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The federal prison system
The federal prison system had already existed for nearly 40 years under the Three Prisons Act (1891), which authorized the first three federal penitentiaries: USP Leavenworth, USP Atlanta, and USP McNeil Island, and had since grown to 11 federal prisons. -
Bureau of Prisons
Congress established the Bureau of Prisons within the Department of Justice and charged the agency with the "management and regulation of all Federal penal and correctional institutions." -
Increase in prisons
By the end of 1930, the agency operated 14 facilities for just over 13,000 inmates. In 1932 the Bureau opened USP Lewisburg, the first penitentiary built by the newly established agency. -
between 1940 and 1980
Except for a few fluctuations, the number of inmates did not change significantly between 1940 and 1980, however, the number of facilities almost doubled (from 24 to 44) as the Bureau gradually moved from operating large facilities. -
overpopulation of prisons
The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 established determinate sentencing, abolished parole and reduced good time, this has led to an overpopulation of prisons to 95 federal prisons.
