Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act

Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act

This 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 bill requires DOJ 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 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.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 307 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 307

 To address sexual harassment and sexual assault of Bureau of Prisons 
               staff in prisons, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 29, 2025

 Mrs. Blackburn (for herself and Mr. Ossoff) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To address sexual harassment and sexual assault of Bureau of Prisons 
               staff in prisons, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Prison Staff Safety Enhancement 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) In 2023, the Office of the Inspector General of the 
        Department of Justice released a report titled ``Evaluation of 
        the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Efforts to Address Sexual 
        Harassment and Sexual Assault Committed by Inmates Toward 
        Staff'' (in this section referred to as the ``Inspector General 
        report'').
            (2) The Inspector General report examined all sanctioned 
        inmate sexual incidents in the Bureau of Prisons (in this 
        section referred to as the ``Bureau'') between fiscal years 
        2015 and 2021, and found that inmate-on-staff sexual harassment 
        and sexual assault is widespread.
            (3) The Inspector General report further found that the 
        Bureau does not collect adequate data on inmate-on-staff sexual 
        harassment and sexual assault and that, because of the Bureau's 
        inadequate data, the Bureau has not been able to identify the 
        full scope of inmate-on-staff sexual harassment and sexual 
        assault.
            (4) The Inspector General report further found that the 
        Bureau does not have systems to evaluate the effectiveness of 
        the Bureau's strategies to mitigate inmate-on-staff sexual 
        harassment and sexual assault.
            (5) The Inspector General report made recommendations to 
        the Bureau to address the failures in the Bureau's data 
        collection and mitigation efforts, but the Bureau has not 
        implemented these recommendations.

SEC. 3. ADDRESSING SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND SEXUAL ASSAULT OF BUREAU OF 
              PRISONS STAFF.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Bureau.--The term ``Bureau'' means the Bureau of 
        Prisons.
            (2) Correctional officer.--The term ``correctional 
        officer'' has the meaning given the term in section 4051 of 
        title 18, United States Code.
            (3) Inspector general.--The term ``Inspector General'' 
        means the Inspector General of the Department of Justice.
            (4) Incarcerated individual.--The term ``incarcerated 
        individual'' has the meaning given the term ``prisoner'' in 
        section 4051 of title 18, United States Code.
            (5) Sexual assault.--The term ``sexual assault'' means an 
        act described in subsection (b), (c), or (d) of section 920 of 
        title 10, United States Code.
            (6) Sexual harassment.--The term ``sexual harassment'' 
        means unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or 
        other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that 
        explicitly or implicitly affect an individual's employment, 
        unreasonably interfere with an individual's work performance, 
        or create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work 
        environment.
    (b) Implementation of Recommendations by Bureau.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Bureau shall fully implement each 
        recommendation in the report released by the Inspector General 
        in 2023 titled ``Evaluation of the Federal Bureau of Prisons' 
        Efforts to Address Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault 
        Committed by Inmates Toward Staff''.
            (2) Report.--If the Bureau has not fully implemented each 
        recommendation referenced in paragraph (1) by the deadline 
        under that paragraph, the Bureau shall submit a report to 
        Congress by that deadline that includes an explanation of the 
        failure to fully implement each recommendation and a detailed 
        timeline for full implementation.
    (c) Data Analysis by Inspector General.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date as of 
        which the Bureau has fully implemented each recommendation 
        referenced in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) the Inspector General shall request from the 
                Bureau, and the Bureau shall provide, updated data on 
                the number and prevalence of sexual harassment and 
                sexual assault incidents perpetrated by incarcerated 
                individuals against a correctional officer or other 
                employee of the Bureau during fiscal years 2022 through 
                2025;
                    (B) the Inspector General shall conduct an analysis 
                of the data described in subparagraph (A); and
                    (C) the Inspector General shall provide Congress 
                and the Attorney General with the analysis conducted 
                under subparagraph (B) and any additional 
                recommendations, including analysis of whether the 
                Bureau has taken sufficient steps to identify the 
                prevalence and scope of sexual harassment and sexual 
                assault incidents perpetrated by incarcerated 
                individuals against a correctional officer or other 
                employee of the Bureau and to mitigate such incidents.
            (2) Analysis of punishments.--The analysis required under 
        paragraph (1)(C) shall include an analysis of punishments for 
        sexual harassment and sexual assault as of the date of 
        enactment of this Act in facilities controlled by the Bureau of 
        Prisons, including data on the use of such punishments during 
        the 5-year period preceding the date of enactment of this Act.
    (d) Rulemaking by Attorney General.--Not later than 1 year after 
receiving the analysis under subsection (c), the Attorney General shall 
promulgate a rule adopting national standards for prevention, 
reduction, and punishment of sexual harassment and sexual assault 
perpetrated by an incarcerated individual against a correctional 
officer or other employee of the Bureau.
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