#JustUs

Here are some exciting components of the legislation:

• The U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) would have to create an annual summary report recording “the ability of the Bureau of Prisons and any existing contract prison to uphold the health, safety, and civil rights of the correctional population” during disasters. The report would explain things like:
  • Disaster damage to staff, facility residents, and property
  • The facilities’ ability to provide for residents (food, shelter, medical care, etc.)
  • Guidance and data on the use of early release/home confinement for eligible facility residents (methods for reducing the facilities’ populations to make them more manageable and safe)
  • The availability of visitation with legal counsel and visitors, disability accommodations, educational programs, and work programs
  • Inmate grievances
• The report will also include corrective actions by the BOP to update emergency preparedness plans, a timeline to implement them, and legislative recommendations to Congress for improving emergency preparedness plans on a federal level.
• Officials responsible for carrying out these plans would be appointed.
• The Advisory Board overseeing the National Institute of Corrections would be expanded to include the expertise of a person who has been directly involved with the justice system, a person with extensive experience in emergency response/management, and a person with a background in public health and communicable diseases.
• The National Institute of Corrections would have to hold a public hearing on how these goals would be achieved within one year of the bill’s enactment. 

JLUSA will continue to advocate for the adoption of the #JustUs policy recommendations at the federal, state, and local levels until adequate emergency management plans are in place in every correctional facility.  The safety and dignity  of incarcerated people will not only be a consideration in times of emergency, but at all times.