U.S. attorney general names Colette Peters to lead Bureau of Prisons

WASHINGTON, July 12 (Reuters) – U.S. Legal professional General Merrick Garland on Tuesday named community protection and corrections veteran Colette Peters to direct the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the office that oversees 150,000 inmates throughout the country’s prisons process.

The appointment of Peters marks the finish of a tumultuous tenure for the bureau’s outgoing director Michael Carvajal, who faced backlash from prison staff members above his managing of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Critics, which include the department’s own inspector standard, have claimed the BOP in some spots was too gradual to undertake COVID-19 protection protocols, as the virus distribute and sickened hundreds of staff and inmates.

A overall of 301 inmates and seven BOP workers users have died from COVID-19.

He also faced force from lawmakers just after a scathing investigative report from the Associated Press which discovered that extra than 100 BOP personnel had been arrested, convicted or sentenced for crimes due to the fact 2019.

Carvajal introduced he would step down from his put up before this year. He has remained on the task, on the other hand, pending the appointment of his substitute. Peters will assume her new job on Aug. 2.

Peters now serves as Director of the Oregon Division of Corrections, a post she has held given that February 2012.

She holds a master’s diploma in legal justice from the University of Colorado Denver, and a bachelor’s diploma in psychology from the School of Saint Benedict in Saint Joseph, Minnesota.

She formerly worked as a target advocate and disaster mediator with the Denver Police Office.

“It’s no mystery that BOP has been plagued by misconduct,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin in a statement.

“I am hopeful that with Colette Peters, Attorney Basic Garland and Deputy Legal professional Common [Lisa] Monaco have picked the ideal leader to very clear out the bureaucratic rot and reform BOP.”

Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch
Modifying by Marguerita Choy

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