Leonard Bishop, the incarcerated advisory neighborhood commissioner who represents people in the D.C. Jail, says he is scheduled to be transferred back to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons penitentiary in Kentucky. Bishop says he has not been given an explanation for the transfer, which he believes is scheduled for Wednesday.
“It’s different when you’re doing time with nothing to lose,” he says. “Being as though I worked hard and prepared myself for release, and now you’re sending me back to a penitentiary where there’s no benefit to my rehabilitation because I can’t participate in no programs.”
Bishop says he is likely to be transferred back to USP McCreary in Kentucky, more than 500 miles from the District, where he was incarcerated prior to his transfer to the D.C. Jail five years ago. Back then, he had petitioned for a reduced sentence under the Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act, which has been denied. But he also has a pending claim under the Innocence Protection Act that allows a person convicted of a crime to ask a judge to throw out the conviction or grant a new trial based on new evidence. Officials with the BOP and the D.C. Jail did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the D.C. Jail, Bishop says he is currently enrolled in classes through Georgetown University and Ashland University. He is also a mentor in the Lead Up program, and last week, he received his ServSafe food handling certification. Back in the BOP, he says, he would not have access to college classes, and because of his life sentence, he would be last in line for other types of programming.
“I could be on the list for five years, and if somebody comes in today with fewer years, they’ll jump me in the line,” he says. “The only thing available for people with life sentences is a GED, and I got my GED over 20 years ago.”
In his role as an advisory neighborhood commissioner, Bishop has advocated for the right of incarcerated people to testify during D.C. Council hearings. The news of his transfer this week came around the same time that he was scheduled to testify during a hearing on a bill aimed at improving the food at the jail. He testified on the Fresh Start Act this past Thursday.
Bishop was elected ANC in 2022. Commissioners are required to live in the single member districts where they serve, so his transfer would likely disqualify him for the role.
“There are a lot of positive things that I believe an ANC commissioner can do within the DOC, and I only ask that I am allowed and given the opportunity to do just that,” Bishop writes in an email to several elected local officials. “The ANC commissioner term is for 2 years, and commissioners must live within the SMD. I humbly ask that I am not forced to relinquish my sworn duties as an elected official, by being transferred back to the Federal Bureau of Prison. I would like to be afforded the opportunity to carry out my elected term as ANC Commissioner of 7F08.”