Press Release

FAMM, advocates and others seek clarification on BOP’s media relations policy

Media contact:
Tripp Laino, 202-999-4273
tlaino@famm.org

FAMM, advocates and others seek clarification on BOP’s media relations policy

 

WASHINGTON – This week Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP wrote a letter to Michael Carvajal, director of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), urging the department to clear up confusion around their communications and media relations policies for people on home confinement.

“It is essential that people on home confinement are able to share their stories with the press and others,” said FAMM President Kevin Ring. “It is one of the biggest criminal justice stories of this year — people are living in limbo and are unsure if they’ll have to go back to prison. Their voices should not be silenced, and the BOP ensure that all people who work on its behalf are clear about the policy.”

Since March, people on CARES Act home confinement have been asked to share their experience with the press as they await a decision on whether or not they will have to return to prison. While the BOP does not bar people on home confinement from speaking with the press, many have been denied by the institutions or persons who supervise their home confinement on behalf of the BOP.

FAMM, advocates and others have requested that BOP send out clarification on the policy to all those who work on their behalf.

FAMM has been urging both the Biden and Trump administrations not to send people on CARES ACT home confinement back to prison when the pandemic ends. More than 30 employers of CARES Act beneficiaries also joined the call to keep their employees home.

Additionally, Ring recently sent a letter signed by more than 25 criminal justice organizations to President Biden, urging him to keep all people currently serving home confinement home.

For nearly three decades, FAMM has united the voices of affected families, the formerly incarcerated, and a range of stakeholders and advocates to fight for a more fair and effective justice system. FAMM’s focus on ending a one-size-fits-all punishment structure has led to reforms to sentencing and prison policies at the state and federal level and is paving the way to programs that support rehabilitation for the 94% of all prisoners who will return to our neighborhoods one day.

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FAMM is a national nonpartisan advocacy organization that promotes fair and effective criminal justice policies that safeguard taxpayer dollars and keep our communities safe. Founded in 1991, FAMM is helping transform America’s criminal justice system by uniting the voices of impacted families and individuals and elevating the issues all across the country.