Four Allenwood Prison Inmates Unlawfully Denied Transfers, Class Action Claims

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Four federal prison inmates at a facility in Allenwood, Pennsylvania claim they were unlawfully denied fair consideration for transfer requests, incentive programs and transitional services. The suit alleges the defendants—warden Douglas K. White and J. Ray Ormand, the Northeast Regional Director of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP)—abused their authority by forging documents and creating administrative roadblocks to prevent eligible inmates from transferring to minimum security facilities.

According to the case, the defendants “created an illegal custody level called gatepass,” through which inmates are assigned jobs and allegedly threatened with isolation should they refuse to work. One plaintiff says his request for transfer—submitted near the end of his sentence—was denied. When the man looked into the reason behind his rejection, his case management coordinator supposedly informed him that he could not leave until the “successful completion” of his work detail, which the inmate claims he never applied for. Pursuant to BOP policy, the suit explains, inmates should be afforded at least 60 days in a low security facility before transitioning to a halfway house. The case asserts that the prison’s use of “gatepass” was never approved by the BOP and that the program deprives inmates of their right to due process.