Attorney General Jeff Sessions last year issued guidance that reversed an Obama administration policy to phase out the use of private prisons.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions last year issued guidance that reversed an Obama administration policy to phase out the use of private prisons. Evan Vucci / AP

Dozens of Lawmakers From Both Parties Implore Justice Dept. Not to Cut 6,000 Jobs

The reduction would endanger federal prison guards and the facilities they protect, House members say.

Fifty-two members of Congress across the ideological spectrum are asking the Justice Department not to eliminate 6,000 jobs, imploring officials to reconsider a recent mandate to eliminate the positions.

The lawmakers said the the Bureau of Prisons should not cut the thousands of vacancies at federal facilities nationwide, noting they were only unfilled because the agency has not lifted the hiring freeze President Trump issued on a governmentwide basis in January 2017 and ended a few months later. The decision would threaten the “safety of our correctional officers and the security of prisons,” the lawmakers said in their letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The mandate to cut the jobs was first reported by Government Executive in January. Justice issued the call while seeking to identify more inmates to transfer to private contract facilities. Last year, Sessions issued guidance that reversed an Obama administration policy to phase out the use of private prisons. In their letter, the lawmakers noted that Justice “recently” instructed the bureau to eliminate the 6,000 positions.

“The safety of the men and women who put their lives on the line every day to guard, supervise and protect federal inmates must be a top priority," the House members said. "Implementing these cuts across the board without considering the unique characteristics of each facility would undermine safety priorities and make an already difficult career even more difficult by stretching limited resources further. We import you to reconsider eliminating these positions.”

They noted that some facilities began using a process called “augmentation,” in which non-correction officers are reassigned from their normal work into guard duties. Such a strategy, they said, has resulted in staff falling behind on the tasks they were hired to perform. Work performed by teachers, counselors and trade workers at federal prisons is falling by the wayside, which the lawmakers said has created “even more pressure in an already dangerous setting.” It has also led to accelerated burnout and lower morale, further exacerbating staffing shortages.

Reduced staff levels create higher threat levels in emergency situations, the bipartisan group said, an issue made worse by the other cuts taking place due to augmentation.

“This is especially problematic when considering the potential unrest that may occur due to subsequent loss of inmate programming and services,” they said, adding that historically inmates are more prone to violence when those cuts take place.

Nancy Ayers, a bureau spokeswoman, said augmentation is a longstanding practice and the agency understands the associated concerns.

“However, it is important to note that staff assigned to our institutions are professional law enforcement officers first, regardless of their occupation,” Ayers said. “All staff are trained accordingly and are expected to perform law enforcement functions during routine and non-routine situations.”

She added that “the safety of staff, inmates, and the public is the highest priority for the BOP.” Ayers also noted that no employees would be displaced or face layoffs, and that Sessions would respond to lawmakers directly.

Coupled with the decision to boost inmates held in contracted facilities, the job reductions are seen as part of a wider effort by the Trump administration to shift more of the burden of running the federal prison system to the private sector.

"The DoJ is eliminating common-sense reforms designed to focus on violent criminals, while sending taxpayers’ dollars to the private prisons industry that has a profit motive to oppose those reforms and lock up more non-violent drug offenders," Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., told Government Executive last month. "This is a blow to ongoing efforts to reform our criminal justice system, and I will fight it tooth and nail.”

In 2016, former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates issued a memo instructing the bureau to either end private facility contracts when their terms expired or “substantially reduce [their] scope” to correspond with declining inmate populations. Sessions said in February 2017 that Yates' decision “changed long-standing policy” of the bureau and impaired its “ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system.” The federal inmate population has dropped by about 36,000 since 2013, according to Bureau of Prisons statistics, a 16 percent reduction.

This story has been updated with comment from the Bureau of Prisons.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.