By Daniel Landsman
Last week, the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a detailed report on the failings at the Bureau of Prisons that led to the suicide of Jeffrey Epstein, financier and alleged sex trafficker. The report is a stunning look into the confluence of understaffing, mismanagement, and neglect that allowed for the suicide of one of the nation’s most infamous incarcerated individuals.
To those unfamiliar with the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the failures detailed in the report are shocking and at times unbelievable. Unfortunately, they also are not unprecedented. Many of the factors involved in this troubling saga—such as overworked staff missing their rounds, inadequate care and attention to mental health care, and broken cameras—are all too common within our 
federal prison system.
Lack of independent, meaningful oversight is why we have gotten to a place where our federal facilities are so rife with neglect that such an incident can happen. The OIG left no stone unturned in their investigation into the death of Jeffrey Epstein, but it shouldn’t take a full-blown crisis involving a high-profile person to bring these issues to light.
At FAMM (Families Against Mandatory Minimums), we hear weekly from people directly impacted by incarceration about the harmful conditions and practices within both federal and state prisons. In June, FAMM was joined on Capitol Hill by over 70 directly impacted advocates to talk about the need for oversight of our federal prisons. We were joined by one advocate who learned of her husband’s death by seeing DECEASED on the Bureau of Prisons “inmate locator” webpage. We were joined by another advocate whose brother was incarcerated at a federal penitentiary and faced intense pressure to join a gang. He remained incarcerated there until his untimely death—just over a year after arriving—despite multiple efforts to get him placed in a more appropriate setting.
The often dire situations in our nation’s prisons have a tremendous impact on the health and wellbeing of our nation’s correctional officers too. As one correctional officer said, “The rain doesn’t care whether you’re a prisoner or a CO. You all get wet.” Correctional officers have a life expectancy 15 years shorter than the average American, and more than 1 in 3 correctional officers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Unfortunately, the conditions inside our prison systems often remain hidden until something catastrophic, such as the death of Jeffrey Epstein, prompts a detailed investigation. If we truly want to prevent the daily harms we hear about from both the people who live and work in prison, we must invest in consistent independent oversight of our prisons.
Tell your lawmakers today: We need oversight now. Read more about the Federal Prison Oversight Act on our website.
Daniel Landsman is FAMM’s Deputy Director of Policy. Originally written and published by the FAMM Foundation. FAMM is a national nonpartisan advocacy organization that promotes fair and effective criminal justice policies.
