[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 223 (Tuesday, November 19, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 63830-63831]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-24935]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Bureau of Prisons
28 CFR Part 541
[Docket No. BOP-1172-P]
RIN 1120-AB72
Inmate Discipline Program: New Prohibited Act Code for Pressuring
Inmates for Legal Documents
AGENCY: Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: In this document, the Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) proposes to
add a new code to the list of prohibited act codes in the inmate
discipline regulations which will clarify that the Bureau may
discipline inmates for pressuring or otherwise intimidating other
inmates into producing copies of their own legal documents, such as
pre-sentence reports (PSRs), or statement of reasons (SORs).
DATES: Submit written comments on or before January 21, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Rules Unit, Office of General Counsel, Bureau of Prisons,
320 First Street NW, Washington, DC 20534.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rules Unit, Office of General Counsel,
Bureau of Prisons, phone (202) 353-8248.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Posting of Public Comments
Please note that all comments received are considered part of the
public record and made available for public inspection online at
www.regulations.gov. Such information includes personal identifying
information (such as your name, address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by
the commenter.
If you want to submit personal identifying information (such as
your name, address, etc.) as part of your comment, but do not want it
to be posted online, you must include the phrase ``PERSONAL IDENTIFYING
INFORMATION'' in the first paragraph of your comment. You must also
locate all the personal identifying information you do not want posted
online in the first paragraph of your comment and identify what
information you want redacted.
If you want to submit confidential business information as part of
your comment but do not want it to be posted online, you must include
the phrase ``CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION'' in the first paragraph
of your comment. You must also prominently identify confidential
business information to be redacted within the comment. If a comment
contains so much confidential business information that it cannot be
effectively redacted, all or part of that comment may not be posted on
www.regulations.gov.
Personal identifying information identified and located as set
forth above will be placed in the agency's public docket file, but not
posted online. Confidential business information identified and located
as set forth above will not be placed in the public docket file. If you
wish to inspect the agency's public docket file in person by
appointment, please see the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT paragraph.
Proposed Rule
In this document, the Bureau proposes to add a new code to Table
1--Prohibited Acts and Available Sanctions in the inmate discipline
regulations. See 28 CFR 541.3. The new code will clarify that the
Bureau may discipline inmates for pressuring or otherwise intimidating
other inmates into producing copies of their own legal documents, such
as pre-sentence reports (PSRs), statement of reasons (SORs), or other
such documents. New code 231 will put inmates on notice that they may
be disciplined for ``[r]equesting, demanding, pressuring, or otherwise
intentionally creating a situation which causes an inmate to produce or
display his/her own court documents for any purpose to another
inmate.''
The Bureau has found that inmates, or inmate groups, frequently
pressure other inmates for copies of their PSRs, SORs, or other similar
sentencing documents from criminal judgments, to learn if they are
informants, gang members, have financial resources, to find others
involved in offenses, to prove affiliations, etc. Some inmates who
produced, or refused to produce, the documents were threatened,
assaulted, and/or sought protective custody, all of which jeopardized
the Bureau's ability to safely manage its institutions.
The Bureau holds inmates accountable for threatening and coercive
behavior under existing provisions of the disciplinary code. This
provision, however, will clarify that this specific behavior may result
in sanctions. The defense bar, federal sentencing courts and the Bureau
identified this issue as one of concern that requires heightened
disciplinary attention. We therefore propose to add the aforementioned
code provision to underscore the severity of the conduct described.
Regulatory Analyses
Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 13771
This rule falls within a category of actions that the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) has determined do not constitute
``significant regulatory actions'' under section 3(f) of Executive
Order 12866 and, accordingly, it was not reviewed by OMB. The economic
effects of this regulation are limited to the Bureau's appropriated
funds. It takes an average of 7.5 hours of staff time to process an
incident report. One of the expected outcomes of this clarifying
regulation is that inmates may be deterred from engaging in the
prohibited behavior because violations are better defined. This
expected outcome would save staff resources required to process
incident reports. At this time, however, the Bureau cannot estimate
precisely how many incidents will be avoided or the monetary value of
the resulting cost/resource savings. Further, the Bureau would expect
any anticipated savings generated by this rule to have minimal effect
on the economy.
Executive Order 13132
This regulation will not have substantial direct effect on the
States, on the relationship between the national government and the
States, or on distribution of power and responsibilities among the
various levels of government. Under Executive Order 13132, we determine
that this regulation does not have sufficient federalism implications
to warrant the preparation of a Federalism Assessment.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Director of the Bureau of Prisons, under the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 605(b)), reviewed this regulation and
certifies that it will not have a significant economic impact upon a
substantial number of small entities. This regulation pertains to the
correctional management of offenders committed to the custody of the
Attorney General or the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, and its
economic impact is limited to the Bureau's appropriated funds.
[[Page 63831]]
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
This regulation will not result in the expenditure by State, local
and tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of
$100,000,000 or more in any one year, and it will not significantly or
uniquely affect small governments. Therefore, no actions are necessary
under the provisions of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995.
Congressional Review Act
This regulation is not a major rule as defined by the Congressional
Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 804. This regulation will not result in an annual
effect on the economy of $100,000,000 or more; a major increase in
costs or prices; or significant adverse effects on competition,
employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or on the ability of
United States-based companies to compete with foreign-based companies
in domestic and export markets.
List of Subjects in 28 CFR Part 541
Prisoners.
Kathleen Hawk Sawyer,
Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Under rulemaking authority vested in the Attorney General in 5
U.S.C. 301; 28 U.S.C. 509, 510 and delegated to the Director, Bureau of
Prisons, we propose to amend 28 CFR part 541 as follows.
SUBCHAPTER C--INSTITUTIONAL MANAGEMENT
PART 541--INMATE DISCIPLINE AND SPECIAL HOUSING UNITS
0
1. The authority citation for part 541 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 18 U.S.C. 3621, 3622, 3624, 4001, 4042,
4081, 4082 (Repealed in part as to offenses committed on or after
November 1, 1987), 4161-4166 (Repealed as to offenses committed on
or after November 1, 1987), 5006-5024 (Repealed October 12, 1984 as
to offenses committed after that date), 5039; 28 U.S.C. 509, 510.
SUBPART A--GENERAL
0
2. Amend Sec. 541.3 by adding an entry 231 under ``High Severity Level
Prohibited Acts'' in Table 1--Prohibited Acts and Available Sanctions
to read as follows:
Sec. 541.3 Prohibited acts and available sanctions.
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Table 1--Prohibited Acts and Available Sanctions
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High Severity Level Prohibited Acts
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231...................... Requesting, demanding, pressuring, or
otherwise intentionally creating a
situation, which causes an inmate to produce
or display his/her own court documents for
any purpose to another inmate.
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[FR Doc. 2019-24935 Filed 11-18-19; 8:45 am]
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