Judges Should Provide Relief in Overburdened Federal Prisons

There are close to 150,000 people in the US Bureau of Prisons serving sentences on federal charges and charges from Washington, D.C.—many for nonviolent offenses such as fraud and possession of drugs and guns.

Incarceration is about to worsen for those prisoners due to the Trump administration’s recent cuts and policies that will make living conditions even harsher. Judges should act now to minimize the harm to these human beings behind bars and provide compassionate release.

Staffing Shortages

The Bureau of Prisons for years has failed to maintain appropriate staff levels—a report released in 2024 showed thousands of staff vacancies. Without optimal staffing, security is compromised and programming gets cut when teachers, case managers, and counselors are required to fill correction officer shortages.

Prisoners’ quality of health care is further diminished by delays in cancer screenings, blood tests, and abrupt discontinuation of mental health medications. Sub-optimal staffing is such a serious problem that the Bureau of Prisons offers correction officers incentives to stay.

But the Trump administration is cutting or reducing those financial incentives. Bureau of Prisons staff soon will see pay reductions of up to 25% at some facilities. Officials worry that this will lead to burnout and resignations, further compounding the staffing crisis.

The Bureau of Prisons already pays medical professionals less than private sector medical staff. In 2023, some federal inmates waited months or years for necessary medical treatment. In one case, this resulted in death. A May 2024 Inspector General report revealed one institution’s failure to provide enough health-care staff caused long waits for emergency and basic care—a person at that facility faked a suicide attempt just to get treatment.

To combat personnel shortages, Bureau of Prisons officials are assigning noncustodial employees, including medical staff, to perform correctional duties, a practice called augmentation. A report for one inmate suicide concluded that the institution reassigned psychologists to correctional posts for two months, which hampered the psychology department’s ability to provide services to prisoners suffering from mental health crises.

Policy Changes

As part of President Donald Trump’s strategy to detain undocumented individuals, the Bureau of Prisons entered into an interagency agreement allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to place detainees in five prison bureau facilities. In the last month, the administration placed hundreds of detainees in Bureau of Prisons. This contributes to serious safety threats for staff, incarcerated people, and detainees.

Recent policies also have placed transgender prisoners in an especially precarious position—a January executive order effectively disallowed transgender women from being housed in women’s prisons, a move that is being fought in court.

Academic research and data from the Department of Justice reveal a long history of transgender prisoners being at a higher risk of experiencing sexual assault compared to other prisoners. Trump’s policy changes to BOP protections for transgender people make them more vulnerable to sexual assault. While a court order has temporarily halted the administration’s plans, there is still reason for concern.

Alleviating Suffering

Federal and Washington, D.C., judges should alleviate some suffering through the use of compassionate release. These statutes allow judges to release incarcerated individuals who face extraordinary and compelling circumstances warranting a new sentence and can prove that they are no longer a danger. This allows judges to release the sick and elderly.

Judges can release people who received harsh sentences but have been successful at rehabilitation. They can release victims of sexual assault within the Bureau of Prisons. Judges should grant compassionate release for those who are at an increased risk of death, chronic health issues, and harmful prison conditions caused by the recent changes in the Bureau of Prisons.

Judges also can keep nonviolent and first-timer offenders out of prison altogether by using their discretion to sentence more people to probation and home confinement. They must use the tools available to deal with the Bureau of Prison’s inability to protect and care for the sick, elderly, and most vulnerable among us.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg Tax, or its owners.

Author Information

Vida Johnson is an associate professor of law at Georgetown Law, where she co-directs the Criminal Justice Clinic.

Amanda K. Rogers is a visiting professor at Georgetown Law, teaching and supervising in the Criminal Justice Clinics.

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