{"id":24300,"date":"2024-09-12T10:45:04","date_gmt":"2024-09-12T14:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/?post_type=press-releases&p=24300"},"modified":"2024-09-12T10:45:06","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T14:45:06","slug":"sens-ossoff-blackburn-launch-inquiry-to-protect-federal-prison-staff-from-sexual-assault-and-harassment","status":"publish","type":"press-releases","link":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/sens-ossoff-blackburn-launch-inquiry-to-protect-federal-prison-staff-from-sexual-assault-and-harassment\/","title":{"rendered":"Sens. Ossoff, Blackburn Launch Inquiry to Protect Federal Prison Staff from Sexual Assault and Harassment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Washington, D.C. <\/strong>\u2014 U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff and Marsha Blackburn are launching a bipartisan inquiry to protect Federal prison staff from sexual assault and harassment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Sens. Ossoff and Blackburn, Chairman and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Human Rights Subcommittee, launched a bipartisan inquiry with the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) into recent reports of inmate-on-staff sexual assault and harassment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a February 2023 report<\/a> by the DOJ Office of the Inspector General (OIG), 40% of 7,000 BOP surveyed staff stated they had been sexually harassed by an inmate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of their inquiry, the Senators requested that BOP release information about their inmate-on-staff sexual assault and harassment reporting procedures, correctional methods, and staff assistance programs, including statistics and data from FCI Atlanta, formerly USP Atlanta, and Federal prison facilities around the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe DOJ OIG report, as well as personal testimony BOP staff has provided to my office, strongly suggest that BOP\u2019s reporting and corrective procedures for inmate-on-staff sexual assault\/harassment are inadequate, creating an institutional culture that lacks accountability and endangers BOP employees,\u201d the Senators wrote to BOP Director Colette S. Peters.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Ossoff continues working to strengthen safety in Federal prisons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August, Sens. Ossoff and John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced<\/a> the bipartisan Female Officers Ballistic Protection Act<\/em> to ensure women across Federal law enforcement agencies have improved ballistic body armor that keep them safe on the job, including for female BOP officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July, President Biden signed into law<\/a> Sen. Ossoff\u2019s bipartisan Federal Prison Oversight Act<\/em>, historic prison reform legislation to overhaul independent oversight of the Federal Bureau of Prison\u2019s 122 facilities nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April, Sens. Ossoff and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced<\/a> The Lieutenant Osvaldo Albarati Stopping Prison Contraband Act<\/em> to crack down on the smuggling of contraband cellphones into Federal prisons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This February, Sen. Ossoff pressed<\/a> BOP Director Peters in a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on the steps she\u2019s taking to crack down on the contraband flowing through BOP facilities that threaten public safety, including at FCI Atlanta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, Sen. Ossoff and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) introduced<\/a> the bipartisan Federal Prisons Accountability Act of 2023<\/em>, which would make the BOP Director a U.S. Senate confirmed position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December 2022, Sen. Ossoff\u2019s bipartisan Prison<\/em> Camera Reform Act <\/em>was signed into law,<\/a> requiring the Federal Bureau of Prisons to upgrade outdated and broken security camera systems, ensuring all facilities have the coverage necessary to protect the safety of incarcerated people and staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here<\/a> to read Sens. Ossoff and Blackburn\u2019s inquiry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

# # #<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Washington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff and Marsha Blackburn are launching a bipartisan inquiry to protect Federal prison staff from sexual assault and harassment. Today, Sens. Ossoff and Blackburn, Chairman and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Human Rights Subcommittee, launched a bipartisan inquiry with the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) into recent reports of […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24300","press-releases","type-press-releases","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/24300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-releases"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/24300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24302,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/24300\/revisions\/24302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}