Opinion: The federal Bureau of Prisons fails D.C. residents
Not a day has passed during my two decades of incarceration when I haven't overheard a group of fellow prisoners complaining among themselves or to an administrator about the unwholesome living conditions inside the federal Bureau of Prisons.
A common refrain I've heard over the years is, "Man, can you believe the government spends $45,000 of taxpayer money to house us here... Somebody is definitely doing a Bernie Madoff and pocketing that shit, ‘cause it damn sure ain’t being spent on me."
Recently I sat down in the prison law library with a group of intelligent and open-minded prisoners from D.C. and various other states, including a few old timers (guys who've served 20 years plus) and a few new jack prisoners (just two to three years in). I asked them for a list of their top gripes about the BOP. Here’s what we agreed on:
