Earlier this month, Josh J. Smith, who served 5 years within the federal jail system on drug prices, was tapped to be deputy director on the company that had locked him up. The Bureau of Prisons touted Smith’s appointment as a “testomony to the ability of transformation” and proof that the company is succeeding at its mission.
However lots of the correctional officers who patrol the greater than 100 services operated by the company throughout the nation noticed Smith’s appointment as one other slap within the face, simply months after President Donald Trump moved to rescind their collective bargaining rights.
“I’ll by no means settle for a former inmate supervising me,” mentioned a correctional officer who works at a federal facility in Miami and requested to not be named as a result of he’s not licensed to talk to the press. “I do know a Marine who did a tour in Iraq who bought fired for pissing marijuana. Why ought to he be making six figures, and this girl misplaced her job?”
The nationwide union that represents bureau staffers didn’t take an official place on Smith’s appointment. Nonetheless, Brandy Moore White, president of the American Federation of Authorities Staff Council of Jail Locals, mentioned she had heard from many members who see a double commonplace in Smith’s appointment, given the rigorous screening that job candidates should bear.
“When you’ve got something in your background, you’ll be able to’t work for the bureau,” White mentioned, noting that she needed to spend hours with the investigator who carried out her background verify earlier than she was employed in 2004 as a well being providers secretary. “He’s going to have points gaining respect due to that.”
In interviews with The Marshall Venture, a number of bureau staffers expressed concern not about Smith’s felony historical past, however about his lack of expertise working an company of the scale and complexity of the Bureau of Prisons. It’s the largest jail system within the nation, with greater than 35,000 staff and a funds of greater than $8.6 billion. The bureau is chargeable for overseeing almost 156,000 folks sentenced by the federal courts
For his or her half, a number of incarcerated folks mentioned they see Smith’s story as a constructive. “The final consensus is that it will possibly solely be a superb factor,” mentioned Lana Crown, who’s serving time at a federal jail camp in Texas. “Possibly he’ll assist with dwelling situations and getting out of jail after we are purported to, as a result of he has lived it.”
CeCe Hunter, who’s incarcerated at a federal facility in North Carolina, mentioned, “He’s a convict, similar to us. I feel he could be extra pro-prisoners than anyone that’s by no means been there.”
When reached by telephone, Smith referred inquiries to the media workplace for the Bureau of Prisons, which declined The Marshall Venture’s request to interview him. In line with information reviews and his on-line biography, Smith, now 50, grew up in public housing in Nashville. He was convicted of a number of felonies as a young person and dropped out of highschool. In 1998, he was convicted on a federal cost of conspiracy to own and distribute cocaine and marijuana, and was despatched to a minimum-security jail camp in Kentucky. There, he later instructed a reporter, he bought to know folks convicted of white-collar crimes, who he mentioned taught him about finance, actual property and inventory buying and selling.
He went on to begin a house restore and development enterprise that specialised in basements and foundations. Grasp Service Corporations ultimately expanded to areas in three states earlier than Smith offered it in 2019. In line with information protection, he used hundreds of thousands of {dollars} from the proceeds to discovered the Fourth Function Basis, a faith-based nonprofit that works with incarcerated folks. He bought concerned in coverage reform, becoming a member of Tennessee’s Prison Justice Funding Process Power. In 2021, within the final days of Trump’s first administration, the president granted Smith a full and unconditional pardon.
“Deputy Director Smith’s story is one in every of ache to prosperity,” bureau spokesperson Randilee Giamusso wrote in an e mail to The Marshall Venture. “He brings to his function one thing our company has by no means had earlier than: a perspective formed by lived expertise.”
Smith’s title had been floated for a potential appointment for a number of months. In April, Trump named Billy Marshall, previously the pinnacle of the jail system in West Virginia, to steer the bureau, and this month Marshall selected Smith to be his deputy.
“I like the truth that you will have a man who is aware of corrections in Billy, however you’ve bought a man like Josh who’s finished numerous reform and reentry work,” mentioned Hugh Hurwitz, who served as interim director of the Bureau of Prisons in 2018 and 2019 and now works as a corrections marketing consultant. “He’s run companies; he’s bought credibility; he has connections. Mix Josh’s background and Billy’s background, you’ve bought a strong group to run the company.”
However amongst federal jail employees, the appointment felt like yet one more blow to their beleaguered group.
Some staffers mentioned they imagine that Trump needs to denationalise the bureau. The extra the company falters, they mentioned, the simpler it will be for Trump to make the case to let non-public jail operators take over. “Most people that I’ve talked to, they really feel like we’re being set as much as fail,” mentioned Gregory Watts, who retired final 12 months as a correctional officer in a federal jail in Texas and nonetheless serves as president of his facility’s union native. He thinks Smith was chosen particularly due to his lack of expertise. Trump “needs to run the company into the bottom,” Watts mentioned.
In an emailed assertion, Liz Huston, a spokesperson for the White Home, didn’t reply to questions on whether or not Trump needs to denationalise the bureau, however mentioned Smith’s firsthand expertise offers him invaluable perspective.
“For over 20 years, he has been a devoted advocate for jail reform, and his ardour and experience will play a crucial function in remodeling the company’s tradition,” Huston wrote.
The response of bureau staffers on social media was largely outraged. “Fox in control of the chickens,” wrote one Fb consumer in a non-public group for present and former company staff. One other wrote that he struggled to get a small pay elevate, “however an inmate will be your boss’s boss.”
The bureau has been tormented by understaffing for years, which specialists say makes prisons extra harmful for workers and prisoners alike. However the Trump administration didn’t spare the company in its efforts to aggressively lower the federal workforce. In February, the bureau introduced it was slashing retention bonuses, which resulted in pay cuts of as much as 25% for some employees. In March, Trump issued an government order to finish collective bargaining that will get rid of many protections the union had gained over years of negotiations. (The union is presently difficult this motion in court docket.) In Could, officers introduced a partial hiring freeze. Finances negotiations in Congress have included proposals to scale back retirement advantages for bureau staff.
White, the union president, mentioned Smith has one thing that earlier prime directors on the bureau haven’t had: the president’s ear. She is hopeful that can be a constructive change for workers.
The bureau has seen an exodus of high-ranking officers since Trump’s inauguration. At the very least six members — greater than a 3rd — of the company’s senior management, every with a long time of expertise, introduced their departures inside weeks. In interviews, bureau staffers mentioned they feared that Smith’s appointment would result in the retirements of extra skilled staff that the company can not afford to lose.
“Having a previous convicted felon because the second-in-command on the bureau is simply unbelievable,” mentioned Josh Lepird, a regional vice chairman of the Council of Jail Locals. “The morale was down and low to start with, however now you’ve bought people who need to get out of the bureau ASAP.”
The mission of the Bureau of Prisons consists of “making ready people for profitable reentry.” Kimora, a professor who teaches corrections programs at John Jay School of Prison Justice in New York (and makes use of one title), mentioned that correctional officers who imagine in that mission should embrace Smith’s appointment.
However Hurwitz, the previous interim director, mentioned he understands why employees is combating the information. He identified that the mission additionally consists of incarcerating individuals who pose a hazard to society. “You are able to do each, and fairly frankly I feel BOP is nearly as good as anyone at doing each,” he mentioned. However it may be tough for officers to reconcile that they’ve “to each rehabilitate folks in addition to [say], ‘These are unhealthy folks, and it’s a must to defend society from them.’”
Nonetheless, Hurwitz mentioned, Smith is proof that it may be finished.
“What he did, he did when he was in his 20s, and he’s a unique individual right this moment,” Hurwitz mentioned. “I’ve met him a variety of occasions. He’s not a thug. He’s modified.”
