Federal Inmates Find Themselves Far From Home Despite First Step Act
Prison is difficult but when an inmate is far from home it is even more painful.
When Thomas, an inmate in the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), sat in the visiting room of the medium security prison in rural Kentucky, he stared at his wife who had spent two days driving to the prison to visit him. Thomas had pleaded with prison staff months ago for a transfer closer to home. His children, ages eight and eleven, could not miss school and the drive would have meant not only missed school but missed sport practices on the weekend. The miles between Thomas and his family had a weight all their own, emotional, psychological, logistical. But for now, he remained thousands of miles away.
