With concern about crime spiking, a familiar pattern emerges — In a Feb. 16 speech, Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell justified his opposition to the District of Columbia’s proposed overhaul of its antiquated criminal code by saying, “When the soft-on-crime local government has become too incompetent, when members of Congress can’t go about their daily lives without being attacked, when families…

The ‘care’ is missing from the equation — Medical care — both lack of and poor quality — is the one of the most common topics of complaints that we hear from people confined in federal prison. To offer a flavor of just how poor medical care can be in the Bureau of Prisons system, we offer below…

Gun violence is on the rise; look deeper and you’ll find pain on both sides — By Rob Barton I recently came across an article in The Washington Post about a vigil for 14-year-old Antoine Manning in southeast DC, where his teammates gathered to say goodbye. Antoine was the 14th juvenile killed by gun violence in DC last year. Another 82 youths had been injured at…

The CO is from West Virginia, but he could be talking about most federal prisons — I have written before about the hotbed of human rights violations which is the Hazelton federal prison complex in West Virginia. Most of the stories I shared are from the medium-security (FCI) facility, but only because the high-security penitentiary (USP) on the same grounds is almost always locked down, making…

Imagine hundreds of men crowded together for decades with no outlet for natural human desires — trouble is bound to happen — By Askia Afrika-Ber Sexual yearnings are as natural as any other human emotion, and perhaps the most powerful. That is especially true in prison, where even the mere exposure to the opposite sex is rare. …

Should the possibility of redemption be offered to everyone? — By Rob Barton “There is no place for you or your ignorant, hateful, and evil ideologies in a civilized society. There can be no mercy for you, no understanding, no second chances. The damage you have caused is too great and the people you have hurt are too valuable to…

Closing privately operated prisons doesn’t change the profit motive of the prison-industrial complex — By Joseph Lamica In December, the federal Bureau of Prisons ended all its contracts with private operators of its facilities. The move followed an executive order by President Biden, which he positioned as ending the practice of profiteering off of prisoners and their families. But as an inmate in FCI…

We’re always being written up; why aren’t guards? — By Robert Barton For the last 29 days, six hours and 28 seconds, these tiny bathrooms we live in, which we call cells, have been the entire world for the men in USP Coleman 1. It’s where we exercise (I’ve gotten up to 1,000 pushups), walk off our stress (six…

The federal Bureau of Prisons continues to find new ways to gouge prisoners and their families — By Jeremy Fontanez There is a lot of coverage in the media about prisoners who accumulate thousands of dollars in their institutional accounts, despite being ordered by the court to pay restitution to their victims. …