New legislation introduced in the Senate would require the Justice Department to establish guidelines for the federal Bureau of Prisons and state correctional systems to notify the families of incarcerated people if their loved one has a serious illness, a life-threatening injury or if they die behind bars.
The legislation — introduced by Sens. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., and John Kennedy, R-La. — is the latest step by members of Congress to further oversight of the beleaguered federal prison system, which has lurched from crisis to crisis in recent years.
