Press Releases

U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright (PA-08) today issued a statement on additional steps being taken by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 among inmates and staff, which the bureau announced last night.

The new action plan comes after Cartwright led several of his Congressional colleagues in writing to BOP over concerns that inmate transfers were still taking place amid the outbreak, in some cases from areas designated as coronavirus hotspots, and as cases began to emerge in BOP facilities.

“I’m encouraged that the bureau is taking our concerns seriously about the spread of this dangerous virus within its facilities,” said Rep. Cartwright. “However, I will continue to keep a close eye on their testing capacity and transfers ordered by the U.S. Marshals Service. I strongly urge BOP and the Marshals to quickly come to an agreement on limiting inmate movements only in cases of extreme need. This is about the health and safety of not just the inmates, but also the essential prison staff and their families that they go home to every night.”

The BOP Phase Five Action Plan that went into effect today requires inmates in federal prisons across the U.S. will be secured in their assigned quarters for a 14-day period, and states that BOP would coordinate with the United States Marshals Service (USMS) to significantly decrease incoming movement during this time. The full action plan can be viewed online here.

The updated action plan comes after Cartwright spoke with BOP Assistant Director Andre Matevousian last month to express his serious concern regarding their policy of continuing to transfer inmates from facility to facility while the country faces the national pandemic of COVID-19. While BOP noted that it has been screening inmates for the typical symptoms of COVID-19, numerous health experts and the CDC have specifically stated that the spread of this deadly virus from asymptomatic but infected individuals can fuel more widespread infection. As such, Cartwright urged the Assistant Director to immediately halt all inmate transfers until COVID-19 testing was implemented for any inmates scheduled for transfer.

Following that call, Cartwright led 11 of his Congressional colleagues in sending a letter to the leadership of BOP reiterating those concerns that their policies regarding inmate movement during this pandemic are inadequate and dangerous to both staff and inmates.

In subsequent and ongoing conversations with BOP leadership and staff, Cartwright was informed that, while inmate movement must continue to take place in very limited instances – specifically when the U.S. Marshals send inmates to federal facilities or when overcrowding issues must be addressed – BOP began screening all inmates before and after transfer and immediately quarantining all inmates for 14 days after the transfer takes place. At that time, BOP was still working to procure the number of COVID-19 tests necessary to test all inmates before transfer.