WASHINGTON – The head of the Federal Bureau of Prisons explained to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday how she is working to improve the nation’s troubled prison system and answered Republican questions about transgender inmates.
“Developing meaningful change across the agency is not something that happens overnight,” said Colette Peters, director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, in her opening remarks.
“Change requires focus, effort and persistence over a long period of time. I believe that our efforts over the past year have produced visible change and that our work continues.”
Peters said she has visited more than 20 facilities over the past year and has worked to address employee misconduct and “hold those guilty of misconduct accountable.”
Peters testified before the same committee almost a year ago. During that hearing she reiterated that staffing issues and sexual harassment in facilities would be priorities for her leadership of the agency.
Wednesday’s hearing also came a day after several senators – including both from West Virginia, Joe Manchin III (Democrat) and Shelley Moore Capito (Republican) – wrote to Peters and Attorney General Merrick Garland urging them to investigate sedate allegations of staff misconduct and inmate mistreatment at a federal prison in Bruceton Mills, West Virginia.
During the Senate session, Democrats focused on changes the BOP has made, particularly in lightweight of investigations that found inmates were sexually assaulted by staff, and what resources the agency provides for inmates, such as prenatal care.
Almost all Republicans questioned Peters about transgender prisoners, particularly asking about transgender women in prisons where women are also incarcerated.
Peters said there are about 1,700 incarcerated people who identify as transgender. She said there are fewer than 10 incarcerated transgender women in facilities with incarcerated women. There are nearly 158,000 incarcerated people in BOP facilities, according to BOP statistics.
The Republican senators who questioned Peters about incarcerated transgender women were the ranking Republican on the committee, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, as well as Senators Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah.
Tillis pushed for data on how many incarcerated transgender people received medical care as part of their gender reassignment treatment. He referred to the specific case by Donna Langan, who was the first transgender person to receive gender reassignment surgery in a federal prison.
Peters said she was not familiar with the case cited by Tillis.
“It’s going to be difficult for me to find someone who has been convicted of a crime and then receives taxpayer money to make that transition possible when we’ve heard about the limited resources for the hard-working people in the Bureau of Prisons,” Tillis said.
Democratic committee chairman Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois criticized Republicans who raised the issue of transgender care.
“We are concerned about the safety of all prisoners, regardless of whether they are cisgender or undergoing gender reassignment,” he said.
Prison reforms
Senator Jon Ossoff, Democrat of Georgia, said that when Peters took office, she had a reputation as a “reformer.”
Ossoff led an investigation by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, in which the panel found that incarcerated women sexually abused in two thirds of BOP facilities. He asked what steps BOP has taken to end sexual assaults on inmates.
Peters said there had been a “cultural assessment” in all of our women’s facilities.
“The most important thing we have done is to advocate for those responsible for this abuse to be held accountable,” she said.
Durbin expressed concern about the exploit of solitary confinement in federal prisons and expressed disappointment that the number of inmates in solitary confinement has not changed since Peters took office.
“We both know that locking someone in a cell for more than 22 hours a day doesn’t make them a good neighbor,” he said. “Since our hearing last September, we have seen no decrease in the number of people in solitary confinement in federal prisons.”
Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, asked about prenatal care for pregnant prisoners.
Peters said guidelines were issued in February last year addressing “not restraining pregnant or postpartum women” and “giving women the opportunity to bond with their children.”
She also mentioned that there is a partnership in Washington state that has launched a parenting program.
Klobuchar also asked about high-risk pregnancies and whether they are being transferred to facilities that can provide care for them. Peters said there is a special facility to care for high-risk pregnancies.
Gangs and smuggling
Senator Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, urged Peters to take security measures to stop smuggling and prevent gangs from conducting illegal activities in federal prisons.
He asked Peters whether she thought tougher penalties for smuggling would be an appropriate deterrent.
“I think that every instrument must be considered to achieve this significant [issue] of contraband, and I think this would be an additional tool in our toolbox,” she said.
Grassley also asked Peters if she knew “whether our government shares information about the layout of our prisons with foreign governments,” such as the Mexican government.
Peters said she would look into the matter and let him know what she found out.
“We want these floor plans to remain top secret,” she said. “Releasing such information would be a serious security risk.”
Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee also expressed concern about the exploit of drones to smuggle contraband into prisons.
Peters said it is a problem and that BOP is using various technical maneuvers, such as jamming cell phone signals and tracking cell phone communications at specific locations.
“With drones, technology is constantly changing and we just try to keep up with that changing technology,” Peters said.
