State officials reintroduce prison oversight bill
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By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Two Democratic members of Georgia’s congressional delegation have introduced legislation to overhaul oversight of the federal prison system.
The bill, sponsored in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, and in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Jon Ossoff, would require the Justice Department’s inspector general to inspect all 122 U.S. Bureau of Prisons facilities and make recommendations for fixing problems.
The inspector general must report findings and recommendations to Congress and the public, and the bureau must respond to all inspection reports within 60 days with a corrective action plan.
The legislation also would establish an independent ombudsman to investigate the health, safety, welfare, and rights of incarcerated people and staff. The ombudsman would create a secure hotline and online form for family members, friends, and representatives of incarcerated people to submit complaints and inquiries.
Ossoff chairs the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which held hearings last year on conditions inside federal prisons. The senator introduced a prisons oversight bill late last year, but the Senate didn’t act on it before time ran out on the 2021-22 congressional term.
“My bipartisan investigations of corruption, abuse and misconduct in the federal prison system revealed an urgent need to overhaul federal prison oversight,” Ossoff said. “I am bringing Republicans and Democrats together to crack down on corruption, strengthen public safety, and protect civil rights.”
The legislation has bipartisan backing. Cosponsors in the House include Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., while Ossoff’s Senate bill is being cosponsored by Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind.
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