From Prison Policy Initiative:
This week, along with the National Consumer Law Center and expert Stephen Raher, we submitted comments on the federal Bureau of Prisons’ updated proposed rules for its Inmate Financial Responsibility Program (IFRP). These rules, which we first wrote about when they were proposed in 2023, are purported to be aimed at ultra-wealthy people in federal prisons who amassed unusually large amounts of money in their commissary accounts while failing to pay legal fees and restitution. However, they’re written so broadly that they’d make the lives of the vast majority of incarcerated people and their loved ones, who are generally poorer and from disadvantaged backgrounds, much more difficult and threaten their success after their release from prison.
The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has adjusted the rules since they were first introduced to make them slightly less punishing, but they still would have a devastating effect on incarcerated people and their families. Under these rules, the BOP would:
Garnish 10% of wages earned by incarcerated people, which can be as low as $0.12 per hour.
Take half of the money in an incarcerated person’s commissary account that is in excess of $250 as a one-time seizure of funds at their initial classification meeting.
Through a series of complex and legally dubious formulas, seize a portion of the money that incarcerated people receive from their families and friends, making it even more difficult for incarcerated people to meet their basic needs behind bars. Continue reading >>>
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