Office of Defender Services
TRAINING BRANCH
- Practical Tips if Your Client Faces Incarceration in a Federal Prison
by Anne T. Berton, Assistant Federal Defender, and Michael Gorman, Research and Writing Specialist, W.D. TX
- Video: Practical Tips if Your Client Faces Incarceration in a Federal Prison
by David Merchant, AFPD, District of Montana
- Federal Bureau of Prisons
by David Merchant, Assistant Federal Public Defender, D. MT
(outlining BOP policies and programs)
- Navigating the Bureau of Prisons from Sentencing through Release
by Manny K. Atwal, Assistant Federal Public Defender, D. MN
- A Defender's Guide to Sentencing and Habeas Advocacy Regarding Bureau of Prisons Issues (August 2011)
by Stephen R. Sady, Chief Deputy Federal Defender, and Lynn Deffebach, Research and Writing Attorney, D. OR
(The goal of this Guide is to provide tools for sentencing advocacy to provide the easiest route to good results where the BOP acts reasonably and to provide ideas for litigation when it does not. See this blog post for more on the Guide.)
- GAO Report of September 2012 on BOP Overcrowding: Growing Inmate Crowding Negatively Affects Inmates, Staff, and Infrastructure
- GAO Report Reveals Multiple Ways to End the Waste of Millions on Unnecessary Overincarceration: Report of April 4, 2012 on Behalf of the Federal Public and Community Defenders
by Thomas W. Hiller, II, Federal Public Defender, W.D. WA; Michael Nachmanoff, Federal Public Defender, E.D. VA (Co-Chairs, Legislative Expert Panel); and Stephen R. Sady, Chief Deputy Federal Public Defender, D. OR
- Legal Resource Guide to the Federal Bureau of Prisons 2010
(BOP publication providing a general overview of the BOP, its services, and its programs.)
- Interaction of Federal and State Sentences When the Federal Defendant Is Under State Primary Jurisdiction
by Henry J. Sadowski, Regional Counsel, Northeast Region, Federal Bureau of Prisons
- Comments on the Bureau of Prisons Second Chance Act Pre-Release Community Confinement Proposed Rule
Although Congress doubled the available pre-release community confinement in the Second Chance Act (SCA), the BOP has continued to follow informal rules that effectively limit pre-release community confinement to six months, rather than the twelve months now permitted under 18 U.S.C. § 3624(c). After a judge struck down its first SCA regulation for violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, the BOP submitted for comment the same regulation. Comments in this federal defender letter and this letter by FAMM urge the BOP to effectuate Congress's directive in the Second Chance Act.
- BOP Memorandum Regarding Revised Guidance for Residential Reentry Center Placements (6/24/10)
- BOP Guidelines for Forensic Evaluations
(providing recommendations for the psychiatric, psychological, and medical management of inmates)
- BOP Memorandum for Designation and Sentence Computation Center (February 2, 2009)
(providing guidance to Designation and Sentence Computation staff for considering initial designations of inmates to Residential Reentry Centers.)
- Outline of Bureau of Prisons Residential Drug Abuse Program
by Janet Hinton, Paralegal, Federal Public Defender, E.D. MO
(This chart serves as a quick reference guide for determining a client's eligibility for the BOP's residential drug abuse program generally, as well as eligibility for early release.)
- Your Client Will Not Get Mental Health Treatment in Prison: A Primer on How to Back Up That Claim
by James Tibensky, Mitigation Specialist, Federal Defender Program of Chicago
This article sets forth data to support an argument that a client should receive a non-prison sentence based on lack of access to mental health treatment through the Bureau of Prisons.
- Bureau of Prisons Web Page
- Second Chance FAQ's
courtesy of Families Against Mandatory Minimums
- Comments on the BOP's Interim Rule Relating to Community Confinement and Home Detention Pursuant to the Second Chance Act