Did this Federal Prison Meet Residency Restriction Standards?

Lawmakers who have spent decades assuring us that public safety is measured in feet should be facing some awkward scrutiny this week.

According to federal prosecutors in Atlanta, four men incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Atlanta have been indicted for possessing child sexual abuse material, while inside the prison. Investigators say inmates used contraband cell phones to download the material, saved it to SD cards pulled from MP3 players, printed it on the prison library’s copy machine, and sold it to other inmates. Authorities report finding roughly 450 images and videos.

We’re pretty familiar with prisons and generally they are not within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop. They have fences, 24 hour guards and cameras. There are no playground nearby. By every standard Florida’s legislature uses to keep children “safe”, FCI Atlanta should have been the safest residence in the country.

The U.S. Attorney said prison bars did not stop these defendants. We agree, and we’d like to finish the thought: if razor wire and federal correctional officers can’t stop a person determined to offend, a line on a map drawn 1,000 feet from a daycare isn’t going to do it either.

Crimes like the ones in Atlanta deserve to be investigated and prosecuted, and they were. But not by measuring distances.

If the answer to a crime committed inside a federal prison isn’t “move the prison 1,001 feet,” maybe it’s time to ask why that’s still the answer for everyone else.

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