The Good Time Bill : Facts and Alternatives

The BoP prisoner population is expected to grow by 5,000 -7,000 over the next several years (it grew by 7,400 in 2007. footnote 1
The system is currently 36% over capacity. footnote 2
The Inmate to staff ratio (a key indicator of safety and crowding) in the Bop currently is 4.92-1. To compare, it was 3.57-1 in 1997. Also, the ratio for five largest state prison systems is 3.3-1. footnote 4
2009 budget for the BoP contains 5.4 BILLION for salaries and expenses and 95.8 million for facilities and buildings. footnote 5
Recidivism rate for the federal prisons is 40% footnote 6
The budget allocated to the Bureau of Prisons for medical expenses in 2007 was approximately $736 million footnote 7
The non-citizen population of federal prison system is nearly 52,000. 40% of the total federal prison population is Latino, and nearly 48% of Latinos convicted are found guilty of immigration-related crimes. footnote 8

The statement of Harley G. Lappin, Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons presented to the House of Representatives on March 10, 2009 on the topic of The Second Chance Act, aka Public Law 110-199 provides a lot of excellent facts on the current state of the federal prison system and measures that the BoP is attemtping to take to reduce overcrowding and prevent recidivism.
1. Statement of Harley G. Lappin, Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons presented to the House of Representatives on March 10, 2009. Page 2. http://appropriations.house.gov/Witness_testimony/CJS/harley_lappin_03_10_09.pdf
2. Statement of Harley G. Lappin, Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons presented to the House of Representatives on March 10, 2009. Page 2. http://appropriations.house.gov/Witness_testimony/CJS/harley_lappin_03_10_09.pdf
3. Statement of Harley G. Lappin, Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons presented to the House of Representatives on March 10, 2009. Page 4. http://appropriations.house.gov/Witness_testimony/CJS/harley_lappin_03_10_09.pdf
Also, Harley Lappin's July 10, 2008 presentation at a Congressional hearing on the Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Request for BOP, transcript can be read here care of November. org.
4. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/mar/07/more-prisoners-more-guards/print/
5. Please note when reviewing this budget, dollars are listed in quantities of thousands. United States Department of Justice 2009 BOP Budget Request
6. http://www.law.duke.edu/news/story?id=834&u=11
and http://www.unicor.gov/about/members_meetings/board_minutes/dsp_minutes.cfm?minutesid=20.
7. THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISON’S EFFORTS TO MANAGE INMATE HEALTH CARE, U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General Audit Division, February 2008. Page 3 in the Executive Summary.
8. Study Shows Sharp Rise in Latino Federal Convicts, NY Times, February 18, 2009. Also, Statement of Harley G. Lappin, Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons presented to the House of Representatives on March 10, 2009. Page 2. http://appropriations.house.gov/Witness_testimony/CJS/harley_lappin_03_10_09.pdf