For people held in federal prisons and who have a complaint about conditions, obtaining relief is nearly impossible, a new investigation by The Marshall Project and NPR found.
The Bureau of Prisons’ “administrative remedy” system is the primary way for incarcerated people to speak out about any issue related to their confinement — from which books they’re permitted to read, to whether they can access life-saving healthcare. But the system is a complex maze of paperwork that often stymies any chance at resolution, and can block a prisoner from ever filing suit. In 2023, less than 2% of grievances were granted, according to an analysis of federal prison data.
In an email, Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Emery Nelson wrote that “the BOP acknowledges the need to overhaul the administrative remedy program and is currently working on updates and additional guidance,” as part of a broader, agency-wide review of policies. He did not specify what changes were being made. “The Administrative Remedy Program is designed to ensure that all individuals have meaningful access to raise concerns about any aspect of their confinement,” Nelson wrote.
With the help of the Jailhouse Lawyer Initiative, a network of incarcerated legal experts, The Marshall Project surveyed incarcerated people, attorneys and advocates about how they would fix the remedy process. They also shared tips on how to navigate the system as it currently exists.
Swap the paperwork for an electronic filing system
“The simplest fix would be to allow the electronic filing of grievances,” Marcus Stroud wrote from federal prison in Connecticut. “This would ensure accountability, prevent papers from being ‘lost’ and cure many procedural issues.”
Currently, someone must fill out a stack of carbon copies for each level of the process, and attach a copy of the previous level’s response at each step. This makes it easy for paperwork to get lost or destroyed, survey respondents said. If someone is transferred to another prison halfway through an appeal, prisoners reported, they often lose their paperwork and have to start all over again.
Terri McGuire-Mollica’s lawsuit over a lack of medical care was initially thrown out because the Bureau of Prisons claimed they never received her final appeal — even though she sent it via certified legal mail. If it were done electronically, “that way you’ve got the trail,” she said. “You would cut down on all the mailing and all the copying that needs to be done.”
Jailhouse lawyers and others with experience with the remedy process suggested using certified mail, if you can afford the cost of postage. That provides a tracking number to mark when you tried to mail your paperwork. (That tracking number allowed McGuire-Mollica to prove to a judge that she had followed the prison’s remedy rules.) Some also recommended mailing a copy of any filing to a trusted person on the outside, in case your paperwork is lost or discarded.
Bureau spokesperson Nelson also encouraged incarcerated people to pay for certified mail, “which provides verification of delivery and strengthens the integrity” of the process.
Take the process out of the hands of prison officials
Many pointed to a core conflict in the bureau’s system — relying on prison officials to serve as their own watchdog. “The process should be first of all taken out of their full control and their hands,” said David Z. Simpson, co-founder of The Remedy Project, a nonprofit that helps people in federal prison file administrative remedies. “It will never be fair or legitimate if it’s controlled by them.”
Letting prison officials control the process also opens filers up to retaliation and abuse, attorneys said. Shanna Rifkin, general counsel of FAMM, which works with people in federal prison, noted that grievances are not confidential. “They’re made within the same system that employs people perpetrating that harm,” she said. “There needs to be something separate within BOP where individuals can feel safe reporting issues that have gone on in the facilities.”
William Batton, who is incarcerated in Minnesota, said the bureau needs external ways for people inside prison and their families to flag problems when the grievance system itself breaks down. Batton wrote that he would create “a national email line that inmates (and family) could send inquiries or report abuses of the system.” He also suggested national training for administrative remedy coordinators and counselors, “allowing for more accurate and consistent information.”
In 2024, Congress passed the Federal Prison Oversight Act, which authorized an independent ombudsman’s office to receive complaints from people in prison and their loved ones. But Congress has yet to allocate funding for the new office.
Bureau officials would not comment on individual cases, but said the agency prohibits retaliation and investigates allegations of abuse. People can also report problems to “the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) hotline, outside advocates, or approved third‑party reporters,” Nelson wrote.
Advocates also recommend contacting outside organizations, especially on sensitive complaints, like allegations of physical abuse. “Part of how the BOP gets away with abusing people is because no one is paying attention,” said Anna Sugrue, co-founder of The Remedy Project. “Knowing someone else is assisting and paying attention, we believe that’s an additional safeguard.”
Enforce deadlines for bureau officials, ease deadlines for filers
Another recurring complaint is how long the process can drag on. Under bureau policy, officials have 20 to 40 days to respond, depending on the level of review, with possible extensions. But the delays can stretch much longer in practice, Stroud wrote. “A diligent inmate, who has no procedural errors, can take up to 6 months to receive a final reply,” he wrote. Many reported never receiving a response to their filings.
The bureau’s deadlines mean little if there is no consequence when staff misses them, respondents said. Stephen Aguiar, who is incarcerated in Massachusetts, said if he could change the system, a missed deadline by prison staff would mean “the prisoner [is] granted whatever relief that is being sought.”
Meanwhile, incarcerated people can be rejected for missing deadlines, even when it’s out of their control, survey respondents said. Dale Russell, incarcerated in Florida, wrote that the “mailbox rule” — meaning a filing would count when an incarcerated person hands it to prison staff for mailing, not when it finally arrives — should apply to grievances. “We do not have control over the mail service and usually cannot afford to send everything certified,” he wrote. Even then, he suggested, delays in prison mail can eat up the time someone has to prepare an appeal.
Jailhouse lawyers who file regularly said they try to create a record the moment that a late response comes back. Staff sometimes return grievances so late that the filer is already at risk of missing the next deadline, wrote Jeremy D. Mount, who is incarcerated in Michigan. “One real slick trick they try to pull is giving your admin remedy back to you like a month late,” he wrote. “Then when you try to reply your time has run out.”
To protect himself, Mount wrote, he immediately sends a note to the unit team at his prison the same day he gets a response back, so he can later explain why an appeal appears late. Others recommend filing an appeal as soon as a deadline passes, even if you haven’t yet received a reply.
When asked about missed deadlines, bureau spokesperson Nelson said there were “rare instances” that someone doesn’t hear back about a grievance, due to “mail delays, damage, or other issues beyond staff control.” He also noted that prisoners can appeal a case as soon as the staff deadline passes, whether or not they received a response.
Simplify the process
Before they can file a lawsuit, people in federal prison generally must go through four layers of administrative review, starting with an informal complaint and ending with a final appeal. “I would lessen the appeals process so it would be easier and quicker for us to get into U.S. Court,” wrote Muhammad Hobbs, who is incarcerated in North Carolina.
Even when a grievance does make it through those administrative layers, the responses can do little to address the issue. Many of the answers feel “canned” or unrelated to the complaint itself, Russell wrote. “Sometimes, their responses are so ludicrous one is left wondering what the heck they read.”
Hobbs sees the complexities of the system as “designed to make you give up. In fact, they are banking on you giving up.” He encouraged prisoners to avoid filing simply out of anger. “But if you truly have an issue that you feel strongly about,” he said, “an issue that you feel or rather know you are entitled to or have been deprived of, then DO NOT GIVE UP!”