Prison Professors

Discover Insights From Federal Prison Camp: Memorializing a Journey to Prison Camp with James Catlidge #1

Let me start by saying It's good to have friends and even better during the tough times. 

I wanted to give you each an update on my case. Nearing the end now, I spent 6 years fighting the FALSE charges and in summer of this year negotiated a plea. We are preparing for a sentencing hearing for me on the 12th  (This coming wednesday) ...Thank you Jack, John, Steve, Margaret, Charles, Randy, Jerry and MOM who will be in attendance!

The Judge has many options:

-Up to a 60 month cap in a minimum security camp

-or Probation 

-or Home confinement 

- OR Any combination of the above

This has been an exhausting protracted battle and I feel somewhat relieved that the end is insight. The financial cost (for those curious) were 8.3 million in legal and an additional 3.1 million Tiffany and I personally decided to give to those who lost money in the project. These are not the cost that matter most however.... Those much more meaningful cost are too difficult to lay out here.

Through it all ,  so many of you have been there to comfort and counsel me through each twist and turn. It’s one thing to be innocent and accused of a fraud and compelled to accept a plea, an entirely different matter to be a friend to someone in that circumstance. I know that’s not easy either, what to say? should I bring it up? does he want to talk about it, did he do it?, none of this has been easy for you. You have made me stronger and I'm very fortunate to have had you in my corner from the beginning. 

I wanted to share some insight into what can happen inside a person going through a situation like this, so that maybe you can glean some perspective into my mindset. First of all, there is a peace of mind available to anyone falsely accused.  You cant be too afraid knowing they are wrong! When this all began to unfold in 2008 I knew the road may get nasty, I was counseled to go and get a serious physical.  I went and had an executive physical completed to establish a baseline understanding of my mental and physical health. Scripps took 3 days and I met with 9 different doctors with various expertise. They provided me a binder with unique insight into my overall health. I also, shared with the psychiatrist (provided by Scripps) the recent legal battle beginning to unfold. The doctor gave me excellent advice. In short, he said this! “ become very physical, get fighting fit and become completely engaged in a deeply creative venture. These two tasks along with my children, my family and each of you have all kept me alive and hopeful! Those of you who know me well have seen this in real time. 

I also have been forced to stop my career and that new found time has allowed me to focus on each of my children and their unique needs, this time became a blessing, unforeseen but so valuable for me and I hope for them. This 10 years has been a life lesson in blessings and kindness as well as observing friendships built on sandy soil versus the lasting kind. I’m prepared completely for the road ahead and that’s been made so much easier by you. There is no manual for any of this. Your genuine concern for me and my family has taught me how to be a better friend. I thank you and love you very much!!!! I’ll send out a final update after sentencing. Thank you for always being in my corner. If you would include me in your family and personal prayers i know it will matter.

Forever Grateful,

Download a free copy of Prepare by visiting PrisonProfessors.com.

Thoughts on Self-Surrendering:

Unless a person has a valid reason to postpone the surrender date, it may be best to start serving the sentence as quickly as possible. Intuitively, many people want to postpone their surrender date.

In our accompanying course, available at ResilientCourses.com, we offer many examples of successful journeys through prison. Members of our team have real depth and breadth of experience. I've worked with more than 1,000 people that have self-surrendered. As an attorney, our partner Shon has worked on sentencing memorandums for more people than he can count. And Michael has written about and interviewed more than 1,000 people that have gone into the prison system.

Our personal experience convinces us that unless there is a valid reason, it's best to surrender to get started in prison at the soonest possible time.

From the time a person becomes a target of a criminal investigation, it feels as if the person is serving time. The criminal charge interrupts an ability to earn a living. It disrupts the family and social life. It's as if the person is serving time, but the time is not counted toward satisfying the sentence.

Our team has worked with people that repeatedly request the judge to postpone the surrender date. Sometimes there are valid reasons to postpone a surrender date. For example, a person may have family or business complications to resolve. Judges have discretion to suspend the surrender date. For some people with whom we've worked, judges postponed a surrender date by several years. Through our courses and consulting practice, we teach from those stories.

On the other hand, we've worked with many people that postpone their surrender to prison simply because they want to procrastinate. Those people serve time without the time counting toward the sentence. They can't get their life together. Once they do get to prison, they realize that their fear of the unknown was the worst part. They adjust. On the other side of the journey, when they're counting the days to be released, they always wish that they had surrendered earlier. Some realize that they wasted time by postponing their surrender.

Every case is personal and individual. In some cases, it's best to rip the band aid off and start the process of healing with an early surrender date. For people without financial resources, we recommend getting to prison as quickly as possible. Those that have complicated businesses to operate may have valid reasons to postpone their surrender.

Getting Designated:

After the judge imposes sentence, a designator for the Bureau of Prisons will assign the individual to report to a particular prison. BOP policy states that:

individuals ordinarily will be placed in prisons with the lowest classification rating for which the prisoner is eligible within 500 miles of his residence.

Those that want to see the locations of all federal prisons may visit www.BOP.gov.

The system is crowded. It may not always be possible for the BOP to designate a person to serve the sentence in an institution within 500 miles of the person's residence.

• Some regions have fewer prisons than other regions.
• Some people may want to participate in programs that are only available in prisons outside of the region.
• Some people may need specialized medical care that is only available outside of the region.

The First Step Act includes a provision regarding this 500-mile guideline. And people may be able to participate in programs, or advocate for themselves to influence a transfer to a specific prison. But it's important to remember that judges sentence people "To the custody of the Attorney General," BOP officials have enormous discretion with regard to where a person serves the sentence.

If a judge authorizes a person to self-surrender, but traveling to the prison is too costly, the person has the the option of accepting free transportation through the prisoner transport system. If the option is available, our team recommends surrendering voluntarily to prison. Avoid traveling in chains and steel cuffs if given the option.

Bringing Items into the Prison:

If self-surrendering is an option, people may want to know what they can bring with them. With few exceptions, the short answer is nothing other than medical necessities and identification.

Rules in the BOP apply to all facilities. Yet wardens have enormous discretion. Some wardens or staff members may authorize a person to enter the prison with sneakers, athletic apparel, medication, religious articles, wrist watches, radio, or other personal items of limited value. In our experience, however, prisons prefer people to surrender without any personal items. Those that want clarification from the prison where they're going may want to call for clarification before surrendering. They also may download an inmate handbook from the prison by visiting the www.BOP.gov website for more clarity.

Although the prison system provides the necessities for an individual to survive, it also offers access to a commissary. People with financial resources may purchase various items to ease the burdens of confinement. As with anywhere else in America, people with financial resources may have an easier adjustment.

Prisoners have a right to keep legal documents in limited amounts. For that reason, it may make sense to write important phone numbers, addresses, and other information on a page and place that page in an envelope marked "Legal Material." Bring that material to the prison when surrendering. It may also make sense to put the information in a self-addressed envelope and place it in the mail the day before surrendering. This information will prove valuable when settling into the prison and setting up approved lists for phone calls, visits, and emails.

Besides considering money and legal documents, consider any information from a physician that documents medical conditions. If a person is taking prescriptions, it would be wise to consult the formulary on the BOP website. The formulary will show all medications that the BOP authorizes. If the medication is not listed on the BOP formulary, it may be wise to ask a physician for a different prescription that complies with the formulary. It may also be wise to bring a 30-day supply of medication to the prison.

If an individual suffers from a bad back, from weak knees, or from any ailment that prevents the individual from specific work details, from climbing stairs, or from climbing to a top bunk, get a letter from a physician. It's best to document medical conditions in the PSR. Letters from doctors can also prove helpful. Think about steps to coordinate these letters that may be helpful prior to surrendering to prison.

Prisons usually allow people to keep their eyeglasses with them when they report. Once inside the system, however, it may not be so easy to replace the eyeglasses. Those who wear eyeglasses ought to check the prison policy before they report. Ideally, they should bring two pair of durable eyeglasses with them. A spare set of eyeglasses will help a person if the primary set loses a screw or breaks.

Create a Contact Plan:

Whether a person surrenders to prison voluntarily, or arrives via a law enforcement transport system, the first step will be to go through the admissions process. That process may take several hours. It's a good idea to let a family member, friend, or attorney know that they should expect a call within 24 hours of surrendering. Even if a person doesn't get immediate access to a telephone, he should be able to ask another person in prison to make a call to someone that can relay a message. The message should be basic: "I'm fine and I will call within a few days, or as soon as I can access the phone."

If the contact person does not receive the message, it may be because authorities locked the individual in the SHU upon arrival. On occasion, that happens because the person arrives at the prison before appropriate paperwork arrives. If no one checks on the paperwork—including the PSR, Statement of Reasons, and Judgment order—the person may languish in the SHU for several weeks.

People should have an advocacy plan in place in the event that contact is not made with the support group within a day or two. Their loved ones or attorneys would be in a better position to make inquiries with the BOP to resolve the matter. A person in prison may not have access to a telephone if he is in the SHU.

Being Processed Inside:

The first stop for people being admitted to prison is the Receiving and Discharge (R&D) Department. Moving through R&D is like a booking procedure. If the person has been arrested before, he will find the process familiar. Sometimes a person will be processed through R&D in fewer than two hours. Other times the booking process can take a full day. Everything depends upon staff availability and the number of people being processed at a given time.

If a person surrenders in the morning voluntarily, he may be the only person being processed. In that instance, he could be on the prison compound before lunch. If a person arrives on a bus with 50 other people, he may not get to the compound for eight hours or longer.

Officials will lock the prisoner inside of a holding cell that is consistent with his security score. People that have been classified as minimum-security will be held in separate holding cells from people that are going into adjacent, higher-security prisons.

Once staff members lock people in the appropriate holding cells, they pass out many intake forms. Each person will need to complete the intake forms, and they become a part of the individual's Central File.

The central file follows the person throughout the term in the BOP. It includes the PSR and the Judgment order provided by the court. Over the duration, staff members add various forms and reports that document progress. The case manager keeps the central file in order. People have a right to review the contents of the central file, and generally may do so after submitting a written request to the case manager.

Intake forms ask the individual to identify whom the BOP should contact in case of death or emergency. They offer insight into a person's medical history. Other forms provide consent for the person to receive mail and they confirm that the person received a copy of the "Inmate Handbook."

The handbook details all of the rules, rights, and responsibilities of every person in the prison. By confirming receipt of the handbook, the person immediately becomes responsible for adhering to the rules and regulations. If a person doesn't follow the rules, authorities will subject him to the code of disciplinary proceedings. For that reason, those that have access to the Internet should review inmate handbooks available for download through the BOP website, or through our courses at ResilientCourses.com.

Besides filling out many forms, staff members will take a new mug shot of every incoming prisoner. They will record his fingerprints. They will strip search him. They will provide him with a new set of clothing. In most cases, prisoners have a choice of mailing home the clothing they wore into the institution or donating it to the prison. Prisoners who arrive at a prison wearing their own clothing would be wise not to wear anything they particularly value.

• In Lessons from Prison, Justin describes intake procedure in detail. Get a free copy of Lessons from Prison by visiting ResilientCourses.com.

Before moving a person from R&D to the next station in the admissions journey, a series of staff members will interview each new prisoner. After reviewing the central file, a case manager will ask the prisoner whether there is any reason he feels he would be in danger if he were to mix with the general population. That may be an intimidating question. A response may be institution specific. Obviously, minimum-security camps and low-security prions have very low levels of volatility. Medium- and high-security prisons will be more volatile.

People that fear for their safety do not have many options. If they have a valid reason, they may ask to check into protective custody (PC). PC is an area of the Segregated Housing Unit where inmates are kept locked in their cell for 23 hours each day and isolated from others. The living conditions and privileges are much more spartan than in the general population. Relatively few people in prison choose this option.

Besides case managers, a representative from Health Services will interview each person in the holding cell. They will review the PSR and any medical records to determine whether the person has any special medical needs.

Staff members from psychology and the custody departments may also ask questions. A counselor may also speak with the person before processing him into the system.

Identification (ID) Card:

Once the Receiving and Discharge department processes the person, an officer will give each person his identification card. The ID includes the mug shot and registration number. People in prison are supposed to have the ID card with him any time he leaves the housing unit. If a person loses the card, staff will charge him a fee to replace it. Being without an ID card may result in a disciplinary infraction.

Admissions and Orientation (A&O) Unit:

People that go to minimum-security prisons will ordinarily go directly to the camp. Those going to low-, medium-, or high-security prisons may go to unit reserved for new prisoners. They may remain in that Admissions and Orientation Unit for several days or weeks while they await placement assignment to more permanent housing quarters.

While in the A&O unit, prisoners become acquainted with the prison routine. They usually are not assigned permanent jobs or quarters until after they have completed the A&O program. A&O prisoners may or may not mix with the general population outside of the unit, in the chow hall, in the recreation areas, library, or any common areas besides the individual housing units. It's a good idea to use time in the A&O unit to gather information about routines and resources available in the prison.

Callout Sheet:

Every federal prison publishes a daily printout, the Callout Sheet. The callout sheet is like a schedule of events. All people in prison have a responsibility to check the callout sheet daily. It lets the person know whether he is required to report to various departments at a given time.

The callout sheet is available in the same place every day, usually by the unit officer's desk. The callout sheet lists names in alphabetical order with the prisoner's registration number. It includes the time and location of all appointments. Staff members publish callout sheets Monday through Friday, except holidays, after the daily 4:00 p.m. census count.

If the callout sheet lists an appointment—known as a callout—and the person fails to report, a staff member may write a disciplinary infraction, accusing the person of being out of bounds for missing the callout. During the A&O process, prisoners generally have callouts every day.

Admissions and Orientation Program:

In the federal system, all prisoners must participate in an A&O Program. This involves a series of lectures that take place over a day or two. A specific person, like a counselor, is usually assigned to coordinate the A&O program. He coordinates staff members from various departments that come speak with the people in A&O. People may ask questions during A&O, but we've found it best to remain silent and listen. It's best to get information from other people that are living in the world of confinement and get out of A&O as quickly as possible.

Be cautious about asking too many questions during A&O. Although people may be curious, it's generally not a best-practice technique to questions in a public forum. Those questions give away personal information to an experienced prisoner. Some prisoners will spread rumors, and information can prove toxic to a person's reputation in prison. Remember the submarine metaphor. Be silent and aware while going through prison.

Prior to going through the A&O process, inmates will get a handbook which includes all rules, regulations, and information concerning the operation of the prison. People in prison should study the handbook closely. They may find details that can prove helpful during the adjustment process.

Final Word:

After prisoners complete the A&O program, they become a part of the general prison population. Our team likes to quote a study by Stanton Wheeler a criminologist. Dr. Wheeler suggested that prisoners come into the system with values that closely resemble the society they left behind. As prisoners move deeper into their sentences, the prisoners gradually pull away from the values of that society. They become more familiar with prison culture and adapt to the world inside. The men become "prisonized," so to speak. They begin using the vernacular that exists in the fences and participating in activities that they otherwise would not consider.

As the prisoner passes beyond the halfway point of his sentence, and starts moving closer to release, the criminologist suggested that prisoners go through another value shift. They move back in line with behavior acceptable in the society he left behind.

Wheeler suggested that prisoners adapt according to this U-shaped curve. Society outside of fences is above the "U" and society inside the fences is below the "U." Stanton Wheeler published his study in 1961, but I find it just as valid today. All prisoners, theoretically, move through the U.

After the prisoner leaves the A&O Unit and joins the general prison population, he must adapt to this abnormal society. The prisoner will have to make choices from options that do not exist in the world outside of fences. Ramifications follow those choices. Dilemmas present themselves every day.

• Do I respond to problems in a manner that is appropriate for the society in which I live outside of prison?
• Do I respond to problems in a manner that is appropriate for the prison society in which I now reside?
• What are the ramifications of each decision I make?

Although every prisoner can control his own behavior, he cannot control the behavior of the thousands of other people serving time alongside him. In order to survive the sentence with minimal aggravation, and to grow through it, prisoners need a strong mind and a sense of balance.

Our team and the lessons we provide in our courses at ResilientCourses.com offer enormous insight. We highly recommend that people learn from those courses to prepare for best outcomes.

A model inmate (from the vantage point of prison administrators) is one who abides by every prison rule, who holds a full-time job—preferably in the prison factory—and asks for nothing outside the ordinary. Our experience, however, suggests that people in prison should strive for something more.

Rather than offering a "how-to-live-in-prison course," we teach people how to get best outcomes. People should use time in prison to prepare for successful lives upon release. Members of our team did not only make it through prison successfully, we got out of prison and built successful careers. Anyone can do the same if they learn to make values-based, goal-oriented decisions. We're confident our courses can help people get best outcomes.

The following chapters offer basics about living in prison and navigating obstacles. We offer vignettes with hopes of both teaching and inspiring people. Prison is different. Learn how to master it with courses we make available at ResilientCourses.com.

Download a free copy of Prepare by visiting PrisonProfessors.com.

Thoughts on Self-Surrendering:

Unless a person has a valid reason to postpone the surrender date, it may be best to start serving the sentence as quickly as possible. Intuitively, many people want to postpone their surrender date.

In our accompanying course, available at ResilientCourses.com, we offer many examples of successful journeys through prison. Members of our team have real depth and breadth of experience. I’ve worked with more than 1,000 people that have self-surrendered. As an attorney, our partner Shon has worked on sentencing memorandums for more people than he can count. And Michael has written about and interviewed more than 1,000 people that have gone into the prison system.

Our personal experience convinces us that unless there is a valid reason, it’s best to surrender to get started in prison at the soonest possible time.

From the time a person becomes a target of a criminal investigation, it feels as if the person is serving time. The criminal charge interrupts an ability to earn a living. It disrupts the family and social life. It’s as if the person is serving time, but the time is not counted toward satisfying the sentence.

Our team has worked with people that repeatedly request the judge to postpone the surrender date. Sometimes there are valid reasons to postpone a surrender date. For example, a person may have family or business complications to resolve. Judges have discretion to suspend the surrender date. For some people with whom we’ve worked, judges postponed a surrender date by several years. Through our courses and consulting practice, we teach from those stories.

On the other hand, we’ve worked with many people that postpone their surrender to prison simply because they want to procrastinate. Those people serve time without the time counting toward the sentence. They can’t get their life together. Once they do get to prison, they realize that their fear of the unknown was the worst part. They adjust. On the other side of the journey, when they’re counting the days to be released, they always wish that they had surrendered earlier. Some realize that they wasted time by postponing their surrender.

Every case is personal and individual. In some cases, it’s best to rip the band aid off and start the process of healing with an early surrender date. For people without financial resources, we recommend getting to prison as quickly as possible. Those that have complicated businesses to operate may have valid reasons to postpone their surrender.

Getting Designated:

After the judge imposes sentence, a designator for the Bureau of Prisons will assign the individual to report to a particular prison. BOP policy states that:

individuals ordinarily will be placed in prisons with the lowest classification rating for which the prisoner is eligible within 500 miles of his residence.

Those that want to see the locations of all federal prisons may visit www.BOP.gov.

The system is crowded. It may not always be possible for the BOP to designate a person to serve the sentence in an institution within 500 miles of the person’s residence.

• Some regions have fewer prisons than other regions.
• Some people may want to participate in programs that are only available in prisons outside of the region.
• Some people may need specialized medical care that is only available outside of the region.

The First Step Act includes a provision regarding this 500-mile guideline. And people may be able to participate in programs, or advocate for themselves to influence a transfer to a specific prison. But it’s important to remember that judges sentence people “To the custody of the Attorney General,” BOP officials have enormous discretion with regard to where a person serves the sentence.

If a judge authorizes a person to self-surrender, but traveling to the prison is too costly, the person has the the option of accepting free transportation through the prisoner transport system.  If the option is available, our team recommends surrendering voluntarily to prison. Avoid traveling in chains and steel cuffs if given the option.

Bringing Items into the Prison:

If self-surrendering is an option, people may want to know what they can bring with them. With few exceptions, the short answer is nothing other than medical necessities and identification.

Rules in the BOP apply to all facilities. Yet wardens have enormous discretion. Some wardens or staff members may authorize a person to enter the prison with sneakers, athletic apparel, medication, religious articles, wrist watches, radio, or other personal items of limited value. In our experience, however, prisons prefer people to surrender without any personal items. Those that want clarification from the prison where they’re going may want to call for clarification before surrendering. They also may download an inmate handbook from the prison by visiting the www.BOP.gov website for more clarity.

Although the prison system provides the necessities for an individual to survive, it also offers access to a commissary. People with financial resources may purchase various items to ease the burdens of confinement. As with anywhere else in America, people with financial resources may have an easier adjustment.

Prisoners have a right to keep legal documents in limited amounts. For that reason, it may make sense to write important phone numbers, addresses, and other information on a page and place that page in an envelope marked "Legal Material." Bring that material to the prison when surrendering. It may also make sense to put the information in a self-addressed envelope and place it in the mail the day before surrendering. This information will prove valuable when settling into the prison and setting up approved lists for phone calls, visits, and emails.

Besides considering money and legal documents, consider any information from a physician that documents medical conditions. If a person is taking prescriptions, it would be wise to consult the formulary on the BOP website. The formulary will show all medications that the BOP authorizes. If the medication is not listed on the BOP formulary, it may be wise to ask a physician for a different prescription that complies with the formulary. It may also be wise to bring a 30-day supply of medication to the prison.

If an individual suffers from a bad back, from weak knees, or from any ailment that prevents the individual from specific work details, from climbing stairs, or from climbing to a top bunk, get a letter from a physician. It’s best to document medical conditions in the PSR. Letters from doctors can also prove helpful. Think about steps to coordinate these letters that may be helpful prior to surrendering to prison.

Prisons usually allow people to keep their eyeglasses with them when they report. Once inside the system, however, it may not be so easy to replace the eyeglasses. Those who wear eyeglasses ought to check the prison policy before they report. Ideally, they should bring two pair of durable eyeglasses with them. A spare set of eyeglasses will help a person if the primary set loses a screw or breaks.

Create a Contact Plan:

Whether a person surrenders to prison voluntarily, or arrives via a law enforcement transport system, the first step will be to go through the admissions process. That process may take several hours. It’s a good idea to let a family member, friend, or attorney know that they should expect a call within 24 hours of surrendering. Even if a person doesn’t get immediate access to a telephone, he should be able to ask another person in prison to make a call to someone that can relay a message. The message should be basic: “I’m fine and I will call within a few days, or as soon as I can access the phone.”

If the contact person does not receive the message, it may be because authorities locked the individual in the SHU upon arrival. On occasion, that happens because the person arrives at the prison before appropriate paperwork arrives. If no one checks on the paperwork—including the PSR, Statement of Reasons, and Judgment order—the person may languish in the SHU for several weeks.

People should have an advocacy plan in place in the event that contact is not made with the support group within a day or two. Their loved ones or attorneys would be in a better position to make inquiries with the BOP to resolve the matter. A person in prison may not have access to a telephone if he is in the SHU.

Being Processed Inside:

The first stop for people being admitted to prison is the Receiving and Discharge (R&D) Department. Moving through R&D is like a booking procedure. If the person has been arrested before, he will find the process familiar. Sometimes a person will be processed through R&D in fewer than two hours. Other times the booking process can take a full day. Everything depends upon staff availability and the number of people being processed at a given time.

If a person surrenders in the morning voluntarily, he may be the only person being processed. In that instance, he could be on the prison compound before lunch. If a person arrives on a bus with 50 other people, he may not get to the compound for eight hours or longer.

Officials will lock the prisoner inside of a holding cell that is consistent with his security score. People that have been classified as minimum-security will be held in separate holding cells from people that are going into adjacent, higher-security prisons.

Once staff members lock people in the appropriate holding cells, they pass out many intake forms. Each person will need to complete the intake forms, and they become a part of the individual's Central File.

The central file follows the person throughout the term in the BOP. It includes the PSR and the Judgment order provided by the court. Over the duration, staff members add various forms and reports that document progress. The case manager keeps the central file in order. People have a right to review the contents of the central file, and generally may do so after submitting a written request to the case manager.

Intake forms ask the individual to identify whom the BOP should contact in case of death or emergency. They offer insight into a person's medical history. Other forms provide consent for the person to receive mail and they confirm that the person received a copy of the “Inmate Handbook.”

The handbook details all of the rules, rights, and responsibilities of every person in the prison. By confirming receipt of the handbook, the person immediately becomes responsible for adhering to the rules and regulations. If a person doesn’t follow the rules, authorities will subject him to the code of disciplinary proceedings. For that reason, those that have access to the Internet should review inmate handbooks available for download through the BOP website, or through our courses at ResilientCourses.com.

Besides filling out many forms, staff members will take a new mug shot of every incoming prisoner. They will record his fingerprints. They will strip search him. They will provide him with a new set of clothing. In most cases, prisoners have a choice of mailing home the clothing they wore into the institution or donating it to the prison. Prisoners who arrive at a prison wearing their own clothing would be wise not to wear anything they particularly value.

• In Lessons from Prison, Justin describes intake procedure in detail. Get a free copy of Lessons from Prison by visiting ResilientCourses.com.

Before moving a person from R&D to the next station in the admissions journey, a series of staff members will interview each new prisoner. After reviewing the central file, a case manager will ask the prisoner whether there is any reason he feels he would be in danger if he were to mix with the general population. That may be an intimidating question. A response may be institution specific. Obviously, minimum-security camps and low-security prions have very low levels of volatility. Medium- and high-security prisons will be more volatile.

People that fear for their safety do not have many options. If they have a valid reason, they may ask to check into protective custody (PC). PC is an area of the Segregated Housing Unit where inmates are kept locked in their cell for 23 hours each day and isolated from others. The living conditions and privileges are much more spartan than in the general population. Relatively few people in prison choose this option.

Besides case managers, a representative from Health Services will interview each person in the holding cell. They will review the PSR and any medical records to determine whether the person has any special medical needs.

Staff members from psychology and the custody departments may also ask questions. A counselor may also speak with the person before processing him into the system.

Identification (ID) Card:

Once the Receiving and Discharge department processes the person, an officer will give each person his identification card. The ID includes the mug shot and registration number. People in prison are supposed to have the ID card with him any time he leaves the housing unit. If a person loses the card, staff will charge him a fee to replace it. Being without an ID card may result in a disciplinary infraction.

Admissions and Orientation (A&O) Unit:

People that go to minimum-security prisons will ordinarily go directly to the camp. Those going to low-, medium-, or high-security prisons may go to unit reserved for new prisoners. They may remain in that Admissions and Orientation Unit for several days or weeks while they await placement assignment to more permanent housing quarters.

While in the A&O unit, prisoners become acquainted with the prison routine. They usually are not assigned permanent jobs or quarters until after they have completed the A&O program. A&O prisoners may or may not mix with the general population outside of the unit, in the chow hall, in the recreation areas, library, or any common areas besides the individual housing units. It’s a good idea to use time in the A&O unit to gather information about routines and resources available in the prison.

Callout Sheet:

Every federal prison publishes a daily printout, the Callout Sheet. The callout sheet is like a schedule of events. All people in prison have a responsibility to check the callout sheet daily. It lets the person know whether he is required to report to various departments at a given time.

The callout sheet is available in the same place every day, usually by the unit officer’s desk. The callout sheet lists names in alphabetical order with the prisoner's registration number. It includes the time and location of all appointments. Staff members publish callout sheets Monday through Friday, except holidays, after the daily 4:00 p.m. census count.

If the callout sheet lists an appointment—known as a callout—and the person fails to report, a staff member may write a disciplinary infraction, accusing the person of being out of bounds for missing the callout. During the A&O process, prisoners generally have callouts every day.

Admissions and Orientation Program:

In the federal system, all prisoners must participate in an A&O Program. This involves a series of lectures that take place over a day or two. A specific person, like a counselor, is usually assigned to coordinate the A&O program. He coordinates staff members from various departments that come speak with the people in A&O. People may ask questions during A&O, but we’ve found it best to remain silent and listen. It’s best to get information from other people that are living in the world of confinement and get out of A&O as quickly as possible.

Be cautious about asking too many questions during A&O. Although people may be curious, it’s generally not a best-practice technique to questions in a public forum. Those questions give away personal information to an experienced prisoner. Some prisoners will spread rumors, and information can prove toxic to a person’s reputation in prison. Remember the submarine metaphor. Be silent and aware while going through prison.

Prior to going through the A&O process, inmates will get a handbook which includes all rules, regulations, and information concerning the operation of the prison. People in prison should study the handbook closely. They may find details that can prove helpful during the adjustment process.

Final Word:

After prisoners complete the A&O program, they become a part of the general prison population. Our team likes to quote a study by Stanton Wheeler a criminologist. Dr. Wheeler suggested that prisoners come into the system with values that closely resemble the society they left behind. As prisoners move deeper into their sentences, the prisoners gradually pull away from the values of that society. They become more familiar with prison culture and adapt to the world inside. The men become "prisonized," so to speak.  They begin using the vernacular that exists in the fences and participating in activities that they otherwise would not consider.

As the prisoner passes beyond the halfway point of his sentence, and starts moving closer to release, the criminologist suggested that prisoners go through another value shift. They move back in line with behavior acceptable in the society he left behind.

Wheeler suggested that prisoners adapt according to this U-shaped curve. Society outside of fences is above the "U" and society inside the fences is below the "U." Stanton Wheeler published his study in 1961, but I find it just as valid today. All prisoners, theoretically, move through the U.

After the prisoner leaves the A&O Unit and joins the general prison population, he must adapt to this abnormal society. The prisoner will have to make choices from options that do not exist in the world outside of fences. Ramifications follow those choices. Dilemmas present themselves every day.

• Do I respond to problems in a manner that is appropriate for the society in which I live outside of prison?
• Do I respond to problems in a manner that is appropriate for the prison society in which I now reside?
• What are the ramifications of each decision I make?

Although every prisoner can control his own behavior, he cannot control the behavior of the thousands of other people serving time alongside him. In order to survive the sentence with minimal aggravation, and to grow through it, prisoners need a strong mind and a sense of balance.

Our team and the lessons we provide in our courses at ResilientCourses.com offer enormous insight. We highly recommend that people learn from those courses to prepare for best outcomes.

A model inmate (from the vantage point of prison administrators) is one who abides by every prison rule, who holds a full-time job—preferably in the prison factory—and asks for nothing outside the ordinary. Our experience, however, suggests that people in prison should strive for something more.

Rather than offering a “how-to-live-in-prison course,” we teach people how to get best outcomes. People should use time in prison to prepare for successful lives upon release. Members of our team did not only make it through prison successfully, we got out of prison and built successful careers. Anyone can do the same if they learn to make values-based, goal-oriented decisions. We’re confident our courses can help people get best outcomes.

The following chapters offer basics about living in prison and navigating obstacles. We offer vignettes with hopes of both teaching and inspiring people. Prison is different. Learn how to master it with courses we make available at ResilientCourses.com.

Reading from Prepare: What Defendants Should Know About Court, Sentencing, and Prison

Get free download at PrisonProfessors.com or send an email to [email protected]

It would be best to avoid problems while in prison. But as described throughout this book, that isn't always easy. Depending upon security levels, complexities surface. People in prison must interact with hundreds, or thousands of people. Some of those people have mental health issues. Some of those people have an agenda that differs from a person that wants to focus on getting out of prison at the soonest possible time, with the least amount of trouble. It's reason we believe that every person going into the system should learn as much as possible. To get the outcome they want, they must always use critical-thinking skills, understanding ramifications that may come with every decision.

The BOP considers all employees correctional officers first. Any staff member, including secretaries, cooks, chaplains, and landscapers have the authority to write a disciplinary infraction.

In federal prison, the informal name for infractions are "shots." When a prisoner receives an infraction, it's known as getting a shot. Many state prison system refer to those infractions as "tickets."

The BOP publishes its detailed disciplinary codes in Title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations, §541. BOP Program Statement 5270 also includes the disciplinary code.

Whenever a person comes into an institution, staff members will issue him a handbook that details all prohibited acts.

There are four levels of prohibited acts, categorized as:

• Greatest (100 series),
• High (200 series),
• Moderate (300 series), and
• Low-Moderate (400 series).

Each prohibited act is given a number, and those with the lowest numbers, the 100-series acts, are the most serious. They include infractions like murder, rioting, drug dealing, rape, and other violent acts. 200-series acts include violations like stealing, fighting, and drinking. 300-series shots are much more common, and include violations like having contraband, being out of bounds, and disobeying a direct order. 400-series shots are rather minor, like being late for work or running a business inside the prison. For example, if one person tries to earn a little money by charging someone for laundry services or some other routine activity in the underground economy, he may receive a 400-series shot, or a 300-series shot for "running a business."

According to BOP policy, a staff member who chooses to write a disciplinary infraction must file the shot within 24 hours of the time that the staff member became aware of the incident. If there are exceptional circumstances, the staff member may delay. But that delay could be grounds for the person to appeal, if it is out of time.

Usually, staff members who write shots deliver them to the Lieutenant's Office for an initial review. Once the lieutenant considers the written report, the lieutenant calls the prisoner into the office. The lieutenant reads Miranda rights ("You have the right to remain silent," and on and on) because it's a quasi-legal proceeding. Then, the lieutenant will read the contents of the shot. The lieutenant will ask the person whether he wants to make a statement. He will ask whether the person wants to call any witnesses.

If the prisoner intends to contest the infraction, he must be aware of the procedures. The only opportunity he will have to call a witness will be at this "investigation" stage. If he fails to call a witness, or present any other exculpatory evidence at this stage, staff members may refuse to consider the evidence later. Silence, incidentally, likely will lead a lieutenant and others to infer guilt.

If the shot is serious in nature (a 100- or 200-series shot), the prisoner will be placed in handcuffs and taken to the Segregated Housing Unit (SHU—see below for description) directly after receiving the shot. For 300- series shots, the prisoner may or may not be taken to the Special Housing Unit. With 400-series shots, the prisoner generally will be released to the prison compound to await further proceedings.

Unit Disciplinary Committee:

Representatives from a person's Unit Team, ordinarily, are supposed to call the prisoner for a Unit Disciplinary Committee Hearing (UDC) within 72 hours from the time that the lieutenant processed the shot (not counting weekends or holidays). The UDC is the first stage of a court proceeding.

Case managers or unit managers on the UDC are authorized to provide a hearing for 300- and 400-series infractions. The UDC may also dispense sanctions for these low and moderate infractions. The sanctions may include loss of telephone, visiting, commissary, or a combination of privileges.

During that UDC hearing, a counselor, case manager, and or unit manager will listen to the prisoner's version of events. They will then make a finding—guilty or not guilty.

People that proceed through the UDC should not expect the same level of due process that exists in court. Theoretically, the judicial system is based on a presumption of innocence until proven guilty. In prison, that presumption of innocence does not exist.

Indeed, prison disciplinary hearings are as close to the infamous kangaroo court as is known in America. Prisoners may not cross-examine their accusers; they have no rights to discovery; and since prison administrators must maintain the order of their institutions, the word of a staff member is given more weight than the word of a prisoner.

Prisoners should expect the UDC to find them guilty if a staff member writes a shot. They may appeal the shot through the Administrative Remedy Procedure.

Disciplinary Hearing Officer:

If the prisoner receives a serious shot of the 100- or 200-series level, he must appear before the Disciplinary Hearing Officer (DHO). All infractions involving the telephone, too, must go before the DHO.

The DHO hearing is like the UDC hearing, but punishments are much more severe. Rather than losing simple privileges, the DHO may sentence a prisoner to segregation for several months at a time. He may take away telephone, visiting, and commissary privileges for ten-year terms (or longer). He may extend a person's stay in prison by taking away accrued good time. No corporal punishment exists in today's prison system, but there is no shortage of psychological punishments at the DHO's disposal. People that violate laws may be referred to the FBI for prosecution, too.

Summary:

1. Shotsbegin when a staff member writes a formal infraction and files the disciplinary infraction with the Lieutenant's office.
2. A lieutenant reviews the shot, then calls for the prisoner to appear before him. The lieutenant provides the prisoner with his only opportunity to make a statement or present evidence that could lead to further "investigation" by the lieutenant.
3. In most cases, the lieutenant will refer the shot to the Unit Disciplinary Committee, and those on the committee will adjudicate the shot.
4. The prisoner may or may not be taken to segregation immediately upon the issuance of the shot, depending on its seriousness.
5. And prisoners should be aware that it may be easier to find a four-leaf clover in a field of hay than to overturn a disciplinary infraction once a shot has been written.

Collateral Effects of Disciplinary Infractions:

Besides bringing immediate sanctions, disciplinary infractions adversely influence a person's Custody and Classification score. The form used to compute a prisoner's security level takes credit away for any disciplinary reports received within the past year. Disciplinary infractions at the 200-series level count against an individual for two years. Disciplinary infractions at the 100-series level count against an individual for ten years.

Further, if an individual is found guilty of fighting, the BOP will consider him a violent offender. That distinction will adversely influence his custody scoring for the remainder of time he is confined. Again, few opportunities exist for a prisoner to distinguish himself positively, there is no limit to the number of ways he can make his time in prison more onerous.

Segregated Housing Unit (SHU):

The Segregated Housing Unit (SHU), also known as "the hole," usually is contained in its own building within the prison fences. Although I was fortunate to have avoided any time in SHU during the time when I was held at Taft camp, my partner and co-author, Michael spent several months in SHU during the 300+ months that he lived as a prisoner. Further, I've interacted with many clients that were transferred to SHU for administrative reasons. From all of them, I've learned a great deal about what it's like. If we think of prison as a miniature city, we can think of SHU as the equivalent of a county jail.

When staff members send people to SHU, the prisoners lose access to many of the privileges available in the general population. Those in SHU, for example, are restricted to their closet-sized rooms for 23- to 24-hours each day. Sometimes they are alone. More often than not, they're crammed into crowded conditions. They may be locked in the small quarters with one or two other prisoners (one may have to sleep on the floor).

Staff may limit SHU prisoners to the quantity of showers they may take—usually three per week; they may be limited to one clothing change per week; they may be limited to one hour of recreation per day. And recreation means that they're transferred from their cell to another cell with fresh air; they have limited access to mail, reading materials, telephone, and commissary.

Time in SHU exacerbates the pains of imprisonment. Some prisoners who remain in SHU for prolonged periods of time sometimes complain of becoming disoriented. There are few opportunities to interact with others. It's difficult to escape the noise that others generate. Many people try to relieve their boredom of being locked in the small rooms by banging on the doors or yelling through the spaces in the door jamb to others on lockdown. Some seek attention by stuffing their clothing into the toilets, then repeatedly flushing the toilet to flood the tier. It's a pathetic attempt to frustrate the guards and garner attention.

In Earning Freedom, Michael wrote that he maintained a positive mindset in SHU by both writing and exercising. Although the room was smaller than a walk-in closet, he said that he could run for hours in the cell, going from one end to the other. He could set goals by doing pushups or other exercises. As human beings, we can adjust anywhere, even in closed quarters.

SIS Investigation:

As I've learned from many clients, staff members may send people to the SHU for any number of reasons. The obvious reason is as a sanction for having been found guilty of violating a disciplinary rule. A less coherent reason is for "investigation."

Each prison has its own Special Investigative Services (SIS) lieutenant. The SIS operates as a kind of FBI agency, or group of detectives within the prison. They may launch investigations for suspected violations of prison rules or policies.

The SIS investigates wrongdoing, or suspected wrongdoing, among inmates and staff. SIS lieutenants may learn of activities they want to investigate through any number of methods, including "shakedowns" of personal property that result in incriminating evidence.

SIS lieutenants get their information from a variety of sources, including people in the population. In order to get some type of personal benefit, many people tell staff members about the activities of others. For example, someone may talk with staff about:

• A person that operates a gambling pool;
• A group of prisoners who are extorting weaker people;
• A person that takes food from the kitchen and sells to others in the housing unit; or
• A person may talk about staff members that have romantic relationships with people in prison, or staff members that bring contraband into the institution.

Such information may result in an SIS investigation. The SIS may place suspected prisoners under administrative detention (AD) until the investigation is complete.

The SIS may hold a person in AD for several months. While under the AD status, people live quite similarly to those who are being punished for having been found guilty of committing disciplinary infractions. They have less liberty, and less access to telephones, books, radios, and other property.

Besides investigations, staff may hold people in the AD ward of the SHU for a number of other reasons. One reason may be a person's request. Some people feel so threatened in the general population that they choose protective custody (PC) and they voluntarily live under the more spartan conditions of SHU.

Staff may keep people in the SHU until more room becomes available in the general population, or until they get more information regarding classification. It is unfortunate, but in some cases, a person gets to the prison before his PSR or other paperwork arrive. When that happens, out of an abundance of caution, staff members may put the individual in SHU until they get clarity on his classification.

Final Word:

Like any large and growing bureaucracy, the Bureau of Prisons is a highly structured organization. It is exceptionally impersonal. People should prepare themselves mentally for the challenges that accompany confinement. As we've written before, it's 100 times more bureaucratic than other government agencies, like the IRS or DMV. Awareness of how the system operates can lead to better decisions, and the avoidance of disciplinary problems.

Despite the rigidity, opportunities for growth exist. In order to harness those opportunities, our team recommends that people make themselves aware of every rule. Learn how to navigate rules like a skier slaloms a course down a snow-covered mountain.

In our course, we offer more insight into stories of people that went through prison and emerged successfully. Anyone that chooses a disciplined, deliberate path can do the same.

Reading from Prepare: What Defendants Should Know About Court, Sentencing, and Prison

Get free download at PrisonProfessors.com or send an email to [email protected]

It would be best to avoid problems while in prison. But as described throughout this book, that isn’t always easy. Depending upon security levels, complexities surface. People in prison must interact with hundreds, or thousands of people. Some of those people have mental health issues. Some of those people have an agenda that differs from a person that wants to focus on getting out of prison at the soonest possible time, with the least amount of trouble. It’s reason we believe that every person going into the system should learn as much as possible. To get the outcome they want, they must always use critical-thinking skills, understanding ramifications that may come with every decision.

The BOP considers all employees correctional officers first. Any staff member, including secretaries, cooks, chaplains, and landscapers have the authority to write a disciplinary infraction.

In federal prison, the informal name for infractions are "shots." When a prisoner receives an infraction, it’s known as getting a shot. Many state prison system refer to those infractions as “tickets.”

The BOP publishes its detailed disciplinary codes in Title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations, §541. BOP Program Statement 5270 also includes the disciplinary code.

Whenever a person comes into an institution, staff members will issue him a handbook that details all prohibited acts.

There are four levels of prohibited acts, categorized as:

• Greatest (100 series),
• High (200 series),
• Moderate (300 series), and
• Low-Moderate (400 series).

Each prohibited act is given a number, and those with the lowest numbers, the 100-series acts, are the most serious. They include infractions like murder, rioting, drug dealing, rape, and other violent acts.  200-series acts include violations like stealing, fighting, and drinking.  300-series shots are much more common, and include violations like having contraband, being out of bounds, and disobeying a direct order. 400-series shots are rather minor, like being late for work or running a business inside the prison. For example, if one person tries to earn a little money by charging someone for laundry services or some other routine activity in the underground economy, he may receive a 400-series shot, or a 300-series shot for “running a business.”

According to BOP policy, a staff member who chooses to write a disciplinary infraction must file the shot within 24 hours of the time that the staff member became aware of the incident. If there are exceptional circumstances, the staff member may delay. But that delay could be grounds for the person to appeal, if it is out of time.

Usually, staff members who write shots deliver them to the Lieutenant's Office for an initial review. Once the lieutenant considers the written report, the lieutenant calls the prisoner into the office. The lieutenant reads Miranda rights ("You have the right to remain silent," and on and on) because it’s a quasi-legal proceeding. Then, the lieutenant will read the contents of the shot. The lieutenant will ask the person whether he wants to make a statement. He will ask whether the person wants to call any witnesses.

If the prisoner intends to contest the infraction, he must be aware of the procedures. The only opportunity he will have to call a witness will be at this “investigation” stage. If he fails to call a witness, or present any other exculpatory evidence at this stage, staff members may refuse to consider the evidence later. Silence, incidentally, likely will lead a lieutenant and others to infer guilt.

If the shot is serious in nature (a 100- or 200-series shot), the prisoner will be placed in handcuffs and taken to the Segregated Housing Unit (SHU—see below for description) directly after receiving the shot. For 300- series shots, the prisoner may or may not be taken to the Special Housing Unit. With 400-series shots, the prisoner generally will be released to the prison compound to await further proceedings.

Unit Disciplinary Committee:

Representatives from a person’s Unit Team, ordinarily, are supposed to call the prisoner for a Unit Disciplinary Committee Hearing (UDC) within 72 hours from the time that the lieutenant processed the shot (not counting weekends or holidays). The UDC is the first stage of a court proceeding.

Case managers or unit managers on the UDC are authorized to provide a hearing for 300- and 400-series infractions. The UDC may also dispense sanctions for these low and moderate infractions. The sanctions may include loss of telephone, visiting, commissary, or a combination of privileges.

During that UDC hearing, a counselor, case manager, and or unit manager will listen to the prisoner's version of events. They will then make a finding—guilty or not guilty.

People that proceed through the UDC should not expect the same level of due process that exists in court. Theoretically, the judicial system is based on a presumption of innocence until proven guilty. In prison, that presumption of innocence does not exist.

Indeed, prison disciplinary hearings are as close to the infamous kangaroo court as is known in America. Prisoners may not cross-examine their accusers; they have no rights to discovery; and since prison administrators must maintain the order of their institutions, the word of a staff member is given more weight than the word of a prisoner.

Prisoners should expect the UDC to find them guilty if a staff member writes a shot. They may appeal the shot through the Administrative Remedy Procedure.

Disciplinary Hearing Officer:

If the prisoner receives a serious shot of the 100- or 200-series level, he must appear before the Disciplinary Hearing Officer (DHO). All infractions involving the telephone, too, must go before the DHO.

The DHO hearing is like the UDC hearing, but punishments are much more severe.  Rather than losing simple privileges, the DHO may sentence a prisoner to segregation for several months at a time. He may take away telephone, visiting, and commissary privileges for ten-year terms (or longer). He may extend a person’s stay in prison by taking away accrued good time.  No corporal punishment exists in today's prison system, but there is no shortage of psychological punishments at the DHO's disposal. People that violate laws may be referred to the FBI for prosecution, too.

Summary:

1. Shotsbegin when a staff member writes a formal infraction and files the disciplinary infraction with the Lieutenant's office.
2. A lieutenant reviews the shot, then calls for the prisoner to appear before him. The lieutenant provides the prisoner with his only opportunity to make a statement or present evidence that could lead to further "investigation" by the lieutenant.
3. In most cases, the lieutenant will refer the shot to the Unit Disciplinary Committee, and those on the committee will adjudicate the shot.
4. The prisoner may or may not be taken to segregation immediately upon the issuance of the shot, depending on its seriousness.
5. And prisoners should be aware that it may be easier to find a four-leaf clover in a field of hay than to overturn a disciplinary infraction once a shot has been written.

Collateral Effects of Disciplinary Infractions:

Besides bringing immediate sanctions, disciplinary infractions adversely influence a person’s Custody and Classification score. The form used to compute a prisoner's security level takes credit away for any disciplinary reports received within the past year. Disciplinary infractions at the 200-series level count against an individual for two years. Disciplinary infractions at the 100-series level count against an individual for ten years. 

Further, if an individual is found guilty of fighting, the BOP will consider him a violent offender. That distinction will adversely influence his custody scoring for the remainder of time he is confined. Again, few opportunities exist for a prisoner to distinguish himself positively, there is no limit to the number of ways he can make his time in prison more onerous.

Segregated Housing Unit (SHU):

The Segregated Housing Unit (SHU), also known as "the hole," usually is contained in its own building within the prison fences.  Although I was fortunate to have avoided any time in SHU during the time when I was held at Taft camp, my partner and co-author, Michael spent several months in SHU during the 300+ months that he lived as a prisoner. Further, I’ve interacted with many clients that were transferred to SHU for administrative reasons. From all of them, I’ve learned a great deal about what it’s like. If we think of prison as a miniature city, we can think of SHU as the equivalent of a county jail.

When staff members send people to SHU, the prisoners lose access to many of the privileges available in the general population. Those in SHU, for example, are restricted to their closet-sized rooms for 23- to 24-hours each day. Sometimes they are alone. More often than not, they’re crammed into crowded conditions. They may be locked in the small quarters with one or two other prisoners (one may have to sleep on the floor).

Staff may limit SHU prisoners to the quantity of showers they may take—usually three per week; they may be limited to one clothing change per week; they may be limited to one hour of recreation per day. And recreation means that they’re transferred from their cell to another cell with fresh air; they have limited access to mail, reading materials, telephone, and commissary.

Time in SHU exacerbates the pains of imprisonment. Some prisoners who remain in SHU for prolonged periods of time sometimes complain of becoming disoriented. There are few opportunities to interact with others. It's difficult to escape the noise that others generate. Many people try to relieve their boredom of being locked in the small rooms by banging on the doors or yelling through the spaces in the door jamb to others on lockdown.  Some seek attention by stuffing their clothing into the toilets, then repeatedly flushing the toilet to flood the tier. It's a pathetic attempt to frustrate the guards and garner attention.

In Earning Freedom, Michael wrote that he maintained a positive mindset in SHU by both writing and exercising. Although the room was smaller than a walk-in closet, he said that he could run for hours in the cell, going from one end to the other. He could set goals by doing pushups or other exercises. As human beings, we can adjust anywhere, even in closed quarters.

SIS Investigation:

As I’ve learned from many clients, staff members may send people to the SHU for any number of reasons. The obvious reason is as a sanction for having been found guilty of violating a disciplinary rule. A less coherent reason is for "investigation."

Each prison has its own Special Investigative Services (SIS) lieutenant. The SIS operates as a kind of FBI agency, or group of detectives within the prison. They may launch investigations for suspected violations of prison rules or policies.

The SIS investigates wrongdoing, or suspected wrongdoing, among inmates and staff. SIS lieutenants may learn of activities they want to investigate through any number of methods, including "shakedowns" of personal property that result in incriminating evidence. 

SIS lieutenants get their information from a variety of sources, including people in the population. In order to get some type of personal benefit, many people tell staff members about the activities of others. For example, someone may talk with staff about:

• A person that operates a gambling pool;
• A group of prisoners who are extorting weaker people;
• A person that takes food from the kitchen and sells to others in the housing unit; or
• A person may talk about staff members that have romantic relationships with people in prison, or staff members that bring contraband into the institution.

Such information may result in an SIS investigation. The SIS may place suspected prisoners under administrative detention (AD) until the investigation is complete.

The SIS may hold a person in AD for several months. While under the AD status, people live quite similarly to those who are being punished for having been found guilty of committing disciplinary infractions. They have less liberty, and less access to telephones, books, radios, and other property.

Besides investigations, staff may hold people in the AD ward of the SHU for a number of other reasons. One reason may be a person’s request. Some people feel so threatened in the general population that they choose protective custody (PC) and they voluntarily live under the more spartan conditions of SHU.

Staff may keep people in the SHU until more room becomes available in the general population, or until they get more information regarding classification. It is unfortunate, but in some cases, a person gets to the prison before his PSR or other paperwork arrive. When that happens, out of an abundance of caution, staff members may put the individual in SHU until they get clarity on his classification.

Final Word:

Like any large and growing bureaucracy, the Bureau of Prisons is a highly structured organization. It is exceptionally impersonal. People should prepare themselves mentally for the challenges that accompany confinement. As we’ve written before, it’s 100 times more bureaucratic than other government agencies, like the IRS or DMV. Awareness of how the system operates can lead to better decisions, and the avoidance of disciplinary problems.

Despite the rigidity, opportunities for growth exist. In order to harness those opportunities, our team recommends that people make themselves aware of every rule. Learn how to navigate rules like a skier slaloms a course down a snow-covered mountain.

In our course, we offer more insight into stories of people that went through prison and emerged successfully. Anyone that chooses a disciplined, deliberate path can do the same.

Get free copy of Prepare: What Defendants Should Know About Court, Sentencing, and Prison at PrisonProfessors.com, or email [email protected]. Call 949-205-6056

When people go into the prison system, our team encourages them to go in with their eyes wide open. When Michael began serving his sentence, back in 1987, he was 23 years old and didn't understand a thing. As a result of not understanding what would follow, he made a series of decisions during the earliest stages that complicated his journey. Similarly, as explained in Lessons from Prison, Justin didn't have any idea about how prisons operated or what steps he could take to grow at the start. The more we know about the system, the more we empower ourselves to make good decisions, given the resources available to us.

We'd like to think that everything will proceed well. In reality, we're entering a system where things don't always go as we'd like. Sometimes, the atmosphere of imprisonment presents us with problems and challenges. It's not always within our power to change the situation, but we always have the ability to decide how we're going to adjust.

Problems within the system itself may complicate a person's life in prison. In the previous module, we offered a glance at the staff hierarchy that operates each prison. If disputes arise, staff members prefer that we try to resolve them informally at the appropriate staff level. In other words, if a person has been assigned to a job that he didn't like, he shouldn't go complaining to the warden. An alternative may exist, like taking the grievance to the job supervisor or to the counselor.

When people cannot resolve grievances with a staff member, policy requires that they use the Administrative Remedy Process.

The Administrative Remedy Process offers staff members in the BOP an opportunity to review a prisoner's grievance. Sometimes the grievance is serious and a request for judicial relief is appropriate. But in most cases, people must exhaust their administrative remedy options before they can seek redress through the courts.

People in prison do not have a right to counsel through the Administrative Remedy Process. For that reason, they should learn how to prepare the grievance. It's a plain-English complaint, but like everything else in prison, it's crucial to respect the process—complying with timelines and submitting the appropriate number of copies and so forth. In any prison, there will be people in the law library that would be willing to help file the grievance.

Informal Resolution:

The first step in the Administrative Remedy Process is called Informal Resolution. This step does not require paperwork, but it's wise to keep a journal, or notes of every step taken.

Staff members expect a person to make an attempt to resolve the matter with a simple conversation or request. If the problem persists, whatever it may be, the prisoner should then turn to his counselor for assistance.

The counselor will ask for an explanation and a description of efforts to resolve the problem informally. If the matter isn't resolved informally, the counselor should issue a BP-8 form, which is the first stage of the written procedure.

All of the forms are basic. The BP-8 requests a prisoner:

• To state the problem,
• To describe the efforts made to resolve the problem, and
• To describe relief he seeks.

The form doesn't offer much space. Limit each request for remedy to one single issue. Keep a copy of the request because it will be necessary when filing the appeal. Once complete, pass the form to the counselor. The counselor should document attempts to resolve the matter, staff-to-staff. A person should expect a written response to his BP-8 from his counselor within a week.

BP-9:

If the response does not resolve the problem, and the individual wants to continue to the next stage in the process, the prisoner should request a BP-9. The BP-9 elevates the level of the grievance to the warden's level. It would be naïve to believe that the warden will review or even consider every grievance. Ordinarily, expect the warden to designate someone on his or her staff to respond to the BP-9 complaint. The warden may sign the response and the counselor will deliver a copy to the prisoner.

BP-10:

A prisoner who believes the warden has denied his request for relief inappropriately may pursue the matter to the next level through a BP-10 form. The counselor will provide the form.

The BP-10 is basically the same as the BP-9. It's an intermediate appeal that a person should send to the regional director. As with any other appeal, the prisoner can only raise issues the same issues that he presented to the warden. He is appealing the warden's decision, basically saying that the warden's response was wrong—in violation of the prison system's policies or in some way in violation of the prisoner's rights.

BP-10 Sensitive:

If the inmate is raising a complaint of a sensitive nature, like one that may involve the warden directly, or other staff members, the prisoner may request a "Sensitive BP-10." In this instance, the prisoner can file his request for administrative relief directly to the regional office. But the complaint must be truly sensitive to pursue this route.

BP-11:

Finally, if a person doesn't receive the relief requested from the regional director, he may file a BP-11. This is the last stage of the administrative-remedy process. Prisoners should send their BP-11, with supporting documentation, to the BOP headquarters in Washington, DC.

Procedures:

Bureaucratic procedures require people in prison to file their grievances in a timely manner. If they miss deadlines, staff members will move to dismiss the complaints as being out of time.

• BP-9: Must file within 20 days following the date on which the basis for the request occurred.
• BP-10: Must file within 20 days following the date on which the warden returned his response.
• BP-11: File with the general counsel at BOP Headquarters within 30 days of the date that he received the response from the regional director.

Rules permit people in prison to assist each other on all legal matters.

After exhausting the administrative process, if the person continues to feel as if the prison system is violating his rights, he may file a complaint in the federal district court.

We advise people to choose their battles carefully. When it comes to military strategy, a wise general willingly loses a few battles for the higher goal of winning the war. We can learn from military strategists. If a person in prison expects to experience some discomfort, he may have a higher tolerance and strong enough mindset to let some grievances slide.

Discretion and Critical-Thinking:

Staff members form close relationships with each other. They can easily prevail upon their relationships with colleagues to make life uncomfortable for a person in prison. People that develop reputations for filing frivolous (or not so frivolous) complaints can make a bad situation worse. They can lose access to visiting, to telephone, to email. Staff members may lock a person in Special Housing for an administrative investigation. They may transfer a person across state lines.

It's crucial to remember that when judges sentence people in federal court, they say:

• "I hereby sentence you to the custody of the attorney general."

At that point, from the system's perspective, the person has become an inmate. BOP staff members have enormous discretion. They have enormous power over the life of a human being.

For this reason, we advise people to go through prison as a submarine. We want them to travel beneath the surface, avoiding problems at all costs. Like a submarine, keep the periscope up to know what's going on in the area. But be silent and safe, avoiding problems with both staff and others. Avoiding complications is the best way to get through a prison term successfully.

Our team advises people to use discretion and critical-thinking skills when it comes to filing a request relief through the Administrative Remedy Process. Prison is different from the judicial system. Rights to discovery do not exist and people in prison do not have a right to cross examine accusers or witnesses during the administrative-remedy process. In some cases, it's necessary to file administrative remedy procedures in order to advance to the federal judicial system. But more often than not, administrative-remedy is a losing proposition and it's best to let the grievance slide.

In our online course, we offer commentary and analysis of administrative remedy processes that have one wrong and that have gone right.

Get free copy of Prepare: What Defendants Should Know About Court, Sentencing, and Prison at PrisonProfessors.com, or email [email protected]. Call 949-205-6056

When people go into the prison system, our team encourages them to go in with their eyes wide open. When Michael began serving his sentence, back in 1987, he was 23 years old and didn’t understand a thing. As a result of not understanding what would follow, he made a series of decisions during the earliest stages that complicated his journey. Similarly, as explained in Lessons from Prison, Justin didn’t have any idea about how prisons operated or what steps he could take to grow at the start. The more we know about the system, the more we empower ourselves to make good decisions, given the resources available to us.

We’d like to think that everything will proceed well. In reality, we’re entering a system where things don’t always go as we’d like. Sometimes, the atmosphere of imprisonment presents us with problems and challenges. It’s not always within our power to change the situation, but we always have the ability to decide how we’re going to adjust.

Problems within the system itself may complicate a person’s life in prison. In the previous module, we offered a glance at the staff hierarchy that operates each prison. If disputes arise, staff members prefer that we try to resolve them informally at the appropriate staff level. In other words, if a person has been assigned to a job that he didn’t like, he shouldn’t go complaining to the warden. An alternative may exist, like taking the grievance to the job supervisor or to the counselor.

When people cannot resolve grievances with a staff member, policy requires that they use the Administrative Remedy Process.

The Administrative Remedy Process offers staff members in the BOP an opportunity to review a prisoner’s grievance. Sometimes the grievance is serious and a request for judicial relief is appropriate. But in most cases, people must exhaust their administrative remedy options before they can seek redress through the courts.

People in prison do not have a right to counsel through the Administrative Remedy Process. For that reason, they should learn how to prepare the grievance. It’s a plain-English complaint, but like everything else in prison, it’s crucial to respect the process—complying with timelines and submitting the appropriate number of copies and so forth. In any prison, there will be people in the law library that would be willing to help file the grievance.

Informal Resolution:

The first step in the Administrative Remedy Process is called Informal Resolution. This step does not require paperwork, but it’s wise to keep a journal, or notes of every step taken.

Staff members expect a person to make an attempt to resolve the matter with a simple conversation or request. If the problem persists, whatever it may be, the prisoner should then turn to his counselor for assistance.

The counselor will ask for an explanation and a description of efforts to resolve the problem informally. If the matter isn’t resolved informally, the counselor should issue a BP-8 form, which is the first stage of the written procedure.

All of the forms are basic. The BP-8 requests a prisoner:

• To state the problem,
• To describe the efforts made to resolve the problem, and
• To describe relief he seeks.

The form doesn’t offer much space. Limit each request for remedy to one single issue. Keep a copy of the request because it will be necessary when filing the appeal. Once complete, pass the form to the counselor. The counselor should document attempts to resolve the matter, staff-to-staff. A person should expect a written response to his BP-8 from his counselor within a week.

BP-9:

If the response does not resolve the problem, and the individual wants to continue to the next stage in the process, the prisoner should request a BP-9. The BP-9 elevates the level of the grievance to the warden’s level. It would be naïve to believe that the warden will review or even consider every grievance. Ordinarily, expect the warden to designate someone on his or her staff to respond to the BP-9 complaint. The warden may sign the response and the counselor will deliver a copy to the prisoner.

BP-10:

A prisoner who believes the warden has denied his request for relief inappropriately may pursue the matter to the next level through a BP-10 form. The counselor will provide the form.

The BP-10 is basically the same as the BP-9. It’s an intermediate appeal that a person should send to the regional director. As with any other appeal, the prisoner can only raise issues the same issues that he presented to the warden. He is appealing the warden’s decision, basically saying that the warden’s response was wrong—in violation of the prison system’s policies or in some way in violation of the prisoner’s rights.

BP-10 Sensitive:

If the inmate is raising a complaint of a sensitive nature, like one that may involve the warden directly, or other staff members, the prisoner may request a “Sensitive BP-10.” In this instance, the prisoner can file his request for administrative relief directly to the regional office. But the complaint must be truly sensitive to pursue this route.

BP-11:

Finally, if a person doesn’t receive the relief requested from the regional director, he may file a BP-11. This is the last stage of the administrative-remedy process. Prisoners should send their BP-11, with supporting documentation, to the BOP headquarters in Washington, DC.

Procedures:

Bureaucratic procedures require people in prison to file their grievances in a timely manner. If they miss deadlines, staff members will move to dismiss the complaints as being out of time.

• BP-9: Must file within 20 days following the date on which the basis for the request occurred.
• BP-10: Must file within 20 days following the date on which the warden returned his response.
• BP-11: File with the general counsel at BOP Headquarters within 30 days of the date that he received the response from the regional director.

Rules permit people in prison to assist each other on all legal matters.

After exhausting the administrative process, if the person continues to feel as if the prison system is violating his rights, he may file a complaint in the federal district court. 

We advise people to choose their battles carefully. When it comes to military strategy, a wise general willingly loses a few battles for the higher goal of winning the war. We can learn from military strategists. If a person in prison expects to experience some discomfort, he may have a higher tolerance and strong enough mindset to let some grievances slide.

Discretion and Critical-Thinking:

Staff members form close relationships with each other. They can easily prevail upon their relationships with colleagues to make life uncomfortable for a person in prison. People that develop reputations for filing frivolous (or not so frivolous) complaints can make a bad situation worse. They can lose access to visiting, to telephone, to email. Staff members may lock a person in Special Housing for an administrative investigation. They may transfer a person across state lines.

It’s crucial to remember that when judges sentence people in federal court, they say:

• “I hereby sentence you to the custody of the attorney general.”

At that point, from the system’s perspective, the person has become an inmate. BOP staff members have enormous discretion. They have enormous power over the life of a human being.

For this reason, we advise people to go through prison as a submarine. We want them to travel beneath the surface, avoiding problems at all costs. Like a submarine, keep the periscope up to know what’s going on in the area. But be silent and safe, avoiding problems with both staff and others. Avoiding complications is the best way to get through a prison term successfully.

Our team advises people to use discretion and critical-thinking skills when it comes to filing a request relief through the Administrative Remedy Process. Prison is different from the judicial system. Rights to discovery do not exist and people in prison do not have a right to cross examine accusers or witnesses during the administrative-remedy process. In some cases, it’s necessary to file administrative remedy procedures in order to advance to the federal judicial system. But more often than not, administrative-remedy is a losing proposition and it’s best to let the grievance slide.

In our online course, we offer commentary and analysis of administrative remedy processes that have one wrong and that have gone right.

From the book Prepare: What Defendants Should Know about Court, Sentencing, and Prison

Chapter 11: What Should I Know About Staff Hierarchy in the Bureau of Prisons

Get Your free copy by visiting PrisonProfessors.com or sending an email to [email protected]

Navigating the bureaucracy of prison requires at least a cursory knowledge of the key players and their roles. This section provides a basic overview to consider for those going inside.

Bureaucratic Structure:

Our nation incarcerates more people per capita than any other nation on earth. Millions of people have gone through the system, and thousands of people work in corrections. It's run like any other bureacracy, modeled in a hierarchical formation. The positions are more important than the individual, and the individuals rely upon program statements and policy statements to govern operations.

The organizational hierarchy is clearly defined and much more formal. Staff members that work alongside each other do not address each other with first names. Instead, we hear a lot "Mr." and "Ms," as if first names are offensive.

As stated previously, our team's experience is with The Federal Bureau of Prisons, which is organized under the Executive Branch of Government. For those that need a quick refresher course in civics, we have three branches of government in our country:

• The Legislative System: Divided by two houses of Congress, the Senate and the House. They pass laws all citizens must follow.
• The Judicial System: Where judges interpret whether the laws have been applied appropriately.
• The Executive Branch: Administrators and functionaries of the government.

The President of the United States leads the Executive Branch, and he appoints the Attorney General. On recommendation of the Attorney General, we have the Director of the Bureau of Prisons. The director oversees the BOP bureaucracy.

According to www.BOP.gov, in 2019 the federal prison bureaucracy includes 122 Bureau of Prisons facilities. Approximately 37,000 staff members oversee 184,000 people in prison. Obviously, such a huge system requires many rules and regulations. By adhering to those rules and regulations, they keep order. Those living inside can feel like cogs in a machine, without a common humanity.

The Regional System:

The BOP operates six regions, including:

• Mid-Atlantic Region—prisons in West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Kentucky, and Tennessee
• North Central Region—prisons in Illinois, Minnesota, Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Missouri, Indiana, and South Dakota
• Northeast Region—prisons in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, and New Jersey
• South Central Region—prisons in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana
• Southeast Region—prisons in Georgia, Florida, Alabama South Carolina, Puerto Rico, and Mississippi
• Western Region—prisons in California, Hawaii, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, and Washington

Each region listed above has a single Regional Director. The regional director oversees policies and operations in each of the many institutions scattered around their respective territories. The various Directors of the Bureau of Prisons represent the highest levels of the BOP's Executive Staff. Few people in prison have any interaction with them.

Occasionally directors tour the facilities. When they do, local staff exert great efforts to shield those leaders from interactions with people serving time in prison. Prisoners can think of the directors as managing from the allegorical ivory tower. Although each director likely spent many years working in institutions, once they reach the pinnacle of the BOP bureaucracy, they isolate themselves from people that lower level staff members interact with on a daily basis.

Wardens:

Each institution has its own chief executive. In most cases this position is called warden in the staff hierarchy. During our team's extensive experience of serving time in prisons of every security level, we've been associated with multiple wardens. Each warden has his or her own management style.

The most effective wardens—from our perspective, manage by walking around. They make themselves available to talk with the people they're responsible for confining. Wardens in secure institutions stand around the cafeteria during the noon meal, which is the most popular meal in every prison. A few times each month, they may visit camps that are adjacent to the secure prisons to make themselves to people classified as minimum-security. Wardens call it standing mainline, referring to the people that wait in the long lines for their daily meals. All prisoners are free to approach the warden, or any of the other staff members who stand mainline, to discuss a grievance or an issue of importance to the individual.

Many federal prisons are located within complexes that include several institutions of different security levels. Those complexes may have multiple wardens. Each institution has its own warden. But there would also be a complex warden, that oversees the entire complex. For example, the Federal Prison Complex in Colorado includes the following institutions:

• ADX Super-max Penitentiary
• USP High Security Penitentiary
• FCI Medium-Security Prison
• FPC Minimum-Security Prison

Florence includes one complex warden two wardens, and one camp supervisor.

Executive Assistant

An Executive Assistant serves each warden. More than anyone else, executive assistants shadow the warden. If a person approaches a warden, the executive assistant will listen to every word and possibly take notes. Few prisoners have any reason to interact directly with an executive assistant. The executive assistant is frequently the only staff member besides the warden who is authorized to speak with members of the media. Prisoners who interact with representatives of the media may have limited interactions with the executive assistant. For the most part, this isn't a staff member that will have much relevance to a person in prison.

Associate Wardens:

Most federal prisons hold in excess of 1,000 men. Some wardens are in control of institutions with more than 4,000 men and several hundred staff members. As the chief executive officers of these institutions, wardens have several colleagues beneath them on the organizational chart that manage various aspects of the prison.

In the prisons where we've been held, wardens rely upon associate wardens that concentrate on their own segments of the prison complex. Some typical associate warden positions include the following:

• Associate Warden of Programs (AW-P)
• Associate Warden of Industries and Education (AW-I&E)
• Associate Warden of Operations (AW-O)
• Associate Warden of Transportation (AW-T)
• Associate Warden of Custody (AW-C)

The associate wardens, too, frequently stand mainline and make themselves available to speak with inmates who are concerned with departments under AW control. All members of the bureaucracy observe the clearly-defined chain of command, and associate wardens usually direct prisoners to seek assistance from staff members a bit lower in the bureaucratic hierarchy.

Department Heads:

Think of the prison as a miniature city, separated from the greater society by a series of boundaries. Just as in cities outside, the miniature prison city has various departments—like the department of housing, of health, and public works. In prison, the people leading these departments are department heads. Department heads report to their respective associate warden. Department Heads are much more immediately accessible to prisoners than higher members of the executive staff. Some of the Department Heads include:

• Unit Managers—One or more dormitory buildings comprise a housing unit, and the unit manager acts as a mini-warden over these units. He oversees matters related to inmate management, including the unit team (see below), each prisoner's central file, and each prisoner's release preparation.
• Supervisor of Education—In charge of administrating the education and recreational programs.
• Supervisor of Health Services—In charge of the medical and dental services.
• Captain—In charge of Lieutenantsand custody staff.
• Supervisor of Food Services—In charge of the meal preparations.
• Supervisor of Facilities—In charge of maintaining the facility.

All department heads have a coterie of staff members that work beneath them. Those staff members interact directly with prisoners. Prisoners that have complaints against staff members are supposed to seek a resolution with the staff member first. If they're not satisfied with the response they receive, the prisoners are supposed to work their way up the chain of command. If a grievance remains unresolved, prisoners have access to the administrative remedy procedure which we describe in the next module.

Unit Team:

With individual prisons holding well over a thousand men together, it would be impractical for the warden to know each of the prisoners under his control. Each federal prison, therefore, uses the Unit Management System. By assigning people to smaller, more manageable groups within the prison, the system keeps better control. The group of staff members with whom prisoners have the most frequent contact (except their immediate work-detail supervisor) are those who serve on their unit team.

On a typical prison compound (USPs, FCIs, and FPCs), the prisoners are free to mix in the general population. They eat in the same chow hall, participate in educational programs together, and share the same recreational facilities. Each inmate is assigned to a particular housing unit. Those housing units are restricted and considered off limits for people assigned to different housing units.

Each housing unit is led by a Unit Manager. The unit manager is a department head that presides over case managers and counselors—the other members of the Unit Team. BOP Program Statement 5321.07 tells us that the unit team is also supposed to include an Education Advisor, and a Unit Psychologist. In our experience, those staff members have minimal interaction with people on the unit team.

Case Managers:

Case managers monitor progress of the prisoners assigned to their case load. They keep track of the prisoner's custody and classification scoring, his release date. If the prisoner requests a transfer to another institution, the case manager is responsible for initiating this request. Every three years, or sooner if there is some change in the prisoner's status (transfer or nearing release), the case manager also prepares a progress report, which describes the prisoner's institutional adjustment.

When staff members activate programs within the First Step Act, case managers will document progress that prisoners make toward program completion. Those completions will result in "Earned Time Credits," which they can redeem through various undefined incentive programs that should include transfer to home confinement.

Counselors:

Contrary to the title, counselors do very little in the way of counseling. Rather, their duties include overseeing the visiting lists and prisoner work details. They also may have a role in monitoring compliance with the Financial Responsibility Plan, assigning quarters, overseeing the sanitation of the unit, taking care of package mailouts, and participating on the Unit Disciplinary Committee.

Team Meetings:

People in prison that have more than two years remaining to serve are scheduled to meet with their unit team members twice each year. People with fewer than 24 months to serve meet with their unit team members more frequently. Usually, a person's unit manager, case manager, and counselor are present during these team meetings.

People in prisons shouldn't expect to learn much during these routine team meetings. Although rules may require attendance in team meetings, there is not much interaction or guidance with regard to what steps people can take to improve their status.

During the meeting, the case manager verbally reads for everyone present whatever documentation the unit team has accumulated since the previous team meeting. This documentation may include the person's work performance rating; his disciplinary record; his progress on the FRP plan; and whatever programs the individual has completed.

Newer people in the system may feel let down after a team meeting. They come into the meeting with hopes that they will find some meaning as to what they are supposed to be doing in prison. To many staff members, the only matters of importance include:

• The passing of time,
• The avoidance of disciplinary problems, and
• the payment schedule toward the FRP plan.

The counselor's function during the meeting is to describe a person's participation in the FRP program, and passes the prisoner a copy of his visiting list. The unit manager asks the prisoner whether he has any questions or requests. In most instances, the Team Meeting lasts fewer than 10 minutes.

Although the applicable Program Statement indicates that the

"Unit Manager is responsible for coordinating individual programs tailored to meet the particular needs of inmates in the unit," and that "such programming often is highly innovative and complex,"

Our team's experience has not shown that to be the case.

People that are determined to grow must become resourceful. They should become skillful at finding opportunities to do so on their own. They should anticipate some level of interference from staff members who view any type of activity that is "highly innovative and complex" as a threat to the status quo. As part of a large and complex law-enforcement bureaucracy, all prison systems revere uniformity.

From the book Prepare: What Defendants Should Know about Court, Sentencing, and Prison

Chapter 11: What Should I Know About Staff Hierarchy in the Bureau of Prisons

Get Your free copy by visiting PrisonProfessors.com or sending an email to [email protected]

Navigating the bureaucracy of prison requires at least a cursory knowledge of the key players and their roles. This section provides a basic overview to consider for those going inside.

Bureaucratic Structure:

Our nation incarcerates more people per capita than any other nation on earth. Millions of people have gone through the system, and thousands of people work in corrections. It’s run like any other bureacracy, modeled in a hierarchical formation. The positions are more important than the individual, and the individuals rely upon program statements and policy statements to govern operations.

The organizational hierarchy is clearly defined and much more formal. Staff members that work alongside each other do not address each other with first names. Instead, we hear a lot “Mr.” and “Ms,” as if first names are offensive.

As stated previously, our team’s experience is with The Federal Bureau of Prisons, which is organized under the Executive Branch of Government. For those that need a quick refresher course in civics, we have three branches of government in our country:

• The Legislative System: Divided by two houses of Congress, the Senate and the House. They pass laws all citizens must follow.
• The Judicial System: Where judges interpret whether the laws have been applied appropriately.
• The Executive Branch: Administrators and functionaries of the government.

The President of the United States leads the Executive Branch, and he appoints the Attorney General. On recommendation of the Attorney General, we have the Director of the Bureau of Prisons. The director oversees the BOP bureaucracy.

According to www.BOP.gov, in 2019 the federal prison bureaucracy includes 122 Bureau of Prisons facilities. Approximately 37,000 staff members oversee 184,000 people in prison. Obviously, such a huge system requires many rules and regulations. By adhering to those rules and regulations, they keep order. Those living inside can feel like cogs in a machine, without a common humanity.

The Regional System:

The BOP operates six regions, including:

• Mid-Atlantic Region—prisons in West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Kentucky, and Tennessee
• North Central Region—prisons in Illinois, Minnesota, Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Missouri, Indiana, and South Dakota
• Northeast Region—prisons in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, and New Jersey
• South Central Region—prisons in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana
• Southeast Region—prisons in Georgia, Florida, Alabama South Carolina, Puerto Rico, and Mississippi
• Western Region—prisons in California, Hawaii, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, and Washington

Each region listed above has a single Regional Director. The regional director oversees policies and operations in each of the many institutions scattered around their respective territories. The various Directors of the Bureau of Prisons represent the highest levels of the BOP's Executive Staff. Few people in prison have any interaction with them.

Occasionally directors tour the facilities. When they do, local staff exert great efforts to shield those leaders from interactions with people serving time in prison. Prisoners can think of the directors as managing from the allegorical ivory tower. Although each director likely spent many years working in institutions, once they reach the pinnacle of the BOP bureaucracy, they isolate themselves from people that lower level staff members interact with on a daily basis.

Wardens:

Each institution has its own chief executive. In most cases this position is called warden in the staff hierarchy. During our team’s extensive experience of serving time in prisons of every security level, we’ve been associated with multiple wardens. Each warden has his or her own management style.

The most effective wardens—from our perspective, manage by walking around. They make themselves available to talk with the people they’re responsible for confining. Wardens in secure institutions stand around the cafeteria during the noon meal, which is the most popular meal in every prison. A few times each month, they may visit camps that are adjacent to the secure prisons to make themselves to people classified as minimum-security.  Wardens call it standing mainline, referring to the people that wait in the long lines for their daily meals. All prisoners are free to approach the warden, or any of the other staff members who stand mainline, to discuss a grievance or an issue of importance to the individual.

Many federal prisons are located within complexes that include several institutions of different security levels. Those complexes may have multiple wardens. Each institution has its own warden. But there would also be a complex warden, that oversees the entire complex. For example, the Federal Prison Complex in Colorado includes the following institutions:

• ADX Super-max Penitentiary
• USP High Security Penitentiary
• FCI Medium-Security Prison
• FPC Minimum-Security Prison

Florence includes one complex warden two wardens, and one camp supervisor.

Executive Assistant

An Executive Assistant serves each warden. More than anyone else, executive assistants shadow the warden. If a person approaches a warden, the executive assistant will listen to every word and possibly take notes. Few prisoners have any reason to interact directly with an executive assistant. The executive assistant is frequently the only staff member besides the warden who is authorized to speak with members of the media.  Prisoners who interact with representatives of the media may have limited interactions with the executive assistant. For the most part, this isn’t a staff member that will have much relevance to a person in prison.

Associate Wardens:

Most federal prisons hold in excess of 1,000 men. Some wardens are in control of institutions with more than 4,000 men and several hundred staff members. As the chief executive officers of these institutions, wardens have several colleagues beneath them on the organizational chart that manage various aspects of the prison.

In the prisons where we've been held, wardens rely upon associate wardens that concentrate on their own segments of the prison complex. Some typical associate warden positions include the following:

• Associate Warden of Programs (AW-P)
• Associate Warden of Industries and Education (AW-I&E)
• Associate Warden of Operations (AW-O)
• Associate Warden of Transportation (AW-T)
• Associate Warden of Custody (AW-C)

The associate wardens, too, frequently stand mainline and make themselves available to speak with inmates who are concerned with departments under AW control. All members of the bureaucracy observe the clearly-defined chain of command, and associate wardens usually direct prisoners to seek assistance from staff members a bit lower in the bureaucratic hierarchy.

Department Heads:

Think of the prison as a miniature city, separated from the greater society by a series of boundaries. Just as in cities outside, the miniature prison city has various departments—like the department of housing, of health, and public works. In prison, the people leading these departments are department heads. Department heads report to their respective associate warden.  Department Heads are much more immediately accessible to prisoners than higher members of the executive staff. Some of the Department Heads include:

• Unit Managers—One or more dormitory buildings comprise a housing unit, and the unit manager acts as a mini-warden over these units. He oversees matters related to inmate management, including the unit team (see below), each prisoner's central file, and each prisoner's release preparation.
• Supervisor of Education—In charge of administrating the education and recreational programs.
• Supervisor of Health Services—In charge of the medical and dental services.
• Captain—In charge of Lieutenantsand custody staff.
• Supervisor of Food Services—In charge of the meal preparations.
• Supervisor of Facilities—In charge of maintaining the facility.

All department heads have a coterie of staff members that work beneath them. Those staff members interact directly with prisoners. Prisoners that have complaints against staff members are supposed to seek a resolution with the staff member first. If they’re not satisfied with the response they receive, the prisoners are supposed to work their way up the chain of command. If a grievance remains unresolved, prisoners have access to the administrative remedy procedure which we describe in the next module.

Unit Team:

With individual prisons holding well over a thousand men together, it would be impractical for the warden to know each of the prisoners under his control. Each federal prison, therefore, uses the Unit Management System. By assigning people to smaller, more manageable groups within the prison, the system keeps better control. The group of staff members with whom prisoners have the most frequent contact (except their immediate work-detail supervisor) are those who serve on their unit team.

On a typical prison compound (USPs, FCIs, and FPCs), the prisoners are free to mix in the general population.  They eat in the same chow hall, participate in educational programs together, and share the same recreational facilities. Each inmate is assigned to a particular housing unit. Those housing units are restricted and considered off limits for people assigned to different housing units.

Each housing unit is led by a Unit Manager. The unit manager is a department head that presides over case managers and counselors—the other members of the Unit Team. BOP Program Statement 5321.07 tells us that the unit team is also supposed to include an Education Advisor, and a Unit Psychologist. In our experience, those staff members have minimal interaction with people on the unit team.

Case Managers:

Case managers monitor progress of the prisoners assigned to their case load. They keep track of the prisoner's custody and classification scoring, his release date. If the prisoner requests a transfer to another institution, the case manager is responsible for initiating this request. Every three years, or sooner if there is some change in the prisoner's status (transfer or nearing release), the case manager also prepares a progress report, which describes the prisoner's institutional adjustment.

When staff members activate programs within the First Step Act, case managers will document progress that prisoners make toward program completion. Those completions will result in “Earned Time Credits,” which they can redeem through various undefined incentive programs that should include transfer to home confinement.

Counselors:

Contrary to the title, counselors do very little in the way of counseling. Rather, their duties include overseeing the visiting lists and prisoner work details. They also may have a role in monitoring compliance with the Financial Responsibility Plan, assigning quarters, overseeing the sanitation of the unit, taking care of package mailouts, and participating on the Unit Disciplinary Committee.

Team Meetings:

People in prison that have more than two years remaining to serve are scheduled to meet with their unit team members twice each year. People with fewer than 24 months to serve meet with their unit team members more frequently. Usually, a person’s unit manager, case manager, and counselor are present during these team meetings.

People in prisons shouldn't expect to learn much during these routine team meetings.  Although rules may require attendance in team meetings, there is not much interaction or guidance with regard to what steps people can take to improve their status.

During the meeting, the case manager verbally reads for everyone present whatever documentation the unit team has accumulated since the previous team meeting. This documentation may include the person’s work performance rating; his disciplinary record; his progress on the FRP plan; and whatever programs the individual has completed.

Newer people in the system may feel let down after a team meeting. They come into the meeting with hopes that they will find some meaning as to what they are supposed to be doing in prison. To many staff members, the only matters of importance include:

• The passing of time,
• The avoidance of disciplinary problems, and
• the payment schedule toward the FRP plan.

The counselor's function during the meeting is to describe a person’s participation in the FRP program, and passes the prisoner a copy of his visiting list. The unit manager asks the prisoner whether he has any questions or requests.  In most instances, the Team Meeting lasts fewer than 10 minutes.

Although the applicable Program Statement indicates that the

"Unit Manager is responsible for coordinating individual programs tailored to meet the particular needs of inmates in the unit," and that "such programming often is highly innovative and complex,"

Our team’s experience has not shown that to be the case. 

People that are determined to grow must become resourceful. They should become skillful at finding opportunities to do so on their own. They should anticipate some level of interference from staff members who view any type of activity that is "highly innovative and complex" as a threat to the status quo. As part of a large and complex law-enforcement bureaucracy, all prison systems revere uniformity.

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1. What Should I Know About Prison Transfers?

Based upon the number of minimum-security camps in the federal prison system, we estimate that less than 20% of the federal prison population gets the privilege of voluntarily surrendering. Being able to surrender to prison is a perk.

Ordinarily, when judges sentence people to serve less than 10-year terms, and the person does not have a history of violence or escape attempts, the Bureau of Prisons will classify that person as "minimum-security." Judges may allow those people to report to prison on their own volition. In the systems, it's known as "voluntary surrender."

There is an advantage to surrendering to prison voluntarily. It's less stressful. Rather than mixing with hundreds of other prisoners, many of whom may be intimidating, it's easier to have a family member or friend drive to the prison. A person walks out and presents himself to a guard. That's when the admissions process begins.

The other 80% of people that serve time do not get the privilege of voluntary surrender. They may have been held in detention centers for months because they did not qualify for release on bail. Or they may have been taken into custody right after the sentencing hearing. In most cases, the U.S. Marshals service will transport those people to prison.

Prison offers comparatively more freedom than the local jail or detention center. But time in transit can be among the worst time a prisoner spends in confinement. For security reasons, staff members do not tell the prisoner when he is scheduled for transfer. That "unknown" factor brings considerable amounts of stress.

My partner, Michael, served 26 years in federal prisons of every security level. He transferred numerous times. In several of his books, including Earning Freedom: Conquering a 45-Year Prison Term, he wrote extensively about the transfer process.

Like everything else in confinement, there is a lot of hurry-up-and-wait. Once the officer notifies the prisoner to gather his belongings, the officer will rush the prisoner out of his area and lead him to a separate holding area, usually a cage or a room. The officer will lock the prisoner inside the new cage. If it's not full already, the cage where the prisoner is held will quickly fill with scores of other prisoners who also are being prepared for transfer. Think of a sardine can.

Occasionally, a jailer will come to the outside of the cage and scream for the prisoners to quiet down as he makes some announcement. The jailer will be looking for prisoners with special needs, medical and such, and provide instructions on what procedures will follow. After the long wait—and a prisoner should expect to spend several hours as these preparations are made for transport—jailers will begin calling names, usually in groups of four or five. They will begin escorting those prisoners to another holding cell. Authorities will order the prisoners to strip naked as guards search for contraband.

The strip search is part of the journey. Guards will perform their visual inspections of naked prisoners several times during the transfer process. Although strip searches may humiliate a new prisoner, to guards it is routine and impersonal.

The prisoner strips naked. The guard stands about two feet in front of him and begins barking commands: "Lift your arms! Run your fingers through your hair! Open your mouth! Stick out your tongue! Lower your lips! Lift your genitals! Turn around! Let me see the bottom of your feet! Bend over! Spread 'em! Wider! Get dressed!"

After the strip search, the guard issues the prisoner a set of transfer clothing. The clothing is usually a one-size-fits-all set of bright orange overalls or elastic-waist paints. Sometimes they include socks, other times not. The prisoner may get a pair of cloth slippers or rubber sandals, depending on what's available.

Guards will transfer the prisoner to another cell after he dresses in prison garb. He'll wait for every other prisoner being transferred to go through the same process. When the holding cell's noise reaches the same unbearable level, the prisoner will have a good indication that it will be time for the next procedure.

The next step is for guards to come around and begin locking the prisoners in chains. Prisoners will be called out of the cell, about three or four at a time. A row of jailers will place steel cuffs around the prisoners' ankles, steel cuffs around the prisoners' wrists, and the guards will fasten the cuffs to a chain placed around each prisoners' waist. Once the prisoners are chained, they'll be led to yet another holding cage while they wait for all the other prisoners to join them.

After all the prisoners have been fastened in their traveling chains, guards will escort them to school-type buses. With steel bars covering the blacked-out windows, it's rather obvious the buses are used for prisoner transport. The prisoners march toward the buses, stumbling all the way because their ankles are chained together, moving slowly so the ankle chains don't dig too deeply into the skin around their ankles. The back of the bus has a caged area in which an officer rides, rifle in hand, to keep watch over the prisoners. When all prisoners are on board and accounted for, the bus departs.

Some prisoners are fortunate in that they are designated to prisons requiring only a single bus ride. Many, however, are designated to prisons far away and will take a combination of bus rides and plane rides as they make their long and arduous way to their respective institutions.

The U.S. Marshals operate a prisoner-transport service to move prisoners from coast to coast. The planes move in circular routes, and prisoners are scheduled to board these flights at the discretion of the U.S. Marshals and BOP administrators. Consequently, moving from point A to point B may take 30 days or longer, with overnight stays in several facilities along the way—even if one is only transferring 100 miles. The circular route took one prisoner who was transferring from Fort Dix, New Jersey to Fairton, New Jersey (which is an hour away by car) on plane rides and bus rides through several states before delivering him.

What Makes Transfers Difficult:

Being transferred by the prisoner-transport service is difficult. The prisoner is in the dark and he never has an opportunity to settle in. Purchasing goods from the commissary may not be an option. The prisoner may be able to guess, but he'll never know how long he will remain in a particular facility. He may not have soap, toothbrush, or sandals to wear for the shower.

The more person knows about the process, and understands how to cope, the better prepared he will be. Our courses offer many interviews that show strategies that others have used to make it through challenging times.

A holdover prisoner in transit is the prison equivalent of a homeless person, living as a transient without any personal belongings. He is around strangers the entire time he's in transport, doesn't eat well, and is loaded with stress because he's out of touch with his family. The prisoner doesn't receive regular mail. He may have limited access to a quasi email system, which can somewhat ease the stress.

Besides a lack of access to personal property, and constant frustrations, the prisoner in transport is exhausted from all the middle-of-the-night wake-up calls, the waiting, the noise, the chains. In his book Earning Freedom, Michael wrote that time transit was the worst part of his prison experience. He described strategies to keep a positive mindset.

Secondary Transfers:

After arriving at the designated facility, and progressing through the sentence, circumstances change. Sometimes it's possible to transfer to another facility. Usually, prison transfers occur because of changes in the prisoner's security-level scoring. Other times prisoners may request transfers to similarly-rated facilities for their own reasons. Generally, case managers will not process a prisoner's request for transfer unless the individual has served at least 18 consecutive months of confinement in the institution with disciplinary-free conduct.

Even if an inmate meets the necessary criteria for transfer, his request to serve his sentence in a particular facility may or may not be granted. When a prisoner requests a transfer to a specific facility, he subjects himself to the discretion of administrators. Ultimately, designators have the responsibility of controlling population levels in all of the federal prisons within his respective region. Consequently, a request to transfer to the FCI in Miami, Florida may result in a transfer to the FCI in Beaumont, Texas.

Prisoners may wonder whether there is anything they can do to enhance their chances of moving to a particular facility. Based on our extensive experience with the BOP, the formal answer is no. The informal answer is possibly. Everything is possible with self-advocacy.

In Earning Freedom, for example, Michael wrote about several instances where he was able to coordinate a "re-designation." On several occasions.

• Once, he was confined at the high-security prison in Atlanta. Authorities re-designated him to a medium-security prison in Oregon. He succeeded in blocking that transfer.
• Later, effective self-advocacy led to his coordinating a transfer to McKean, in Northwest Pennsylvania.
• While confined in a low-security prison in Fort Dix, New Jersey. Authorities moved to transfer Michael to a prison in Florida. He succeeded in getting that transfer reversed.
• Much later in his sentence, he was serving time at the federal prison camp in Florence, Colorado. Authorities moved to transfer him to a camp in Texas. Effective self-advocacy helped him reroute his transfer to Lompoc, California.
• Finally, he succeeded in coordinating a transfer from the camp in Taft to a camp in Atwater, to ease his preparations for release.

To succeed at coordinating transfers in a large bureaucracy, a prisoner must lay considerable amounts of ground work. Most people will not serve multiple decades in prison, and they will not encounter multiple transfers. On the other hand, for those that want to learn lessons in self-advocacy that will help them through the journey, we highly recommend our digital courses at ResilientCourses.com.