Congressman Fred Keller speaks with Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal on inmate movement issue
Plans to introduce legislation to allow Bureau of Prisons to stop inmate movement
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Fred Keller (R-PA) Thursday spoke by phone with Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal in order to get information about how to stop inmate movement during the COVID-19 national emergency.
During the call, Director Carvajal noted that the Bureau of Prisons is required by statute to continue movement of inmates as ordered by the courts and delivered by the U.S. Marshal’s Service.
As he continues to work avenues within the Department of Justice to get inmate movement stopped immediately, Congressman Keller is working on introducing a bill as soon as next week that would give the Bureau of Prisons the authority it needs to immediately halt inmate movement for the duration of the COVID-19 national emergency.
“After several days of talking with members of Bureau of Prisons leadership, today I spoke directly with Director Carvajal. While Director Carvajal shared my concern about ongoing inmate movement, he believes that doing so requires statutory authority. As a result, I have immediately started work on introducing legislation that would give the Bureau of Prisons the authority it needs to stop inmate movement during COVID-19 mitigation efforts. As I continue down this path, I will also be exhausting all available remedies with the Department of Justice to immediately halt all inmate movement.”
