TW: Suicide
Among the few who reached out to us about the issues below, one chose not to remain anonymous—demonstrating remarkable courage in the face of potential retaliation.
The BOP’s Disciplinary system is theoretically designed to provide incarcerated individuals with a fair and impartial process for handling alleged disciplinary violations. The Discpline Hearing Officer (DHO) is meant to uphold due process rights, ensure individuals receive appropriate representation, and apply disciplinary codes with fairness. However, as we have seen time and time again, this system has been manipulated to punish rather than protect, leaving those who need support subject to severe, retaliatory abuse.
The Remedy Project regularly receives pleas for help from individuals facing wrongful disciplinary actions, many of whom suffer from medical issues including mental illness. These members describe a pattern of due process violations, including fabricated reports, ignored medical evaluations, and unfair DHO hearings that rubber-stamp punishments without considering the medical and psychological evidence presented. In some cases, incarcerated individuals experiencing severe health problems are charged with disciplinary infractions rather than receiving the medical intervention they desperately need.
One of our members, Jordan Walker, has given us permission to share her story. She is incarcerated at FCI Waseca and was charged with Tattooing or Self-Mutilation (Code 228) following a suicide attempt. She wrote:
"I was not concerned with the ‘wrongfulness’ of my act, nor was I thinking of my own future. I did not envision a future for myself at that moment, nor when I went to Medical and admitted that I ‘just wanted to die.’”
Ms. Walker has a history of Opioid Use Disorder, PTSD, anxiety, depression, and self-harm. She was not given a proper mental health evaluation after her suicide attempt, nor was she allowed proper representation at her DHO hearing. Instead, a fraudulent mental health evaluation was submitted on her behalf by a doctor who had never met her, falsely framing her suicide attempt as a manipulative act rather than a medical crisis.
Even more disgusting, Ms. Walker was denied her right to staff representation during her DHO hearing. The DHO falsely claimed she waived this right despite her explicit request for a staff representative. This alone constitutes a clear due process violation. As a result, rather than receiving the care she needed, she was punished, isolated, and branded as a disciplinary case.
Ms. Walker is far from alone. Many individuals suffering from severe mental health issues have been met with similar responses from the BOP: deliberate neglect, falsified reports, and excessive punishment. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), jails and prisons have become the primary institutions housing people with mental illness, yet they are not equipped to provide proper care, with only about 3 in 5 receiving treatment in prisons and less than half in jails. This is a national crisis. The extensive scope of these abuses reveals a disciplinary system that is deeply flawed and corrupted, systematically undermining those struggling with mental illness. Mental health evaluations are being manipulated or disregarded. These urgent issues require immediate transparency and accountability.
These issues extend beyond FCI Waseca. Complaints related to retaliatory discipline and ignored medical evaluations have come from multiple federal facilities, including:
This is a national crisis. The widespread nature of these abuses proves that the BOP disciplinary system is broken, corrupted, and used as a weapon to dehumanize those suffering from mental illness. This goes beyond mere misconduct—it represents a deliberate misuse of mental health crises to legitimize harsher incarceration.
The Remedy Project has filed administrative remedies on behalf of Ms. Walker and others facing similar abuses. Her intiail appeal was denied by the warden at FCI Waseca, despite clear evidence of due process violations. We are now moving on to higher-level appeals and will continue to do so for every single individual subjected to this unjust system.
Join us in demanding justice for Ms. Walker and others like her. They deserve to have their disciplinary infractions expunged and to receive the medical and psychological care they are entitled to. The BOP must be held accountable for falsifying medical evaluations, violating due process, and criminalizing mental illness.
Furthermore, we demand that all involved in these abuses be investigated and punished for their failures. No one should have to suffer alone in silence. Advocating for them is advocating for all those in the U.S. prison system facing similar human rights injustices.
Take action today to demand justice. We are requesting your support so that we can ensure all our members receive the care and fair treatment they deserve. We have filed the remedy process and paperwork and have taken all the legal steps to ensure Jordan Walker is heard by the BOP and that the DHO throws out the case upon the faulty and improper Mental Health Evaluation. The staff at these prisons must be held accountable for their negligence, their deliberate misclassification of suicide attempts, and their flagrant disregard for human dignity.
TW: Suicide
Among the few who reached out to us about the issues below, one chose not to remain anonymous—demonstrating remarkable courage in the face of potential retaliation.
The BOP’s Disciplinary system is theoretically designed to provide incarcerated individuals with a fair and impartial process for handling alleged disciplinary violations. The Discpline Hearing Officer (DHO) is meant to uphold due process rights, ensure individuals receive appropriate representation, and apply disciplinary codes with fairness. However, as we have seen time and time again, this system has been manipulated to punish rather than protect, leaving those who need support subject to severe, retaliatory abuse.
The Remedy Project regularly receives pleas for help from individuals facing wrongful disciplinary actions, many of whom suffer from medical issues including mental illness. These members describe a pattern of due process violations, including fabricated reports, ignored medical evaluations, and unfair DHO hearings that rubber-stamp punishments without considering the medical and psychological evidence presented. In some cases, incarcerated individuals experiencing severe health problems are charged with disciplinary infractions rather than receiving the medical intervention they desperately need.
One of our members, Jordan Walker, has given us permission to share her story. She is incarcerated at FCI Waseca and was charged with Tattooing or Self-Mutilation (Code 228) following a suicide attempt. She wrote:
"I was not concerned with the ‘wrongfulness’ of my act, nor was I thinking of my own future. I did not envision a future for myself at that moment, nor when I went to Medical and admitted that I ‘just wanted to die.’”
Ms. Walker has a history of Opioid Use Disorder, PTSD, anxiety, depression, and self-harm. She was not given a proper mental health evaluation after her suicide attempt, nor was she allowed proper representation at her DHO hearing. Instead, a fraudulent mental health evaluation was submitted on her behalf by a doctor who had never met her, falsely framing her suicide attempt as a manipulative act rather than a medical crisis.
Even more disgusting, Ms. Walker was denied her right to staff representation during her DHO hearing. The DHO falsely claimed she waived this right despite her explicit request for a staff representative. This alone constitutes a clear due process violation. As a result, rather than receiving the care she needed, she was punished, isolated, and branded as a disciplinary case.
Ms. Walker is far from alone. Many individuals suffering from severe mental health issues have been met with similar responses from the BOP: deliberate neglect, falsified reports, and excessive punishment. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), jails and prisons have become the primary institutions housing people with mental illness, yet they are not equipped to provide proper care, with only about 3 in 5 receiving treatment in prisons and less than half in jails. This is a national crisis. The extensive scope of these abuses reveals a disciplinary system that is deeply flawed and corrupted, systematically undermining those struggling with mental illness. Mental health evaluations are being manipulated or disregarded. These urgent issues require immediate transparency and accountability.
These issues extend beyond FCI Waseca. Complaints related to retaliatory discipline and ignored medical evaluations have come from multiple federal facilities, including:
This is a national crisis. The widespread nature of these abuses proves that the BOP disciplinary system is broken, corrupted, and used as a weapon to dehumanize those suffering from mental illness. This goes beyond mere misconduct—it represents a deliberate misuse of mental health crises to legitimize harsher incarceration.
The Remedy Project has filed administrative remedies on behalf of Ms. Walker and others facing similar abuses. Her intiail appeal was denied by the warden at FCI Waseca, despite clear evidence of due process violations. We are now moving on to higher-level appeals and will continue to do so for every single individual subjected to this unjust system.
Join us in demanding justice for Ms. Walker and others like her. They deserve to have their disciplinary infractions expunged and to receive the medical and psychological care they are entitled to. The BOP must be held accountable for falsifying medical evaluations, violating due process, and criminalizing mental illness.
Furthermore, we demand that all involved in these abuses be investigated and punished for their failures. No one should have to suffer alone in silence. Advocating for them is advocating for all those in the U.S. prison system facing similar human rights injustices.
Take action today to demand justice. We are requesting your support so that we can ensure all our members receive the care and fair treatment they deserve. We have filed the remedy process and paperwork and have taken all the legal steps to ensure Jordan Walker is heard by the BOP and that the DHO throws out the case upon the faulty and improper Mental Health Evaluation. The staff at these prisons must be held accountable for their negligence, their deliberate misclassification of suicide attempts, and their flagrant disregard for human dignity.
