A new report details the challenges for female prisoners who have been moved out of the federal prison in Danbury into federal jails in Philadelphia and Brooklyn.
Last year, female prisoners were transferred to these federal jails so the Bureau of Prisons could start renovations at the federal prison in Danbury. The facility retrofit will ensure that low-security female inmates can stay in Danbury, close to home and to their families.
The problem is that ten months on, the BOP hasn't even begun construction yet. It's tacking another year on to the completion date, meaning these women could be stuck in federal jail for an additional 20 months.
Piper Kerman, whose memoir and Netflix series "Orange is the New Black" is based on her experience as a inmate at Danbury, said federal jails are holding facilities, and not intended for long-term sentences. "It might be hard for folks to understand who are outside of the system, but the impacts of the physical restraints, the forced idleness, and the sensory deprivation that take place in a jail facility, is simply not appropriate for a long term stay," she said.
The Yale Law School's Arthur Liman Public Interest Program released a report on Wednesday that reveals these prisoners are experiencing challenging conditions at both the Philadelphia and Brooklyn jails. "Those who were transferred into the high-security jail facilities had very little access to light; very little access to outdoors; and they had no programming, and were idle most of the day," said Emma Kauffman, of the Arthur Liman Public Interest Program.
Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy joined nine other Senators in sending a letter to Charles Samuels, director of the Bureau of Prisons, urging him to expedite the renovation process at the Danbury Prison. Read the text of the letter below.
Full text of the letter follows:
September 3, 2014 The Honorable Charles E. Samuels, Jr., Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons Dear Director Samuels: We are writing to express ongoing concerns about the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) plans to change the use of the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Danbury, Connecticut from a women-only facility to a facility devoted primarily to men. We were pleased last November when BOP announced plans to provide beds for women at FCI-Danbury following an 18-month transition period during which the Danbury facility would be renovated. Now, we have learned that BOP revised its timeline without informing us and estimates that the 18-month transition period will actually last longer than 30 months. Further, it appears that BOP may have decided not to provide a Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP) in the Northeast, contrary to what our offices had been told to expect. We are frustrated by the lack of communication regarding both of these critical issues and deeply concerned by the impact they may have on the female inmates and their ability to successfully reenter our communities. Early on in the transition process, out of concern for the welfare of the female inmates, we requested information on the situation from faculty and law students in the Arthur Liman Program at Yale Law School. Their report, released today, documents the continuing harm that the transition imposes on women. While BOP delays, women are being detained in facilities that were not designed to house them on a long-term basis. Additionally, women in the Northeast may be forced to move far from their families to access essential programming, such as RDAP, which has been proven to reduce recidivism and enhance public safety. We urge BOP to expedite the Danbury transition and to mitigate the harm caused by any delay. In the meantime, we request that BOP clarify its new plans and explain what is being done to minimize harm to female inmates, their families, and their communities by answering the following questions: Transition Timeline and Relocation What is the basis of BOP’s current transition timing estimate? Please provide as much information as possible regarding each phase of the transition process. Does BOP have any reason to believe that there might be additional delays? What might the possible causes be and how much longer could the timeline be? What efforts has BOP undertaken to expedite the transition? Please identify and describe in detail any obstacles to expediting the transition timeline. Has BOP explored alternatives to the metropolitan jails in Brooklyn and Philadelphia as temporary locations for female inmates during the renovation?Programming Changes What programming that has been available to female inmates at FCI-Danbury will be unavailable to them during their temporary relocations during the renovations? What programming and job opportunities can be made available to women during their temporary stays at the metropolitan jails? What programming that has been available to female inmates at FCI-Danbury will be unavailable to them when they return to FCI after the renovations? After the transition, will RDAP be available to female inmates in the Northeast? --- If not, what are the reasons for terminating RDAP programming in the Northeast? --- If not, what barriers will women in the Northeast who wish to participate in RDAP and meet eligibility requirements face in receiving permission to relocate in order to participate in RDAP? What are BOP's plans for ensuring that the new facility at FCI-Danbury will be responsive to women's needs? Have construction and job readiness programming plans, for instance, taken account of women's needs? Notice to Judges and Female Inmates What information is being provided to judges sentencing women to incarceration in the Northeast? Are you providing female inmates who expect to be transitioned to FCI-Danbury with updates about the transition process? --- If so, what form of notice is BOP providing and with what regularity? --- If not, what are the reasons for withholding this information? Do you plan to provide notice in the future? In what form and with what regularity? We appreciate your commitment to making this transition as quickly as possible. We expect that you will provide prompt and comprehensive responses to our questions so that we can work together to ensure that the transition minimizes harm to the female inmates and their families and encourages successful reentry to our communities.
