FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 11, 2006
May 11, 2006
Jason Fornicola
Enid Doggett
(202) 639-6419
Enid Doggett
(202) 639-6419
Prison Workers Union Concerned as Convicted Terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui Heads to Understaffed Federal Supermax Prison
Washington—Convicted terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui recently was sentenced to six life sentences in the Administrative Maximum (ADX) federal facility in Florence, Colo., a Bureau of Prisons (BoP) facility that has seen significant decreases in the staffing of its Mission Critical Posts since September 2005. Mission Critical Posts are posts deemed by BoP as essential to the safe and secure operation of its facilities. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) represents BoP workers at ADX Florence, and again calls on Congress to grant full funding to all federal prison facilities in an effort to assure the safety and well-being of all inmates, correctional officers, and surrounding communities.
From Sept. 25, 2005 to May 7, 2006, one particular unit at ADX Florence was fully staffed on all three shifts for just 31 days, leaving the unit to be inadequately staffed the remainder of the time. “The 123 facilities that make up the BoP system are not adequately staffed, and ADX Florence is no different,” said AFGE Council of Prison Locals President Bryan Lowry. “We’ve reached a critical point and something needs to change. Convicted terrorists such as Moussaoui going to understaffed facilities should be a concern to everyone.”
AFGE says serious inmate overcrowding and correctional worker understaffing such as that at ADX Florence plague the BoP system, and create hazardous conditions for federal prison inmates, federal correctional workers, and the communities in which they work.
From Sept. 25, 2005 to May 7, 2006, one particular unit at ADX Florence was fully staffed on all three shifts for just 31 days, leaving the unit to be inadequately staffed the remainder of the time. “The 123 facilities that make up the BoP system are not adequately staffed, and ADX Florence is no different,” said AFGE Council of Prison Locals President Bryan Lowry. “We’ve reached a critical point and something needs to change. Convicted terrorists such as Moussaoui going to understaffed facilities should be a concern to everyone.”
AFGE says serious inmate overcrowding and correctional worker understaffing such as that at ADX Florence plague the BoP system, and create hazardous conditions for federal prison inmates, federal correctional workers, and the communities in which they work.
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