Letter on the “Inmate Financial Responsibility Program: Procedures, Proposed Rule”

In this public comment letter, the Brennan Center commends the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for their continued development of policies that allow incarcerated people to develop financial planning skills but outlines the potential harms of their proposal that would allot 75 percent of deposits placed in an incarcerated person’s commissary account from community sources to be deducted for restitution and other justice system obligations. The letter also expresses concern about the addition of language regarding incarcerated people’s ineligibility to earn or apply First Step Act Time Credits for non-participation in the program.