FILE – This March 28, 2017, file photo, provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry, shows Jeffrey Epstein. Lawyers for the estate of Jeffrey Epstein want to set up a fund to compensate women who have accused him of sexual abuse. The estate filed papers in the U.S. Virgin Islands on Thursday asking a court there to approve the voluntary claims program. (New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge who denied bail for financier Jeffrey Epstein before he died is urging the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and the Justice Department to study prison conditions nationwide and make necessary reforms.
U.S. District Judge Richard Berman told The New York Times in an opinion letter published Sunday that it is “unthinkable that any detainee, let alone … Epstein, would die unnoticed at the Metropolitan Correctional Center.”
Epstein, facing sex trafficking charges, was found unresponsive in his cell Aug. 10. A medical examiner ruled it a suicide.
Two jail guards have pleaded not guilty to criminal charges. Authorities say they failed to check on Epstein in eight hours before he died.
Berman said failing to do an in-depth evaluation of prison conditions would be a “tragic and costly missed opportunity.”
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