Durbin wants new leader for federal prisons after report details abuses at Thomson Prison

In a floor speech, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois called for the attorney general to dismiss the head of the nation’s prisons after reports of deaths and abuses at the federal penitentiary at Thomson.

Michael Carvajal, director of the Bureau of Prisons, had announced his resignation in the weeks after a November 2021 report by the Associated Press detailing employee misconduct throughout the prison system. Attorney General Merrick Garland has not appointed a successor and Carvajal remains on the job.

Durbin, who is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, reiterated his call on Thursday for a new director after the latest report by National Public Radio and the Marshall Project details the deaths of seven inmates and allegations of abuses by staff at Thomson.

AFGE Local 4070 President Jon Zumkehr, who represents federal prison workers, sent out a news release on Thursday that said it supported an investigation into the allegations and that Durbin and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth had been invited to visit the prison.

In his Senate address, Dubin said: “One investigation after another has revealed a culture of abuse, mismanagement, corruption, torture, and death that reaches all the way to the top.”

He said Thomson, which opened the state in 2001 but fully became a part of the federal system in 2019, was supposed to alleviate overcrowding within the federal system, but “the reality, sadly, has been the exact opposite.”

According to the Marshall Project, five inmates were killed by other inmates and two died by suicide.

“Those deaths are just a snapshot of the grim reality of this facility, the deadly grim reality,” Durbin said.

Durbin said he, Duckworth and U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, whose 17th District includes Thomson, asked Michael Horowitz, inspector for the Justice Department, to launch an investigation into prison. Horowitz confirmed to Durbin that an investigation is underway.

Durbin requested that the attorney general appoint a “reform-minded” director or appoint an acting director. “We need to act before another inmate dies in the custody and care of this federal government,” Durbin said.

Durgin said that his committee will be holding a hearing on the Bureau of Prisons. Some of the allegations involve the use of restricting housing within the system.