BOP Jail Policies and Information

• Inmate who 'recovered' from coronavirus dies in California prison, officials say (5/28/20)
  By Brooke Wolford, Sacramento Bee

• Memo to All Staff at FCC Lompoc Re: Enhanced COVID-19 Mitigation Measures
• BOP COVID by Facility
• Williams, Warden, et al. v. Wilson, Craig, et al., No. 19A1041 (U.S.S.C. May 26, 2020) (Order)
  The Order denies stay of enforcement of a judge's order to identify and release medically vulnerable prisoners at FCI Elkton, scene of a large COVID-19 outbreak)

• Supreme Court won't stop Ohio order for prisoners to be moved or released because of coronavirus (5/26/20)
  By Robert Barnes, Washington Post

• Inside A Federal Prison With A Deadly COVID-19 Outbreak, Compromised Men Beg For Help (FCI Butner) (5/26/20)
  By Ryan J. Reilly, Huffington Post

• Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort Got to Leave Federal Prison Due to COVID-19. They're The Exception. (5/21/20)
  By Joseph Neff & Keri Blakinger, Marshall Project

• Class Action Habeas Law Suit in the Southern District of New York on behalf of detainees at Federal Bureau of Prison's Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Manhattan, New York. See Cesar Fernandez-Rodriguez, et al. v. Marti Licon-Vitale, in her official capacity as Warden of the Metropolitan Correctional Center, 1:20-cv-03315-ER (S.D.N.Y.)

  • Class Action Petition Seeking Writ of Habeas Corpus, Fernandez-Rodriguez, et al. v. Licon-Vitale, 1:20-cv-03315-ER (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 28, 2020), Dkt. 1. 
  • Petitioner's Emergency Motion For A Temporary Restraining Order and a Preliminary Injunction (with proposed order), Fernandez-Rodriguez, et al. v. Licon-Vitale, 1:20-cv-03315-ER (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 28, 2020), Dkt. 4.
  • Petitioner's Memorandum Of Law In Support Of Petitioners' Motion For A Temporary Restraining Order And A Preliminary Injunction, Fernandez-Rodriguez, et al. v. Licon-Vitale, 1:20-cv-03315-ER (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 28, 2020), Dkt. 5.
  • Petitioners' Notice & Motion for a Preliminary Injunction, Fernandez-Rodriguez, et al. v. Licon-Vitale, 1:20-cv-03315-ER (S.D.N.Y. May 26, 2020), Dkt. 50.
  • Petitioner's Memorandum of Law In Support of Motion for Preliminary Injunction, Fernandez-Rodriguez, et al. v. Licon-Vitale, 1:20-cv-03315-ER (S.D.N.Y. May 26, 2020), Dkt. 53.
  • Declaration of Dr. Homer S. Venters, Facility Evaluation the MCC in Support of Petitioner's Motion for Preliminary Injunction, Fernandez-Rodriguez, et al. v. Licon-Vitale, 1:20-cv-03315-ER (S.D.N.Y. May 26, 2020), Dkt. 51-1 (exhibit).
  • Declarations of 35 witnesses in Support of Petitioner's Motion for Preliminary Injunction, Fernandez-Rodriguez, et al. v. Licon-Vitale, 1:20-cv-03315-ER (S.D.N.Y. May 26, 2020), Dkt. 51, exhibits 0-34.

  • Petitioners filed numerous additional exhibits, e.g., witness statements, photographs, and other evidence, in support of their Motion for Preliminary Injunction.  Those documents are available in Pacer, along with transcripts of hearings in this proceeding.

• How To Hide a COVID-19 Hotspot? Pretend Prisoners Don't Exist (5/27/20)
  By Abbie Vansickle, The Marshall Project
  Santa Barbara County excluded COVID-19 cases among prisoners at Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex so it could meet California's requirements for reopening.

• He tested positive for the coronavirus. One day later, a federal prison flew him home to Alaska. (5/26/20)
  By Michelle Theriault Boots, Anchorage Daily News
  An Anchorage man granted compassionate release from a California federal prison engulfed in a coronavirus outbreak tested positive one day before his release but was allowed to fly back to Alaska -- apparently unaware he had the virus, according to court documents.

• Inside A Federal Prison With A Deadly COVID-19 Outbreak, Compromised Men Beg For Help (5/26/20)
  By Ryan J. Reilly, Huffington Post
  Inmates incarcerated at the Butner federal prison complex in North Carolina have filed suit, saying federal officials have failed to take action to stop the spread.

• Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort Got to Leave Federal Prison Due to COVID-19. They're The Exception. (5/21/20)
  By Joseph Neff & Keri Blakinger
  The Marshall Project Just a small fraction of federal prisoners have been sent home. Many others lack legal help and connections to make their case.

• Photos Show No Social Distancing In Federal Halfway House (5/15/20)
  By Joseph Neff, The Marshall Project

• Judge: BOP hasn't complied with order to address coronavirus at Ohio federal prison (5/19/20)
  By Eric Heisig, Cleveland

• Grassley, Durbin Statement Following Phone Call with Attorney General Regarding Federal Prison System Efforts to Combat COVID-19 (5/6/20) 
  Google Cache of statement as it appeared on 5/7/20 at 4:32:49 GMT. 

• The new death penalty: COVID has now killed more US prisoners in weeks than the US death penalty has in over a decade (5/11/20)
  Sentencing Law & Policy Blog

• Klobuchar asks Barr for answers on coronavirus outbreaks in prisons (5/8/20)
  By J. Edward Moreno, The Hill

• About 400 inmates quarantined at CoreCivic prison in Florence, after 13 test positive for COVID-19 (5/8/20)
  By Craig Harris, Arizona Republic

• Press Release, BOP to Expand Rapid Testing Capabilities (5/7/20)

• Federal prisons chief defends agency coronavirus response as infections, deaths mount (5/7/20)
  By Kevin Johnson, USA Today

• Immediate, mass COVID-19 testing critical at federal prisons, ACLU and workers say (5/7/20)
  By Maddie Capron, Miami Herald

• Bureau Of Prisons Says Inmate Testing Limited As Nearly 70 Inmates Test Positive For Coronavirus In Kentucky Facility (5/7/20)
  By Jeffrey Martin, Newsweek

• COVID-19 Case Total Soars Above 650 at Lompoc Prison Complex (5/7/20)
  By Janene Scully, Noozhawk North

• Bureau Of Prisons Giving HeadsUp To US Attorneys To Delay Self-Surrenders (5/4/20)
  By Walter Pavlo, Forbes

• Anthony Swain, et al. v. Daniel, No. 20-11622-C (11th Cir. May 5, 2020) (per curiam) 
  A split 3-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit granted the governments motion to stay pending appeal the preliminary injunction of District Court Judge Kathleen Williams that required the Miami-Dade County Department of Corrections, and its Director Daniel Junior, to employ numerous safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and imposed various reporting requirements. Judge Charles Wilson dissented.

• Doctor Sounds Alarm: Conditions Inside Federal Jail In Brooklyn Are Promoting Spread Of COVID-19 (5/5/20)
  By Beth Fertig, WNYC

• Craig Wilson, et al. v. Mark Williams, et al., No. 203447 (6th Cir. May 4, 2020) (Order),
  A unanimous 3-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit denied the Federal Bureau of Prison's application to stay District Judge James S. Gwin's (N.D. Oh.) preliminary injunction ordering Elkton prison officials to take immediate steps to identify and transfer all medically vulnerable prisoners from Elkton FCI and its low security satellite prison.
  • Craig Wilson, et al. v. Mark Williams, et al., No. 4:20-cv-00794 (N.D. Oh. Apr. 22, 2020) (preliminary injunction order), Dkt. 22.  
    The petitioners in this case--four inmates housed at Elkton FCI and its low security satellite prison representing a class of all Elkton inmates as well as a subclass of medically vulnerable inmates--filed an emergency habeas action seeking release from Elkton on April 13, 2020 due to the spread of COVID-19 within the prison. After a hearing, the district court entered a preliminary injunction, granting in part and denying in part relief. The district court's order stated, in relevant part:

    The Court orders the Respondents to identify, within one (1) day all members of the subclass as defined in this Order. Respondents must identify in the list each subclass member's sentencing court and the case number of their underlying criminal conviction.

    Following identification, the Court orders Respondents to evaluate each subclass member's eligibility for transfer out of Elkton through any means, including but not limited to compassionate release, parole or community supervision, transfer furlough, or nontransfer furlough within two (2) weeks.

    In undertaking this evaluation, Respondents will prioritize the review by the medical threat level. For example, older inmates with heart, pulmonary, diabetes or immunity risks should receive review priority over subclass members who are younger.

    Subclass members who are ineligible for compassionate release, home release, or parole or community supervision must be transferred to another BOP facility where appropriate measures, such as testing and single-cell placement, or social distancing, may be accomplished. In transferring subclass members, Respondents must continue to comply with BOP policy of quarantining inmates for 14 days prior to transfer out of Elkton.

    Any subclass members transferred out of Elkton may not be returned to the facility until the threat of the virus is abated or until a vaccine is available and Elkton obtains sufficient vaccine supplies to vaccinate its population, whichever occurs first.

• N.J. federal prison is becoming a 'deathtrap,' ACLU says, seeking release of vulnerable inmates (FCI Fort Dix) (5/4/20)
  By Joe Atmonavage, N.J.com

• Coronavirus outbreak at Terminal Island prison worsens: 5 dead, 600 infected (4/30/20)
  By Richard Winton, LA Times

• Few Federal Prisoners Released Under COVID-19 Emergency Policies (4/25/20)
  By Joseph Neff & Keri Blakinger, The Marshall Project
  A federal judge calls the Bureau of Prisons release process "Kafkaesque."

• Coronavirus Is Ready To Explode Inside Fort Dix Federal Prison, Incarcerated People and Their Loved Ones Say (4/24/20) 
  By Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg, The Daily Appeal



• DOJ Memo for BOP Chief Executive Officers re Home Confinement
  (4/22/20) (Providing additional guidance and direction for review of at-risk inmates for placement on home confinement)
  • Confusion Hampers Coronavirus-Driven Inmate Releases (4/22/20)
    By Sadie Gurman & Rebecca Davis O'Brien, Wall Street Journal



• Bureau Of Prisons Removes Webpage On COVID-19 FAQ Home Confinement (4/22/20)
  By Walter Pavlo, Forbes




• The Federal Bureau of Prisons has confirmed the first staff death linked to coronavirus, report says (4/18/20)
  By Rebecca Ungarino, Business Insider
  This news report conflicts with BOP's daily reporting, i.e.,BOP's COVID-19 Update (last visited at 4:55 p.m. EST on April 21, 2020) reports "There have been 23 federal inmate deaths and 0 BOP staff member deaths attributed to COVID-19 disease."



• Coalition Letter to Federal Bureau of Prisons Re: Demographic Data (4/21/20)
  By The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights
  This letter from 68 organizations urges BOP to "include certain demograph information in its daily reporting of COVID-19 cases within federal facilities. When publicly reporting each day, BOP should include the age, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability for incarcerated persons and staff who have contracted, recovered from, and died from COVID-19. BOP should also include this same demographic information in its reporting of people released to home confinement. Additionally, BOP should be reporting the number of people released through compassionate release with demographic information."

• A second federal prison in NC has coronavirus cases, and U.S. officials aren't tracking it (4/19/20)
  By Dan Kane, Charlotte Observer
  Each day, the bureau publishes an updated list reflecting how the coronavirus has impacted roughly 130 facilities. The report shows how many inmates and staff have tested positive and how many have died.



• BOP Annual Report to Congress re: Compassionate Release Under the First Step Act (2/13/20)


• Declaration of Juan. A Segovia, Brandon Livas, et al. v. Rodney Myers, et al., No. 2:20-cv-00422-TAD-KK (W.D. La. Apr. 10, 2020), Dkt. 94


• Declaration of Kristy Cole, Wilson, et al. v. Williams, et al., No. 4:20-cv-00794-JG (N.D. Oh. Apr. 17, 2020), Dkt. 10-2


• Declaration of Juan. A Segovia & Attached DOJ Memorandum, Brandon Livas, et al. v. Rodney Myers, et al., No. 2:20-cv-00422-TAD-KK (W.D. La. Apr. 16, 2020), Dkt. 14-1


• Memorandum from Taft Correctional Institution from D. Patrick, Executive Assistant/Grievance Coordinator to Camp Inmate Population (Apr. 6, 2020)


• BOP OSHA Complaint (3/31/20) This Complaint was filed by a correctional officers' union as an "imminent danger report" with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.  The complaint states, in part:

The agency's actions described herein are proliferating the spread of a known and deadly contagion both within our prison system and to our surrounding communities. The agency's actions and inactions are expected to result in death and severe health complications and/or possible life-long disabilities.

Specifically, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, under the direction of N.C. English, Assistant Director of Health Services Division, Jeffery D. Allen, M.D., Medical Director, and Captain Sylvie Cohen, M.D., Branch Chief for Occupational Safety and Health, have directed staff throughout the Bureau of Prisons who have come in contact with, or been in close proximity to, individuals who show or have shown symptoms of COVID-19, to report to work and not be self-quarantined for 14 days per the CDC guidelines. These guidelines state "If a staff member is identified as a close contact of a COVID-19 case (either within the facility or in the community): self-quarantine at home for 14 days and return to work if symptoms do not develop". Mr. Allen and/or Captain Cohen have advised local Institutions with these staff to order them back to work within 48 hours of suspected infection and/or contact with individuals having symptoms or confirmation of the virus. Furthermore, staff who were screened and ordered home due to possible exposure based on the screening instruments used by the Bureau of Prisons were also ordered back to work within 48 hours.

The Bureau of Prisons also has violated the above standard by continuously moving inmates by bus and/or airlift to various prison sites across the nation. They have authorized movement of infected inmates, inmates suspected of being infected, inmates who have been in close contact or proximity to infected inmates, to areas of the Country that do not have any rate of infections, or to Institutions that otherwise have not shown signs of any introduction of the virus, thus introducing the virus into an uninfected area. This is a failure to follow the CDC guidelines that state where COVID-19 cases exist within an Institution, management strategies such as "Suspend all transfers of incarcerated/detained persons to and from other jurisdictions and facilities (including work release where relevant), unless necessary for medical evaluation, medical isolation/quarantine,care, extenuating security concerns, or to prevent overcrowding" should be implemented.

• The Situation Here Is Dire': How An Upstate New York Prison Failed to Contain a COVID-19 Outbreak (FCI Ray Brook) (4/16/20)
  By Harry August & Alex Garnick, The Daily Appeal

• Justice Dept. watchdog to inspect prisons amid virus spread (4/15/20)
  By Michael Balsamo, AP News

• Federal Bureau Of Prisons Institutions Not Showing Any Signs Of "Flattening Curve" (4/15/20)
  By Walter Pavlo, Forbes

• As Virus Spreads in Federal Prisons, People Inside Describe Chaos, While Families Are Left in the Dark (4/15/20)
  By Liliana Segura, The Intercept

• 'People are falling sick every day:' Lawsuit accuses feds of 'slow-walking' releases at troubled Louisiana prison (4/13/20)
  By Kevin Johnson, USA Today

• The Bureau of Prisons must do more to flatten the curve (4/13/20)
  By Representative Fred Keller (R. Pa), The Hill


• Bureau Of Prisons Moving Minimum Security Inmates To Isolation For Release Preparation (4/11/20)
  By Walter Pavlo, Forbes

• Internal Prison Guard Email Contradicts Government's Claims To Judges About Containing Coronavirus At Federal Detention Center (4/10/20)
  By Nick Pinto, The Intercept



• Inside the deadliest federal prison, the seeping coronavirus creates fear and danger (4/9/20)
  By Kimberly Kindy, Washington Post


• Federal Prison Factories Kept Running as Coronavirus Spread (4/10/20)
  By Cary Aspinwall, Keri Blakinger & Joseph Neff, The Marshall Project


• Coronavirus outbreak: Hundreds of infected, quarantined inmates in prisons and jails challenging officials (4/9/20)
  By Kevin Johnson, USA Today


• BOP's COVID-19 Webpage (updated daily at 3:00 p.m.) (last visited 4/7/20) 
  The BOP website has expanded its COVID-19 sections to include a scrolling spreadsheet of data on positive test numbers in inmates and staff, as well numbers of inmate and staff deaths, all by institution. It also includes an interactive map.Note: BOP's identification of COVID-19 Tested Positive Cases may be less than cases reported by news outlets, see below. 
  
  
  • BOP xlsx spreadsheet of COVID-19 cases (6/8/20) (while BOP posts this cumulative spreadsheet daily; we will update every few days) (please call or email our helpline for historical spreadsheets)
  
  
  • BOP Updates, Open COVID-19 Tested Positive Cases (5/5/20 - 5/8/20) (chronological screen shots of BOP's COVID-19 pages)
  
  
  • BOP Updates, Open COVID-19 Tested Positive Cases (4/29/20 - 5/4/20) (chronological screen shots of BOP's COVID-19 pages)
  
  
  • BOP Updates, Open COVID-19 Tested Positive Cases (4/24/20 - 4/28/20) (chronological screen shots of BOP's COVID-19 pages)
  
  
  • BOP Updates, Open COVID-19 Tested Positive Cases (4/21/20 - 4/23/20) chronological screen shots of BOP's COVID-19 pages)
  
  
  • BOP Updates, Open COVID-19 Tested Positive Cases (4/14/20 - 4/19/20) (chronological screen shots of BOP's COVID-19 pages)
  
  
  • BOP Updates, Open COVID-19 Tested Positive Cases (4/4/20 - 4/13/20) (chronological screen shots of BOP's COVID-19 pages)
  
  
  • BOP Updates, Open COVID-19 Tested Positive Cases (4/3/20 - 4/7/20) (chronological screen shots of BOP's COVID-19 pages)
  
  
  • BOP Updates, Open COVID-19 Tested Positive Cases (3/22/20 - 4/2/20) (chronological screen shots of BOP's COVID-19 pages)
  
  
  • Bureau of Prisons Underreporting Covid-19 Outbreaks In Prison (4/1/20)
    By Walter Pavlo, Forbes
  
  
  • 4 Inmates Dead from Coronavirus as Outbreak Spirals at Louisiana Federal Prison (4/2/20) ("The BOP currently reports only 11 confirmed COVID-19 cases among inmates at Oakdale, plus another four cases among prison staff, but VICE News has been told by employees there that the situation is much more grim.")
    By Keegan Hamilton, Vice News

• Federal Prisons Pose 'Imminent Danger' in Spreading COVID-19, Union Says (4/6/20)
  By Courtney Buble, Government Executive



• 1st prison inmate to die of coronavirus wrote heartbreaking letter to judge (4/5/20)

  By Rich Shapiro, ABC News

• Barr Expands Early Release of Inmates at Prisons Seeing More Coronavirus Cases (4/3/20) 
  By Katie Benner, New York Times

• Inside a Federal Prison, Where Inmates Can't Stop Coughing (4/3/20) 
  By Marcia Brown, The American Prospect


• "They're All Really Afraid": Coronavirus Spreads In Federal Prison (4/7/20)
  By Ryan Lucas, National Public Radio


• We'll see many more covid-19 deaths in prisons if Barr and Congress don't act now (4/6/20)
  By Lisa B. Freeland, David Patton, and Jon Sands, The Washington Post


• BOP Update on COVID-19 and Home Confinement (4/5/2020) ("Given the surge in positive cases at select sites and in response to the Attorney General's directives, the BOP has begun immediately reviewing all inmates who have COVID-19 risk factors, as described by the CDC, starting with the inmates incarcerated at FCI Oakdale, FCI Danbury, FCI Elkton and similarly-situated facilities to determine which inmates are suitable for home confinement.")


• AG Barr Memo for Director of Bureau of Prisons: Increasing the Use of Home Confinement At Institutions Most Affected by COVID-19 (4/3/20) In the memo, the AG exercises his authority, under section 12003(b)(2) of the CARES Act, "to expand the cohort of inmates who can be considered for home release upon my finding that emergency conditions are materially affecting the functioning of the Bureau of Prisons." (emphasis added).


• COVID-19 in Prisons, Jails, and Detention Centers (podcast) (4/2/20) Johns Hopkins School of Public Health

• BOP COVID-19 Action Plan: Phase Five (3/31/20)
• Press Release, Fraternal Order of Police DOC Labor Committee, re: ineffective "tracing" and "investigations" related to COVID-19 (3/29/20) (Washington, DC)
• Banks, et al. v. Booth & Johnson, No. 1:20-cv-849 (D.D.C. 3/30/20) (class action complaint filed against the Director and Warden of the DC Department of Corrections)
  By Steven Marcus, Jonathan Anderson & Jenna Cobb, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia & Scott Michelman, Arthur Spitzer & Michael Perloff, ACLU of the District of Columbia
  
  
  • Exhibits and pleadings in the Banks lawsuit

• BOP Implementing Modified Operations (last visited 3/24/20)
  In order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the BOP is operating under the particular conditions for the next 30 days, as detailed here.

• Letter to DOJ & BOP from Bipartisan Senators re:COVID-19 measures, e.g., use of compassionate release & home confinement (3/23/20)
• Order Granted, Emergency Motion for Immediate Transfer from BOP to Home Confinement (3/19/20) (D. Maryland)
• COVID-19 USMS Booking Procedures & Medical Screening (D. Ariz.) (3/19/20)

• This Chart Shows Why the Prison Population Is So Vulnerable to COVID-19 (3/19/20)
  By Weihua Li & Nicole Lewis, The Marshall Project

• Metropolitan Detention Center Los Angeles Letter to Chief Judges with COVID-19 Update (3/18/20)

• The Marshall Project's Tracking Prisons' Response to Coronavirus (rev. 3/17/20)
  As COVID-19 spreads, facilities across the country are suspending visits from family and lawyers. The Marshall Project is rounding up the closures and other changes. You may report the status of detention centers in your area through this site.

• BOP COVID-19 Phase Two Action Plan (3/13/20)

• How Coronavirus Could Affect U.S. Jails and Prisons (3/13/20)
  By Lauren-Brooke Eisen, Brennan Center for Justice

• Bureau of Prisons Covid-19 Action Plan (rev. 3/13/20)

• Letter to Attorney General Barr re: COVID-19 from Jerold Nadler, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary (3/12/20)
• Letter from Senator Warren to BOP re Coronavirus 3/9/20

• The Justice Collaborative (last visited 3/17/20)
  This organization can assist with policy and communications around COVID-19 and vulnerable populations. The site also offers many resources addressing issues such as asking for release, explaining impact of jail on clients.

• If you need help advocating regarding visitation limitations, contact David Fahti, National Prison Project, ACLU dfathi@aclu.org.