U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, co-sponsored a bill on federal prisons that is now headed to President Joe Biden to sign into law.
PRISON REFORM. Legislation sponsored by U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., and U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, to strengthen oversight of federal prisons is headed to President Joe Biden to sign into law.
The bill requires the Justice Department to routinely inspect facilities, provide recommendations to address concerns and assign each prison a risk score. Facilities deemed the most at risk would be inspected more frequently.
The legislation also creates a new ombudsman position to investigate complaints about the treatment of prisoners and staff.
Ossoff introduced the legislation in 2022 after spearheading an investigation of safety concerns and allegations of mismanagement at the United States Penitentiary, Atlanta and across the federal prison system.
The House passed the bill in May with McBath as its lead sponsor. The Senate approved it on Wednesday by unanimous consent.
“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.”
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