WASHINGTON — Federal prisons are failing to notify crime victims and witnesses when inmates are granted furloughs for medical treatment, the Justice Department inspector general says.
The Bureau of Prisons also has no system for tracking data about inmates who commit crimes while they are on temporary release or have escaped from release, among other record-keeping problems that are preventing the government from ensuring that leaves are properly granted and overseen.
The bureau, which had 208,745 people who had committed federal crimes incarcerated at the end of the past fiscal year, proposed a revised furlough policy in 2003 to address medical leaves, limit furloughs for inmates convicted of drug use and possession, and other issues. But after seven years, the changes still have not been negotiated with the union representing guards and other prison employees, a report from the inspector general said. The bureau said it may not be able to make the changes until 2017.
The time frame “is excessive and unacceptable,” says the report.
It was unclear why such a long delay is necessary. The Washington Post
