What is the purpose of prison? Most people think the very fact of being removed from society, loved ones, and life in general, is the punishment. But that's only the beginning. Once you get inside the walls of the BOP, the real punishment begins. Intentionally or not, those in charge of BOP facilities make the time a client spends inside exponentially more punitive by exposing them to daily indignities, deprivations, and unfathomable risks to their physical and mental well-being.

Judges need to understand the truth about the dysfunction and chaos inside the walls of the BOP and consider alternatives to incarceration, particularly when it comes to non-violent, first time offenders.

Helping us get set for sentencing, our 2nd conversationwith Bilal Khan. He's a current inmate in the federal BOP and he is not afraid to speak his truth about what life is like on the inside.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Deprivation, indifference, even DEATH inside the walls of the federal BOP;
• Understaffing and Staff morale;
• Lack of accountability for staff and inmates;
• Safety and security issues, violence, sexual assaults;
• Contraband inside the walls of Ft. Dix;
• The myth of the "country club" environment of minimum security satellite camp facilities;
• The importance of filing administrative remedies and making a record;
• The importance of making sure all pertinent information goes into your client's Pre-Sentence Report;
• The importance of reaching out to your representatives (House and Senate) to demand action.

LINKS:

Don't take the inmate's word for how bad things are inside the walls of the BOP. Check out this recent episode we did with former BOP officials who confirm virtually every claim made by Mr. Khan: BOP stands for Big Ol' Problems, With Maureen Baird, Janet Perdue and Walt Pavlo at prisonology:

https://setforsentencing.com/podcast/bop-stands-for-big-ol-problems-exposing-dysfunction-danger-at-the-federal-bureau-of-prisons/

Also, this is Mr. Khan's 2nd appearance on Set for Sentencing. He recently authored the Book "Surviving Pretrial", available now on Amazon. Here's the link to our last conversation, and a link to purchase his book:

https://setforsentencing.com/podcast/surviving-pretrial-vol-1-is-my-lawyer-any-good/

SURVIVING PRETRIAL, by BILAL KHAN, ON AMAZON: https://a.co/d/9ZhE9h5

By total coincidence, this compelling and comprehensive NPR article came out right before this podcast episode dropped - it documents the high rate of DEATHS in the federal BOP due to failure to render prompt medical care, short staffing, and other issues:

https://www.npr.org/2023/09/23/1200626103/federal-prison-deaths-butner-medical-center-sick-inmates