The summary I wrote for our fifth class detailed different security levels in federal prison. For our sixth class, I’m offering more insight to help students understand factors that influenced where an individual served his sentence. The guest speakers that appeared earlier described experiences of living in brutal environments. Yet high-security institutions held a relatively small portion of prisoners. In a Bureau of Prisons report, a chart indicated population levels as follows:
- Minimum security: 17.3 percent
- Low security: 37.8 percent
- Medium-security: 29.6 percent
- High-security: 11.1 percent
- Not yet assigned a security level: 4.1 percent
More than half of all federal prisoners served time in either minimum-security or low-security prisons. Some may question the factors influencing where an individual would serve his time, and how a security level would influence the adjustment.
In one of our earlier classes I referenced Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s remarks about few people in society knowing or caring what happened to the offender after a judge imposed a sentence. Those who studied through The Architecture of Incarceration would know what happened. To help each students understand, I began our sixth class with a chronology of events that followed the imposition of sentence in the federal prison system.
As an aside, I reminded students who attended the sixth class that our nation operated 52 different criminal justice systems. Although I relied upon my experience inside the federal system as a teaching resource, all criminal justice systems had similar procedures for classifying prisoners.
Prison officials stated that the objective of inmate classification was to place each inmate in the most appropriate facility for service of the sentence. To accomplish this goal, the Bureau of Prisons delegated a team of “designators” to consider all relevant information regarding the inmate.
I spent the first 90 minutes of the class lecturing on the different factors that influenced classification, as defined below. While I lectured, Felipe Escamilla, of the NBC Bay Area News filmed me. Felipe worked with Garvin Thomas of Bay Area Proud. The journalists captured footage for a profile that the network broadcasted each week on people who were “doing good in the community.” It’s my understanding that the segment that profiles my adjustment will appear on October 17, but I will be teaching so I won’t be able to see it. I’m sure the broadcast will be available through the NBC website, and I’ll look forward to watching when I’m able.
Following the lecture, I broke the class into six groups so the students could apply what they learned. I provided each student with the identifying information about a fictional offender. Then I tasked each group with the challenge of classifying the offender. Following the exercise, I discussed the finding of each group and explained the implications of their decisions with regard to classifying the prisoner.
The group of students seem to enjoy the classroom exercises, and I’m convinced those exercises are useful in helping the future law enforcement professionals understand more about America’s federal Bureau of Prisons.
Chronology of Events Leading to Classification:
- In the Bureau of Prisons, after a judge sentences a prisoner, the clerk of the court sends a copy of the Judgment to the United States Marshal Service (USMS).
- The United States Marshal Service then advises the Designation and Sentence Computation Center (DSCC) that the offender is ready for “designation” to a facility.
- Case management staff at DSCC reviews information in the following documents:
- The Presentence Investigation Report (PSR): This report provides the government’s version of events. It includes all types of information about the offender’s criminal history, his educational background, his conduct during the criminal justice proceedings of the case, his level of stability, his history of medical issues, his mental state of mind, and other information. Probation officers prepare these reports for judges to consider prior to sentencing and for prison officials to consider when designating an offender.
- The Judgment Order: This official court document signed by the judge. It details the conviction and the entire sanction that the judge imposed.
- Statement of Reasons (SOR): An attachment to the criminal judgment indicating the reason for the court’s final sentence and other sentencing related issues (fines, medical issues, need for special conditions). In the federal system, judges include these in all cases where the sentence exceeds 24 months.
- Individual Custody and Detention Report: A report that the United States Marshal prepares to document information about the prisoner’s adjustment during the pretrial stage.
- Administrators at the DSCC assess the information above, along with an abundance of information that are both within and beyond the prisoner’s control when determining where to designate a prisoner to serve the sentence. One frequently cited example of a factor beyond the prisoner’s control includes “institutional need.” For example, designators may send a prisoner thousands of miles away from his loved one if administrators cite an institutional need, such as keeping a facility racially or geographically balanced. When Ronnie Massarro gave his presentation, he referred to such an issue when he said that prison administrators separated prisoners from different geographical regions.
- DSCC officials (or case managers at an institution in the case of re-designations) use rely upon the above information as well as other data (like institutional disciplinary records) to determine the custody scoring system. Prisoners do not have the capacity to change or alter the majority of factors that determine a custody scoring, as it is “static” data. However, a few “dynamic” factors are within the prisoner’s capacity to influence through his prison adjustment.
- The Presentence Investigation Report (PSR): This report provides the government’s version of events. It includes all types of information about the offender’s criminal history, his educational background, his conduct during the criminal justice proceedings of the case, his level of stability, his history of medical issues, his mental state of mind, and other information. Probation officers prepare these reports for judges to consider prior to sentencing and for prison officials to consider when designating an offender.
The custody and classification template requires administrators to plug in the following data points at the initial entry into the system. It is called “Inmate Load Data” and it includes the following information:
- Registration Number: Every federal prison has a registration number. The United States Marshals issue this eight-digit number. The format for this number is five digits followed by a hyphen, followed by three digits. The final three digits indicate the judicial code of the U.S. Marshal Service, providing a geographical reference.
- Last Name that matches the name on the Judgment form.
- First Name.
- Middle Name.
- Suffix.
- Race. The BOP form requires administrators to classify an individual as being a member of the following racial groups: Asian, Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, White.
- Sex (gender)
- Ethnic Origin: Either Hispanic or Non Hispanic
- Date of Birth.
- Offense/Sentence
- FBI Number: A nine-space number issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
- Social Security Number.
- State of Birth.
- Country of Birth.
- Citizenship.
- Street Address: This information comes from the PSR as the legal address, or last known address. It is significant because of the influence it has on an offender’s designation.
- City
- State
- Zip Code
- Foreign Country
- Height
- Weight
- Hair color
- Eye Color
Some of that data could have an adverse influence on an individual classification, I explained. As an example, I told the group about my own situation. The initial administrators who entered data in my case wrote down the street address of where I was living at the time of my arrest. As a consequence of my living in Miami at the time, authorities designated me as being a prisoner from the Southeast. When I tried to explain to authorities that I grew up in Seattle and that I wanted to serve my sentence in a prison that was closer to home, they refused to make a change. Once authorities entered an address into the system, case managers would cite policy as a reason to refuse to change the address. Despite objections I made about having a strong support network on the West Coast, authorities clung hard and fast to their policy statements, saying that I would not be allowed to change my address of record until I was within 18 months of my release date. I spent 16 years in prisons on the East Coast before Bureau of Prisons authorities agreed to transfer me closer to my home in the west.
Once the staff member enters the Inmate Load Data, the offender officially becomes a part of the Bureau of Prisons system. Staff members then enter the “Security Designation Data” which determines the prisoner’s security level.
- Judge: The sentencing judge’s last name.
- Recommended Facility: Sometimes judge’s recommend that an offender serve his sentence in a particular facility. Designators will consider a judge’s recommendation, but they do not necessarily have to follow the recommendation. Judge’s may document their reasons on the SOR, which may persuade designators to meet the judge’s request.
- Recommended Program: Administrators enter the type of program that a judge may recommend for a specific offender.
- United States Marshal Office that initially processed the offender.
- Voluntary Surrender: Sometimes judges authorize prisoners to surrender to an institution on their own. When a judge allows an offender to turn himself in some time after the sentence was imposed, the BOP will deduct three points from the security score, as detailed below.
- Months to release: This item reflects the estimated number of months the prisoner will serve before he is released. The item does not influence the security point total, but it may influence a Public Safety Factor, which I’ll describe soon.
- Severity of Current Offense: This section is where the offender begins to receive points as follows (Offense-severity scale appears later):
- Lowest-severity offense receives zero points
- Low-moderate severity offense receives 1 point
- Moderate-severity offense receives 3 points
- High-severity offense receives 5 points
- Greatest-severity offense receives 7 points
i. When an individual is being scored for a violation of supervised release, the scoring will be in accordance with the new offense if it involves new criminal conduct. But if an offender is being returned to custody for a technical violation, the scoring is a low-moderate offense, receiving three points.
- Criminal History Score: This information comes from the Judgment sheet that the sentencing court issued. Offenders receive points as follows:
- Zero points for a criminal history score of between 0-1
- Two points for a criminal history score of between 2-3
- Four points for a criminal history score of between 4-6
- Six points for a criminal history score of between 7-9
- Eight points for a criminal history score of between 10-12
- Ten points for a criminal history score of 13 or higher
i. Offenders receive an additional three points on the criminal history score for each prior sentence that exceeded a year and a day.
ii. Offenders receive two additional points for each prior sentence in excess of 60 days;
iii. Offenders received an additional point for each prior conviction.
iv. Offenders received two additional points if they violated conditions of release and committed a new crime.
- History of Violence: Offenders receive additional points when their records reflect a violent history:
- Zero points for no history of violence
- One point for any minor violence more than 15 years ago
- Two points for any serious violence more than 15 years ago
- Three points for any minor violence between 5 and 10 years ago
- Four points for serious violence between 10 and 15 years ago
- Five points for minor violence within the past five years
- Six points for serious violence between five and 10 years ago
- Seven points for serious violence within the past five years
10. History of Escape or Attempts to Escape: Prisoners receive points that reflect their documented histories of escape as follows:
- Zero points for no history of escape
- One point for a history of a minor escape longer than 15 years ago
- Two points for a history of minor escape attempt within the past 5 to 10 years.
- Three points if there is a history of minor escape within the past five years.
- Three points for any documented history of serious escape.
11. Type of Detainer: Prisoners receive points if they face criminal charges in other jurisdictions or other problems with the law.
- No detainer results in no points.
- Low to low-moderate detainer receives one point.
- Moderate detainer receives three points.
- High detainer receives five points.
- Greatest severity detainer receives seven points.
- 12. Age: Prisoners receive points in accordance with their chronological age as follows:
- Over 55 does not receive any points.
- Between 36 and 54 years old receives two points.
- Between 25 and 36 years old receives four points.
- Prisoners who are younger than 24 receive eight points.
- 13. Education Level: Offenders receive points in accordance with their documented education level as follows:
- If they have a verified high school diploma or GED they don’t receive points.
- If they are enrolled in school but don’t have a GED they receive one point.
- If they are not participating in school and don’t have a GED they receive two points.
14. Drug/Alcohol Abuse: Prisoners who’ve used drugs in the past receive points as follows:
- No history of substance abuse over the past five years does not receive any points.
- One point for substance abuse history within the past five years.
15. Security Point Total Score:
16. Public Safety Factors (described below):
- None
- Disruptive Group
- Greatest Severity Offense
- Sex Offender
- Threat to Government Officials
- Deportable Alien
- Sentence Length
- Violent behavior
- Serious escape
- Prison disturbance
- Juvenile violence
- Serious telephone abuse
Management Variables: A management variable allows administrators to change or override the security level of a prisoner if the score doesn’t accurately reflect the prisoner’s security needs. Ordinarily, the management variable either raises or lowers the security level by a single level.
Public Safety Factors: A public safety factor (PSF) relates to the prisoner’s current offense, sentence length, criminal history, or institutional behavior. Prisoners may receive up to three PSFs for the following reasons:
- Being part of a disruptive group, like a gang member or terrorist organization.
- Greatest severity offense
- Sex offender
- Threat to government official
- Deportable alien
- Sentence length PSF applies to prisoners with longer than 10 years remaining to serve.
- Violent behavior
- Serious escape
- Prison disturbance
- Juvenile violence
- Serious telephone abuse
The first custody review takes place within seven months of the time the prisoner arrives at his first designated institution. Subsequently, the prisoner receives a new custody review each year. The custody classification form allows the staff to observe the prisoner’s institutional adjustment. If the prisoner behaves well, he can avoid having his security level raised. There is very little he can do to lower the security level except to wait for a sufficient length of time to pass and to avoid disciplinary infractions.
The Base Scoring of the form includes the identical data as the initial security score, because all of that information is beyond the prisoner’s ability to change. It results in a base score. Although the prisoner doesn’t have an opportunity to influence those static number, the lower base scoring number, the better for the prisoner.
The Custody Scoring results in an adjustment to the base score. He will be able to influence parts of that Custody Score through his prison adjustment, and to the extent that he can raise his custody score, he can improve his custody classification. The variables of the custody score follow:
- Percentage of time served: As more calendar pages turn, the prisoner’s score improves because he advances closer to his release date. He receives points as follows:
- 0 to 25 percent of time served results in three points.
- 26 to 75 percent of time served results in four points.
- 76 to 90 percent of time served results in five points.
- 91 + percent of time served results in six points.
- Program Participation: If a prisoner participates in positive programming, he may receive up to two additional points. So a prisoner can influence this variable by his choice to participate in programs:
- Poor participation in programs results in zero points.
- Average participation in programs results in one point.
- Good participation in programs results in two points.
- Living Skills: If staff members assess a prisoner as having a compliant demeanor, attitude, and personal accountability, he may receive up to two points.
- Poor living skills results in zero points.
- Average living skills results in one point.
- Good living skills results in two points.
- Type and number of most serious incident reports: Prisoners who abstain from receiving disciplinary infractions over a sustained length of time may earn up to five points.
- No disciplinary infractions results in five points.
- Only one low-level disciplinary infraction during the past year results in four points.
- One moderate-level disciplinary infraction during past year results in three points.
- One high-level disciplinary infraction during past two years results in two points.
- More than one high-level disciplinary infraction during past two years results in one point.
- Any greatest-severity disciplinary infractions during past 10 years results in zero points.
- Frequency of disciplinary infractions: Prisoners who abstain from receiving disciplinary infractions enhance their custody score as follows:
- Three points for those who did not receive any disciplinary infractions during the past year.
- Two points for those who received no more than a single disciplinary infraction during the past year.
- One point for those who received between two and five disciplinary infractions during the past year.
- Zero points for those who received six or more disciplinary infractions.
- Family and community ties: Prisoners who can show that they have strong family and community ties may receive up to four points.
- Good family ties receive four points.
- Minimal family ties receive three points.
- Custody Total: Add all of the points the prisoner received.
- Custody Variance: Apply the variance that appears on a table. The variance may either add or subtract from the prisoners overall classification score.