Slate's Katie Rose Quandt interviewed Deb for a report on the Trump budget effects on the people in the Bureau of Prisons.
Incarcerated people and their loved ones were blindsided again in March. The 2007 Second Chance Act allows people to transition from prisons to the community, serving up to the final 12 months of their sentence in a halfway house. But citing budget constraints, the BOP issued a memo abruptly shortening this transition period to the final 60 days of a person’s sentence. As a result, people’s upcoming transfers to halfway houses were suddenly rescheduled back many months. Amid uproar from families and advocates, the administration rescinded the change just two weeks later.
“They said it was to save money. But it’s more expensive to keep people inside of prison than in a halfway house,” said Deborah Golden, a civil rights attorney. The episode was classic Trump: making announcements with little forethought and a short-sighted view for cost saving, changing his mind, and ultimately leaving people confused.
The BOP has implemented other short-sighted cost-saving measures, including cutting 80 psychology doctoral internships at BOP prisons as part of the DOJ hiring freeze. “If you don’t have people who are incarcerated getting psychological treatment, everything gets worse,” said Golden.
Read the whole article here: Trump is devastating America's prison system.