The federal prison system has been engaging in a disturbing pattern of abuse against inmates, according to a new report from the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG).
The OIG released an explosive report detailing systemic failures in the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) related to its use of restraints on prisoners. The report documented several cases in which prison authorities kept inmates in restraints far beyond what could reasonably be justified.
The report noted that one inmate “suffered injury requiring the amputation of part of the inmate’s limb after being kept in restraints for over 2 days.”
Another inmate “suffered long-term scarring and was provisionally diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome due to ongoing complaints of wrist numbness after being held in four-point restraints for over 3 days.”
Four-point restraints are used to restrain a person by securing both legs and arms to a bed. This method is typically reserved for situations in which a patient is a danger to themselves or others, and other forms of restraint have not worked.
Unfortunately, these extreme measures are not rare. “BOP records indicate that one inmate was held in ambulatory restraints for over 12 days, removed from restraints for approximately 4 hours, and then placed back into ambulatory restraints for over 30 days.”
The authorities “placed this same inmate back into restraints just about a week later, and this time held him in a combination of ambulatory and four-point restraints for more than 29 additional days.”
Ambulatory restraints allow an individual to walk, but still limit their movement.
The OIG found “hundreds” of cases where prison personnel placed inmates in some form of restraints for more than 24 hours and “some for over a week or weeks.”
The report explained that prison personnel routinely restrained individuals experiencing mental illness or suicidal ideation while failing to provide psychological care. In one instance, “an inmate was in a restraint chair with restraints on both wrists and both ankles for 18 hours after threatening to swallow a bottle of pain medication. The inmate was not assessed by a psychologist during that time.”
In another scenario, prison officials restrained an inmate for 18 days, including nine days in four-point restraints after he exhibited self-harming behavior. However, “this inmate was not placed on suicide watch and was visited by Psychology Services just once per day during the 18-day period.”
“The OIG finds it troubling that inmates experiencing serious psychological difficulties may be restrained for such extended periods without more frequent mental health intervention, especially given the potential added psychological impact of being in restraints,” the report noted.
The OIG noted an alarming lack of transparency in federal prisons. The BOP does not require video or audio recording of most restraint checks. This makes it nearly impossible to verify allegations of abuse. “The OIG’s abilty to assess the relative truthfulness of inmate accounts versus BOP employee accounts has been hampered by the lack of detailed information in restraint check forms and the absence of a requirement to video and audio record restraint checks.”
The lack of transparency has led to a lack of accountability, according to the OIG. In one case, this had fatal consequences when an inmate died after being restrained for over two days, released for under two hours, and then restrained again.
“According to the autopsy report for this inmate, the cause of death was ‘Vaso-Occlusive Crisis due to Sickle Cell Disease Complicating Oleoresin Capsicum Use and Prolonged Restraint Following Altercation,’” the report explains.
“Without video evidence, one cannot rule out the possibility of cover-ups or falsified records,” the report added.
The individual who had one of his limbs amputated was “held in in a combination of ambulatory restraints and a restraint char for over 2 days,” according to the report. Even though his injuries worsened, “the medical checks were completed by different medical staff who did not discuss the progression of the inmate’s injuries between shifts,” the OIG explained.
Even further, there was “no requirement to photograph the injuries, to provide a detailed description to document the progression of injuries, or to provide an explanation for allowing restraints to remain in place when injuries have been observed.”
Many federal prisons provide only limited training for medical staff about identifying early signs of nerve and muscle damage caused by being restrained for longer periods of time.
The report recommended several reforms to address the myriad of problems in the prison system. These include clearly defining “four-point restraints” and establishing consistent guidelines for restraint types. It also suggests providing training and more oversight from leadership. The OIG further suggests video and audio recording of all two-hour checks.
These issues are not new. The federal government has tolerated these problems for years. It seems these problems only get attention when someone dies or if a whistleblower exposes the corruption. Even then, it appears there is no real will to do something about it. If this doesn’t change, we will see yet another report showing that things have remained the same — just with new victims.