ATLANTA – Federal prisons will have to replace outdated, broken security camera systems under legislation sponsored by U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., that gained final passage this week.
The bipartisan bill stems from an eight-month investigation into sexual abuse of female inmates conducted by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations chaired by Ossoff. After passing the Senate last fall, the legislation cleared the U.S. House Wednesday and is on its way to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.
“Broken prison camera systems are enabling corruption, misconduct, and abuse,” Ossoff said.“That’s why I brought Republicans and Democrats together to pass my Prison Camera Reform Act.”
Final passage of the bill came one day after Ossoff released the results of the subcommittee’s investigation, which found the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has failed to prevent, detect, and stop recurring sexual abuse by its own employees.
Survivors of sexual abuse in federal prisons testified at a hearing Tuesday that prison employees assaulted them in areas where they knew there was no camera coverage.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz also testified that outdated and broken prison cameras have hindered prosecution of serious cases involving assault and civil rights violations.
“Action by the [Bureau of Prisons] on its camera deficiencies is absolutely critical to the BOP’s ability to ensure the safety and security of its institutions for inmates as well as its employees,” Horowitz said.
The bill requires the agency to upgrade prison camera systems to provide secure storage, logging, preservation, and accessibility of recordings for future investigators pursuing allegations of misconduct, abuse, or other criminal activity in prisons, including the flow of dangerous contraband.
The legislation was backed by the Council of Prison Locals, which represents more than 30,000 federal prison employees, as well as key civil rights groups.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.