This document summarizes information about the US federal prison system and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. It outlines the growth of prisoner populations in both systems from the 1980s onward due to tougher sentencing laws. It also describes the different security levels in federal prisons and some of the key events and reforms in the history of the Texas prison system. Finally, it summarizes some of the legal rights that inmates have under Texas law.

2.  Get outraged! Prison statistics for the United States
 Texas Department of Criminal Justice
 Rights of the Inmate (this will be a short section)
 Mass incarceration
 Social Worker in prison
 Post-release resources

3.  The Bureau of Prisons was established within the Department of Justice
in 1930
 Its mission is the “management and regulation of all Federal penal and
correctional institutions.”
 The number of FBOP institutions nationwide today stand at 122
 The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 established determinate sentencing,
abolished parole, and reduced good time; additionally, several
mandatory minimum sentencing provisions were enacted in 1986,
1988, and 1990.

4.  From 1980 to 1989, the inmate population more than doubled, from
just over 24,000 to almost 58,000.
 During the 1990s, the population more than doubled again, reaching
approximately 136,000 at the end of 1999 as efforts to combat illegal
drugs and illegal immigration contributed to significantly increased
conviction rates.
 From 2000 to the present, the population continued to increase
reaching our current population of 180,347.

5.  The Bureau’s institutions fall within one of five security levels:
 Minimum-security. Little or no perimeter fencing, low staff-to-inmate
ratio.
 Low-security. Double-fenced perimeters. Mostly cubicle or dormitory
housing.
 Medium-security. Double-fenced with electronic detection systems.
Cell housing.
 High-security. Reinforced fences or walls.
 Administrative-security. Houses all security levels.

6.  The history of TDCJ and Texas Corrections is vast like the state it serves
 A few highlights:
 In 1848, the Texas Legislature created the state penitentiary system by
created an oversight board to manage the treatment of convicts and
administration of the penitentiaries.
 The Huntsville unit operated as the single prison in the state of Texas for
decades. The Rusk Penitentiary did not open for housing inmates until
January 1883.
 In 1921, George W. Dixon of The Prison Journal published a report on the
Texas Prison System facilities. His article stated that the prisons were among
the most "brutal" in the world. Dixon said that the prisons featured corporal
punishment such as whipping, beatings, and isolation.[7]

7.  In 1979, in the case of Ruiz v. Estelle the court found that the conditions
within the TDC prison system constituted cruel and unusual punishment
which violated of the United States Constitution. The decision led to federal
oversight of the system, with a prison construction boom and "sweeping
reforms ... that fundamentally changed how Texas prisons operated.
 In 1989, the TDJC and the Board of Criminal Justice were created. The board
is composed of nine members appointed by the governor with the advice and
consent of the senate to six-year, overlapping terms. This new agency
absorbed functions of three state agencies - the Texas Department of
Corrections, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, and the Texas Adult
Probation Commission
 In 2017, the use of solitary confinement as punishment was ended.

8.  Rights of the inmate
 https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/GV/htm/GV.501.htm
 Discrimination. “The institutional division and the director of the institutional
division may not discriminate against an inmate on the basis of the inmate's
sex, race, color, creed, or national origin.”
 Food. Right to “good and wholesome food, prepared under sanitary
conditions, and … in sufficient quantity and reasonable varierty.”
 Clothing. Inmates have a right to “suitable clothing that is of substantial
material, uniform make, and reasonable fit and footwear that is substantial
and comfortable.”

9.  Rights of the inmate
 https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/GV/htm/GV.501.htm
 Literacy Programs. The institutional division shall require illiterate inmates
housed in facilities operated by the division to receive not less than five or
more than eight hours a week of reading instruction.
 Inmate Grievance System. All TDCJ offenders have access to the Offender
Grievance Program to present written complaints related to their
classification, personal property, disciplinary status, or other confinement
issues within the agency’s control.
 Government ID upon release. The institution will determine whether the
inmate is entitled to a drivers license or government ID and will ensure they
are issued one upon completion of their sentence.
 This is not an exhaustive list of rights of the inmate. More found within the
link

10.  The United States leads the world in the number of incarcerated
population.
 Currently, there are 2.2 million people in federal and state prison and
jails combined
 The majority of prisoners in Federal prison are incarcerated for drug
offenses (47.5%)
 The majority of prisoners in State prisons are incarcerated for violent
offenses (55.2%)

11.  The number of women in prison has been increasing at twice the rate
of growth compared to that of men since 1980
 Black men are 6 times as likely to be incarcerated as white men
 Hispanic men are 2.7 times as likely to be incarcerated as white men

12. Likelihood of imprisonment for U.S. Residents Born in 2001

15.  Mandatory minimums are non-discretionary penalties required by statute.
That means it is a pre-set sentence that must automatically be handed down
by the judge regardless of the circumstances of the case.
 In federal law, many drug trafficking offenses carry mandatory minimum
penalties.
 There are also mandatory minimums prescribed for some firearms offenses,
domestic violence and other offenses.
 Mandatory sentences have the effect of transferring sentencing power from
judges to prosecutors. Prosecutors frequently threaten to bring charges
carrying long mandatory minimum sentences and longer guidelines
sentences.
 WATCH THIS VIDEO: Why does the U.S. have mandatory minimum
sentences?

16.  Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved from
https://www.bop.gov/
 U.S. Sentencing Commission. Retrieved from
https://www.ussc.gov/education/
 Prison Policy Initiative. Retrieved from https://prisonpolicy.org