Senate passes Georgia lawmaker-backed Federal Prison Oversight Act

(The Center Square) — The U.S. Senate has passed legislation Georgia lawmakers championed that would create an ombudsman to probe the health and safety of those working or incarcerated in a federal prison.

Two Georgia Democrats — U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath — were among the lawmakers who introduced versions of the Federal Prison Oversight Act, which now heads to President Joe Biden for consideration.

The measure, which the Senate passed by unanimous consent, mandates that the Department of Justice’s inspector general examine the BOP’s 122 facilities, offer recommendations to fix problems and assign each facility a risk score. Higher-risk facilities would be subjected to more frequent inspections.

“This is a major milestone. My bipartisan Senate investigations of corruption, abuse, and misconduct in the Federal prison system have revealed an urgent need to overhaul Federal prison oversight,” Ossoff said in a statement. “I now look forward to President Biden signing our bipartisan bill into law.”

The inspector general must also publicly report its findings, including to Congress. In turn, federal prison officials must respond to inspection reports within 60 days with a plan.

The measure also establishes an independent ombudsman to scrutinize the health, safety, welfare, and rights of those working and incarcerated in federal facilities. The ombudsman would also establish a “secure hotline and online form” for filing complaints and making inquiries.

According to the congressional website, the Congressional Budget Office has not submitted a cost estimate for the measure.

“The act creates oversight and accountability mechanisms that are essential to protect the civil liberties and dignity of individuals who are incarcerated in federal prisons,” Nina Patel, senior policy counsel at the ACLU’s Justice Division, said in a statement.

Lawmakers introduced the legislation following an Ossoff-chaired U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations probe that found the DOJ’s tally of how many people died while in custody missed hundreds of deaths over years. The investigation found that the problems spanned many years over multiple administrations, and committee staffers said there is widespread blame for the oversight.