This bill focuses on protecting prison staff from sexual harassment and assault by inmates in federal prisons. Right now, there isn't a consistent national approach to preventing these incidents or handling them when they occur. The bill requires the Department of Justice to create uniform standards across all federal prisons that address how to prevent sexual harassment and assault, reduce how often it happens, and punish inmates who commit these acts. The bill also requires the Bureau of Prisons to actually put into practice all the recommendations that the DOJ Inspector General made in a previous report about this exact problem. Essentially, the government is saying: we need clear, nationwide rules to keep prison staff safe from sexual misconduct by inmates, and we need to follow through on expert recommendations that have already been made. This affects correctional officers and other federal prison employees who currently may face these incidents without consistent protections or responses depending on which prison they work at.

Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act

Blackburn, Marsha

Prison Staff Safety Enhancement ActThis bill establishes requirements for the Department of Justice (DOJ) and component agencies to assess and respond to incidents of sexual harassment and sexual assault by incarcerated individuals against Bureau of Prisons (BOP) staff.Specifically, the&nbsp;bill requires DOJ&nbsp;to adopt national standards for the prevention, reduction, and punishment of sexual harassment and sexual assault by incarcerated individuals against correctional officers or other employees of the BOP.Additionally, the bill requires the BOP to fully implement the recommendations of the DOJ Inspector General&nbsp;contained in the report titled Evaluation of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Efforts to Address Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault Committed by Inmates Toward Staff.