Some federal prison inmates are criticizing the director of the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for recent congressional testimony, according to VICE magazine.
“We do not under any circumstances, nor have we ever had the practice of putting an individual in a cell alone,” said BOP Director Charles E. Samuels in a congressional hearing, according to Seth Ferranti, who covered the story with colleague Robert Rosso.
Samuels testified that “Federal inmates are not placed in solitary confinement – a.k.a. ‘The Hole’ – as a matter of policy,” wrote Ferranti.
“How can he get away with saying such a ‘bald-faced’ lie?” says Jay Martt, a federal inmate serving 14 years for armed robbery at FCI Terre Haute, Ferranti reported in an Aug. 11 story.
No longer are inmates placed into dark black rooms with no lighting whatsoever and served bread and water like they were during the times of Alcatraz. Instead, those who violate rules, or are placed under investigation, or are in need of protection (or have become the targets of disgruntled staff members) are placed in special housing units (SHUs). There, they are segregated from the general population and confined to one- and two-man cells, says Martt.
Samuels was appointed director of BOP by President Obama in late 2011 following the embarrassing drunk driving arrest of former BOP Director Harley Lappin.
He is the first Black to hold the post, Ferranti reports.
Samuels “told lawmakers that his agency was forced to contend with a large inmate population on limited resources,” but that “we do not practice solitary confinement,” says Ferranti.
Inmates interviewed by VICE said the SHU is overused and misused: prisoners are denied basic hygiene articles and showers, adequate food amounts, recreation access, fair hearings and length of term determinations. Other grievances made to VICE include falsified documents and arbitrary judgments.
Yet some prisoners feel that the director is being criticized unfairly.
“It’s easy to sit here and criticize Samuels for all of our grievances, but that’s not going to solve anything. It’s OK to be against something as long as you are for something,” said inmate Daniel Brown, who is serving 41 years for drugs and guns, writes Ferranti.
