned about, actually people say that criminals
have rights. Yes, they do have rights, just as victims have rights.
We just want to make sure that when those that are incarcerated
do have the ability to have fair treatment while they are incarcer-
ated. Because at the end of the day, they’re human beings too.
Thank you so much, Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of
my time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. The gentlelady had yielded back, thank you.
It is my privilege now to yield five minutes to the gentleman, Mr.
Fitzgerald, you are recognized for five minutes. Thank you.
Mr. FITZGERALD. Thank you, Madam Chair, sorry about that.
My colleagues on the other side of the aisle introduced several
pieces of legislation that would eliminate bail in the Federal sys-
tem and make States then utilize bail for pretrial release, ineligible
for grants under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance
Grant Program.
These reforms continue to be pushed in the wake of the tragic
events where violent criminals are released, either on bond or
when they’re involved in some of these terrible crimes, of which
some of my colleagues have been talking about this morning.
Jurisdictions in California, Maryland, New Jersey, New York,
and in my own district, which I represent Milwaukee County, has
modified their bail practices to eliminate or de-emphasize the use
of monetary bail systems.
Coupled with some of my colleagues’ desire, which has been
going on for a year, discussions about defunding or dismantling po-
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lice department or bail reform efforts, it’s troubling. It’s making
some of the communities less safe or it’s sending the wrong signal
or message to some of these individuals that ultimately commit
these crimes.
Additionally, the Pretrial Integrity and Safety Act will provide
grants to States if they eliminate their money bail systems. Then
things like the Minnesota Freedom Fund, which even Vice Presi-
dent Harris was involved in for a period of time. So, this fund and
others that are similar have contributed to this overall concern.
Then right in my back yard, in the 5th Congressional District in
Wisconsin, we had the national attention given to the Waukesha
Christmas parade murders that happened. Darrell Brooks, the in-
dividual, was released on a $1,000 bond after running over a
woman with a vehicle. This is prior to the parade.
Then he was released on bail, despite having a lengthy criminal
history, including a charge for aggravated battery and an out-
standing warrant in Nevada after skipping bail for a sex-related
crime. Then, as you know, he subsequently drove his car through
the Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, killing six individ-
uals, one of whom was an eight-year-old boy.
Bail reform policies such as cashless bail that have been sup-
ported by some of my colleagues actually do more harm than help,
in what would be consider some of the minority communities, that
could have benefitted from some of these reforms, as we discuss
them at the State and Federal level.
So, Director, I guess crimes that are considered felonies are being
treated as misdemeanors or civil infractions in controlling the
criminal and the justice system from the perspective of the benefit
always goes kind to the criminal, what’s the fallout? I know you
talked about this earlier, but under the First Step, the Act calls
upon prisons to create rules around evidence-based recidivism re-
duction programs and productive activity.
Can you comment? There must be a relationship between those
incarcerated and certainly the set of statutes, both at the State and
Federal level and how they affect that. What’s the interaction, dur-
ing your period of time as Director?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congressman, I’m not sure I understand your
question. We’re committed to re-entry. That’s 50 percent of our
mission. That other is keeping people safe and secure. We don’t
control who comes to our custody, that’s on the front end of the jus-
tice system. The courts determine that.
So, when they come in here, our mission is to keep everyone safe,
secure, and ensure that they have equal access to programming. As
I stated before, 95 percent of those people return to society.
Mr. FITZGERALD. Just one more quick one then. One of my expe-
riences as a State legislator, as well as in the kind of relationship
that I’ve tried to develop with the Federal system within the State
of Wisconsin, one of the things that’s always linked is the literacy
rate compared to recidivism.
We find that if an inmate can read at an eighth grade level,
they’re far more likely to recommit. Is that something you guys
have looked at or checked into, and is it something that you mon-
itor?
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Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congressman, we have lots of literacy pro-
grams, a high school equivalency, GED. We encourage inmates,
that’s part of the risk and needs assessment when they come in.
We assess them and we address their needs. We assign them
programs to address their needs. That’s precisely what the First
Step Act is for. We were doing that all along. We’ve had a risk and
needs assessment, we just formalized it under the First Step Act.
Mr. FITZGERALD. Thank you, Madam Chair, I yield back.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank the gentleman for his questioning.
Now, I’m pleased to yield to the gentlelady from St. Louis, Mis-
souri, Vice Chair of this Committee. Congresswoman Bush, you are
recognized for five minutes.
Ms. BUSH. St. Louis and I thank you, Chair, for convening this
important hearing.
I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record the experiences
of 17 women across five Federal facilities which have been provided
by the National Council of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated
Women and Girls.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Without objection, so ordered.
[The information follows:]
MS. BUSH FOR THE RECORD
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Ms. BUSH. Thank you. In these emails, women in Federal cus-
tody detail horrifying accounts of not being allowed to get out of
their beds all day because of COVID lockdowns, being forced to eat
expired food, having little to no access to medical services to treat
cancers and other underlying conditions, having to pay two dollars
to file a sick complaint.
This is happening under your watch. These are complaints com-
ing from not one or not two facilities, but five different facilities,
which makes clear that these issues are not isolated, but they’re
systemic. These women cannot hold you accountable, Mr. Carvajal,
they cannot, but we can.
I would like to use this opportunity to ask you questions that
they cannot directly ask you out of fear of retaliation. Mr. Carvajal,
yes or no, are you aware of these complaints across so many of
your facilities?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congresswoman, I’m not aware of those par-
ticular complaints, but I’m certainly interested in hearing from you
or staff so that we can look into them. If that happened, I find it
unacceptable.
Ms. BUSH. Thank you, thank you. Our staff will be in touch,
thank you for that.
Are complaints filed by people in BOP custody being logged and
am I able to access those logs?
Mr. CARVAJAL. We absolutely keep a log of complaints. We take
all allegations seriously. We have an Office of Internal Affairs.
We follow the process, we work with the Office of Inspector Gen-
eral, and when needed other law enforcement agencies, and certain
the FBI and investigatory agencies. We take all those complaints
and allegations seriously and we look into them.
Ms. BUSH. Am I able to access the logs?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congresswoman, if you’d like I could have my
staff reach out to you—
Ms. BUSH. Okay.
Mr. CARVAJAL. See, if there is particular information you’re inter-
ested in, and if we can, we will provide that to you.
Ms. BUSH. Thank you, thank you. In the midst of a raging pan-
demic that has made incarcerated individuals uniquely vulnerable,
rather than allowing people to serve their sentences from their
homes with their families and away from the trauma and abuse of
the BOP system, the Federal prison population has grown. Keeping
them in prison is an Act of cruelty.
In April of last year, you told the Senate Judiciary Committee
that 50–75 percent of those incarcerated have been reviewed for
home confinement, and that 24,000 out of over 150,000 people in
Federal custody have been placed in home confinement.
As of today, have all those incarcerated been reviewed for home
confinement now, instead of the 50–75 percent?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congresswoman, we review all eligible inmates
for home confinement under CARES Act. We did that, we’ve placed
over 37,000 inmates. Nine thousands of those, more than 9,000,
were specific under CARES Act placement. Those are 9,000 in-
mates who would not be out in community custody at this point in
their incarceration.
Our population is actually reduced, Congresswoman.
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Ms. BUSH. Okay, well, we looked at the website earlier today, so
is the website inaccurate?
Mr. CARVAJAL. I’m not certain which information you’re referring
to.
Ms. BUSH. We went to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.
Two weeks ago, I along with Representative Bonnie Watson Cole-
man, we sent a letter seeking clarification from the Bureau on the
implementation of the Office of Legal Counsel’s new guidance for
those on home confinement under the CARES Act.
We asked for a response no later than February 7 of this year.
Can we get a commitment from you that such a response is forth-
coming, Mr. Carvajal?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congresswoman, I’m aware of your letter, and we
are certainly working on answering it. Understand, please, that
there is a clearance process which I do not control. We are com-
mitted to getting you a response to your letter.
Ms. BUSH. Thank you. My office will be in contact. I yield back.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. The gentlelady yields back. Thank you very
much. It’s my pleasure now to yield to the gentleman from Iowa,
Mr. Owens, for five minutes. Mr. Owens, you’re recognized for five
minutes.
We’ll then be happy now to move to the gentleman from Rhode
Island, Mr. Cicilline. We’re pleased to yield Mr. Cicilline five min-
utes, you are recognized now.
Mr. CICILLINE. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Direc-
tor, for being here. I, too, joined the letter that Congresswoman
Bush just referenced, and very much look forward to your response
to that.
We held a hearing on January 21, 2022, to learn more about the
Bureau of Prison’s response to the pandemic and specifically dis-
cuss compassionate release as a tool to reduce prison occupancy
and keep people safe.
My first question is I have a piece of legislation that would ex-
pand compassionate release availability during a public health
emergency. Given all the evidence we’ve seen about successful re-
integration through compassionate release during COVID, it seems
to me that it makes sense to fully utilize this tool.
So, my first question is what is the Bureau of Prison’s current
policy for considering compassionate release of individuals at high
risk of serious illness from COVID–19?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congressman, the compassionate release process
is sometimes confused with the home confinement, which we use.
It’s a quicker placement.
The reduction in sentence process is much more difficult. It
wasn’t designed to be a timely process. Each individual has to be
reviewed and unique, extraordinary, and compelling circum-
stances—
Mr. CICILLINE. Director, so is it my understanding, you don’t use
compassionate release or recommend compassionate released to
people who have a serious risk of illness with COVID–19, you don’t
use that process at all?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Under the CARES Act, we review everyone for
placement on home confinement. Yes, we do, if they file a reduction
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in sentence motion, we do evaluate it and assess it under our pol-
icy. We just don’t independently release someone from our custody.
Mr. CICILLINE. No, I know you don’t, my question is do you use
compassionate release of individuals at a high risk of serious ill-
ness from COVID, and what is your current policy in terms of ap-
plying compassionate release to such individuals? That’s not a hard
question.
Mr. CARVAJAL. If they submit a request, we follow our policy in
the statute and review it. If it’s appropriate, we make the motion,
and if not, it is denied.
Mr. CICILLINE. Okay. Healthcare workers across the country are
obviously experiencing incredible burnout after two years fighting
on the front lines of this pandemic. I presume that correctional
staff feel similarly, especially during outbreaks in the facilities.
Given the statistics I’ve seen on overtime and infection rates and
considering the ongoing risk of COVID–19 and continued staffing
shortages and BOP’s expanded authority to release individuals to
home confinement, why is BOP not utilizing mitigation strategies
like compassionate release more fully to reduce the number of in-
carcerated individuals in Federal prison?
Mr. CARVAJAL. We are utilizing it, Congressman. We make rec-
ommendations to the court as appropriate. The court makes the
final decision, not the BOP.
If the motion is made up, the inmate, under the First Step Act,
which they can do that after 30 days, we don’t take a position on
the motion. We’re not party those cases, it goes through the sys-
tem.
Mr. CICILLINE. Director, my colleague Congresswoman Dean
raised questions about solitary confinement, and the number she
referenced I concur with. The number increased 500 percent in
2020, with about 300,000 people in solitary confinement at any one
time. The policy of using solitary or restrictive housing as a sub-
stitute for CDC-recommended medical isolation has caused unbe-
lievable harms to incarcerated individuals.
My question is what steps has the BOP leadership taken to en-
sure that it’s following the appropriate guidance, like the CDC
guidance to place people in medical isolation not solitary confine-
ment or restrictive housing during this or in any future public
health emergency?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congressman, we follow the CDC guidance. In
some cases, we go above and beyond. I’d like to clarify, though, that
medical isolation is often confused with solitary confinement. There
are instances when inmates placed in restricted housing are iso-
lated also, medically isolated. In those cases, it’s appropriate.
We don’t place people from the general population who are
placed in medical isolation, we don’t place them in restricted hous-
ing. If there’s a case where it’s an issue where we’re out of space
or something, they’re appropriately tacked—there’s different rules
for that.
Mr. CICILLINE. Director, in February 2020, the UN Special
Rapporteur on Torture issued a statement related to the use of soli-
tary confinement in United States prisons, stating that, and I
quote, ‘‘The severe and often irreparable psychological and physical
consequences of solitary confinement and social exclusion are well-
104
documented and range from progressively severe forms of anxiety,
stress, and depression to cognitive impairment and suicidal ten-
dencies. This deliberate infliction of severe mental pain or suffering
may well amount to psychological torture,’’ end quote.
My question is, is the BOP aware of the mental and physical
damage of solitary confinement on the individuals in their care? Do
you have policies in place to try to reduce the use of solitary con-
finement?
Will you furnish this Committee with all the background and
supporting documents to reveal to us really the status of the use
of solitary confinement and your efforts to mitigate it?
I think you’re on mute, Mr. Director.
Mr. CARVAJAL. Sorry. Yes, Congressman, that’s a lot of informa-
tion. We will certainly get that to you. I will tell you that we are
committed to continuing to appropriately reduce our use of restric-
tive housing.
In some cases, there’s a reason for it and we do, but we have
policies in place. Making rounds, making sure that they have ac-
cess to programming and earning time credits. We can get you all
that information, and we can answer any questions you’d like re-
garding that.
Mr. CICILLINE. I appreciate that. Director, one final point. The
making rounds is not, the fact, that you check in on somebody
while they’re experiencing what has been described as psycho-
logical torture isn’t sufficient, so I look forward to that information.
I thank the Chair, and I yield back.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Thank you, the gentleman’s time has expired,
thank you. My pleasure now to yield the distinguished gentleman
from California, among many of our Members on this Committee.
We yield to you, Mr. Lieu, for five minutes. You’re now recognized
for five minutes.
Mr. LIEU. Thank you, Chair Sheila Jackson Lee, for holding this
important oversight hearing. Thank you, Director Carvajal, for
your public service.
Approximately how many COVID–19 vaccines did the Bureau of
Prisons administer?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congressman, we’ve administered to date over
292,000 doses to both staff and inmates. Eighty percent of our
staff, give or take, 80 percent are vaccinated, and about 70 percent
of our inmate population.
It’s a moving target because there’s always people coming in and
out. Every single person is offered the opportunity to be vaccinated.
Mr. LIEU. Did anyone die as a result of getting the COVID–19
vaccine?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congressman, I do not know that. I would have
to get you information from a medical doctor. I don’t have that in-
formation in front me.
Mr. LIEU. Sir, you would have been told if someone died after
getting COVID–19 vaccine, wouldn’t you have?
Mr. CARVAJAL. I’m sure I would have, Congressman, I just don’t
have that information in front of me.
Mr. LIEU. Okay. Why don’t you get back to us, but I’m going to
tell you, you would have been told if that, in fact, happened.
105
Now, did you see that the CDC recently came out saying that if
you get a COVID–19 vaccine and a booster shot, you are 97 times
less likely to die than if you’re unvaccinated, from COVID, are you
aware of that?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congressman.
Mr. LIEU. Okay, I want to agree with the former President, who
said that COVID–19 vaccines are one of the greatest achievements
of mankind. I want to talk about the religious exemptions.
I happen to be Catholic. The Pope, who is also called the Vicar
of Christ, has said that getting a COVID–19 vaccine is a ‘‘moral ob-
ligation.’’ What I want to know is, was the Bureau of Prisons giving
any religious exemptions to folks who were Catholic, and if so,
what possible basis could that be on?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congressman, I don’t personally review those ex-
emptions. We have processes in place, and I’m certain that we can
get you that information. We have actually ceased because of the
preliminary injunction; we’ve ceased the process of religious and
medical exemptions for the time being.
Mr. LIEU. If you could get me that information, that would be
great.
Chair Jackson Lee, I’d like to enter two articles for the record.
The first is from Forbes Magazine, June 19, 2020, it’s entitled, ‘‘Bu-
reau of Prisons Special Tactical Forces Under Scrutiny for Use in
DC Protests and Training Mishaps.’’
The second article is entitled, ‘‘The Story Behind Bill Barr’s Un-
marked Federal Agents,’’ from Politico, and it’s dated June 5, 2020.
[The information follows:]
MR. LIEU FOR THE RECORD
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Mr. LIEU. Director Carvajal, I’d like to ask you, were Bureau of
Prisons personnel used to crack down on protesters, and were they,
in fact, unmarked?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congressman, we did assist the Department of
Justice and other law enforcement components during those pro-
tests. Initially, and I answered this, I was asked this question dur-
ing a press conference, initially, within the first few days, our staff
were not properly marked.
In essence, for the people on the civilian side to recognize them,
they had local institution logos. We corrected that within a couple
of days. We appropriately marked them to show they were Bureau
of Prisons personnel.
It was an oversight, and when it came to our attention, we ap-
propriately marked them. They all now, when deployed, if de-
ployed, they are appropriately marked to indicate they are oper-
ating under the Federal Bureau of Prisons if they are Federal offi-
cers.
Mr. LIEU. So, for any future occurrences, they will all be identi-
fied, am I understanding that correctly?
Mr. CARVAJAL. They were. We corrected the issue before the end
of that, and we have deployed them since, and they are all appro-
priately identified as Federal Bureau of Prisons officers.
Mr. LIEU. There are also allegations that there was excessive use
of force, that some of them may have used tear gas and other ac-
tions that were not appropriate. So, my question goes to training.
These Bureau of Prison folks, they’re trained to deal with prison
issues, but do they also get training on dealing with crowds who
are exercising their First amendment right to free speech?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congressman. I know that some of those
things are under current review, so I don’t think it would be appro-
priate for me to comment on them. I can check back with my staff
and get the status of that, and we can answer your questions off-
line.
I don’t want to misspeak in this forum. If the matter is still
under review.
Mr. LIEU. Thank you, if you give that information. It’s important,
because I’m going to introduce a bill with Congressman Earl Blu-
menauer that will prevent the Attorney General from randomly
deputizing, actually the U.S. Marshals from randomly deputizing
Bureau of Prison folks and then sending them out to cities to crack
down on First amendment free speech, folks who are exercising
that right.
With that, I yield back.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. That was my fingers again, but thank you
very much, Mr. Lieu, for your questioning. It’s certainly my privi-
lege now to yield to another important, distinguished Member of
this whole body, and that is Mr. Cohen of Tennessee. Mr. Cohen
of Tennessee, you are recognized for five minutes.
Mr. COHEN. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for holding
this hearing. If I ask any questions that have been asked earlier,
Mr. Carvajal, let me know, I’ve been at a hearing of the Helsinki
Commission. We had the Polish Foreign Minister, and very in-
volved in those issues.
126
These are important issues as well and I wanted to make this
hearing, and I’m happy I can. The pandemic has highlighted many
of the failing of our Federal prison system, and the Bureau of Pris-
ons has unfortunately failed to protect the health of those within
their custody and their staff from COVID–19, or address chronic
understaffing.
The BOP has also lacked transparency and vigor in imple-
menting important criminal justice reforms, such as the First Step
Act, Mr. Carvajal. What lessons have you learned during your ten-
ure and what advice do you have for your successor to address
some of these issues that we’ve seen within the Bureau of Prisons?
Mr. Carvajal?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congressman, yeah, sorry.
Mr. COHEN. Yes, sir.
Mr. CARVAJAL. Trying to unmute here. Well, if you’re asking
about the lessons learned from the pandemic, first, we followed the
CDC guidance from day one. We learned that we need to protect
the most vulnerable, the elderly, isolate the sick, and quarantine
the exposed, the same lessons that the rest of the country and the
world have known. Restrict movement, communicate better.
Those are some of the lessons learned. I think that we’ve gotten
good processes in place. We work with the CDC; we’ve invited them
into our institutions. They have visited us. Our pandemic plan is
worked in collaboration with the CDC.
Mr. COHEN. Well, let me ask you about the First Step Act. That
was one of the few successes Mr. Trump had, that and the Oper-
ation Warp Speed. I’d say it seemed like it should have been pur-
sued with vigor, and it wasn’t.
Why was First Step Act and trying to get individuals that should
be eligible for release not operation warp speed for the Bureau of
Prisons?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congressman, I’m not sure I know what you’re re-
ferring to. We are fully compliant, statutory compliant, with the
First Step Act. We had implemented a risk and needs assessment
way ahead of the time it was due. We formalized it.
We’ve released inmates under the First Step Act, they’re earning
time credits. I’m not certain what you’re referring to.
Mr. COHEN. Was there a date in late January that you needed
to have a certain report in on folks that would be eligible for re-
lease? Maybe you got it done, I don’t know, but at one point it
wasn’t done.
Mr. CARVAJAL. Well, we were awaiting the finalization of the
rule, that’s a process which I don’t control. We submitted that draft
Rule under the last Administration at the end of January 2020,
and it was finalized in January. We are statutorily compliant with
the First Step Act, Congressman.
Mr. COHEN. Excellent, well, that’s good. I led a letter along with
Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman and the Biden Administra-
tion urging them to avoid the reincarceration of those released to
home confinement under the CARES Act, allowing those released
to apply for commutations of their sentences.
In your view, was home confinement under the CARES Act suc-
cessful, number one. Do you agree that those released have largely
127
proven their ability to successfully assimilate back into their
homes, families, and communities?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Congressman, we’re always committed to return-
ing people to society. Ninety-five percent of our people will go. We
understand this is important to the CARES Act, we’ve done so.
We’ve released over 37,000 to home confinement, 9,000 of those
under the CARES Act. Only 320 of those have reoffended, and we
follow the statute and the rules. So, we follow the laws that are im-
plemented, and we continue to do so.
Mr. COHEN. The Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel
published a memorandum concluding that the Bureau of Prisons
was not required to return those released to home confinement
under the CARES Act to prison once the emergency period ended.
Has the Bureau of Prisons under your guidance begun taking
steps to effectuate the Department of Justice memorandum and
new interpretation of the law so that the people who are on home
confinement would be able to remain on home confinement and
then apply for commutations?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congressman, I’m aware of the OLC opinion,
we’re working with the Department. We have not yet nailed down
the how. When we do that, we will be as transparent as possible
to make sure that everyone gets the information.
We certainly take the information and guidance of the Attorney
General and will continue to follow the laws.
Mr. COHEN. Thank you, sir. Let me ask you this: You were the
head of the Bureau of Prisons, were you not, when Mr. Epstein al-
legedly committed suicide?
Mr. CARVAJAL. No, I was not, Congressman.
Mr. COHEN. You weren’t? Okay. You were there, though, when
Michael Cohen was arrested and brought back and put in solitary
confinement when he tried to exercise his First amendment rights,
were you not?
Mr. CARVAJAL. I believe that did happen under my tour, yes.
Mr. COHEN. Did you have—were you asked—did you have any-
thing to do with that, were you made aware of it, the desire to have
him brought back into custody and put into solitary confinement?
Mr. CARVAJAL. No, Congressman, I was not made aware of that
prior to. I was briefed on it afterwards because he’s a high publicity
case, as any high publicity. I was not directly involved in that deci-
sion.
Mr. COHEN. Thank you. Based on Mr.—last question, Madam
Chair. Since Mr. Epstein committed suicide, and the security there
was awful, have you seen to it that Ms. Maxwell’s had better care
or supervision to make sure she doesn’t do anything to end her life?
Ms. JACKSON LEE. I’ll let the Director answer the question, the
gentleman’s time has expired. Director, you may answer.
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congressman. I don’t want to discuss specific
security issues on any individual, but we appropriately ensure that
people in our care have the appropriate supervision and security.
Mr. COHEN. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Thank you very much. This has been an im-
portant hearing, insightful approaches by our Members on both
sides of the aisle.
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As we come to a conclusion, Mr. Biggs, as Ranking Member, do
you have any additional points that you might want to place on the
record at this time?
Mr. BIGGS. Thank you, Madam Chair. First, thank you, Director,
again, for being here. I look forward to the number of responses
that you indicated to me that you would have your staff give to me.
I look forward to seeing those, and Madam Chair, I’ll yield back
to you.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank the gentleman very much. Director,
just one final point that comes out of the testimony of Dr. Homer
Venters, who is an adjunct faculty at the NYU College of Global
Health, who was with us in our previous hearing.
His investigation revealed a disturbing lack of access to care
when a new medical problem is encountered. We’ve heard those
questions, line of question, coming from several Members.
This process called sick call in most carceral setting relies on the
ability of incarcerated people to submit a written or electronic con-
cern and then be seen in a face-to-face encounter with a day or two.
In the first BOP facility that he had the time to—had the oppor-
tunity to visit, as he inspected the Metropolitan Detention Center
in Brooklyn, New York, it quickly became apparent that not only
were many people reporting that their sick call requests, including
COVID–19 symptoms, were being ignored, but that the facility was
actually destroying their original request, which violates basic cor-
rectional standards.
As this is an accountability hearing and it is a recognition that
there should be, if you will, accountability in the exercise of puni-
tive measures. We all have concluded that these are human beings
deserving of restoration and dignity, men and women.
Can you comment on that kind of action?
Mr. CARVAJAL. Yes, Congresswoman. I appreciate you allowing
me to clarify that. First, I am aware of the report. We looked into
it, and we followed up. I won’t discuss that specific incident, but
I will reassure you that each of our institutions has an outpatient
care clinic.
It’s overseen by a board, state-certified physician and a medical
director. We have outside oversight, we have joint commission,
AAAHC, ACA. We receive the same reviews that any outside clinic
or nursing home would.
Our mortalities are reviewed by independent review. So, I’m not
sure—I mean, we get oversight. If there’s a mistake made or some-
thing of that nature, we’re going to investigate it and do something
about it, correct the issue.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Thank you, Director. What I would ask spe-
cifically is some of the questions that may not have been answered
more thoroughly, our staff will get with you so that we can get an-
swers in writing.
That, in particular, at the Metropolitan Detention Center in
Brooklyn, New York. Your memory, or it may not come to your at-
tention, I want a direct response and answer on that matter. I
thank you for that.
I’m also going to suggest that there is a Board of Health over-
sight for the Department of Prisons—Federal Bureau of Prisons. I
know that you do have a number of other agencies. I think one that
129
is specifically focused on helping the Bureau going forward will be
very helpful.
Let me finally submit into the record ‘‘Man is 16th to Die of
COVID–19 at Fort Worth Prison, Cases Spike At Women’s Facil-
ity.’’
[The information follows:]
MS. JACKSON LEE FOR THE RECORD
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Ms. JACKSON LEE. I conclude, Director, let me say I’m not sure
of whether or not you’ll appear before this Committee or a Com-
mittee in the other body. Let me take this opportunity to show our
appreciation from a person who has chosen as his career to serve
the nation.
Obviously coming into the Bureau many, many years ago, you
have continued to make a commitment to serve this nation. It is
my privilege to be able to say thank you for your service. It should
go unnoticed you’ve served under many Administrations, Demo-
cratic and Republican.
You’ve chosen to commit yourself to, hopefully, the lives and the
ultimate liberty of individuals that we hope will be restored and
will enter society, and never to return again. I hope that is your
vision. You’ve stayed.
I thank you; I want to make sure that we thank the hardworking
officers who go by the appropriate mixture of reform, account-
ability, and compassion.
Thank you again for your testimony this morning and your serv-
ice to the nation. This concludes today’s hearing. Thank you to our
distinguished Witness for attending.
Without objection, all Members will have five legislative days to
submit additional written questions for the Witness or additional
materials for the record. The hearing is now adjourned. I hope that
was heard. Thank you very much.
[Whereupon, at 12:03 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
APPENDIX
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QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES FOR THE
RECORD
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Æ
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