Opinion ID: 619809
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The BOP is primarily a law enforcement agency

Text: There appears to be no defined test for determining whether an agency is primarily a law enforcement agency. To our knowledge, only one circuit court, Duffin v. Carlson, 636 F.2d 709, 713 (D.C.Cir. 1980), has identified the BOP as a criminal law enforcement authority for Exemption 7 purposes. Duffin does not contain a detailed analysis on the point, but the court recognized that [p]risons perform as their principal function one of the most important duties pertaining to the enforcement of criminal laws, i.e., the execution of sentences in criminal cases. Id. Our review of various statutory mandates cause us to agree with the Duffin court's conclusion. The BOP is an integral component of a comprehensive federal law enforcement system. By statute the BOP is tasked with, among other things, the management and regulation of all Federal penal and correctional institutions, 18 U.S.C. § 4042(a)(1), and provid[ing] suitable quarters and provid[ing] for the safekeeping, care, and subsistence of all persons charged with or convicted of offenses against the United States, or held as witnesses or otherwise, id. § 4042(a)(2). Implicit in these tasks is the plain fact that the BOP's primary purpose is to confine prisoners and prevent their escape. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3050(1), BOP officers and employees are authorized to make arrests for violations of several statutory sections describing escape offenses, specifically, 18 U.S.C. §§ 751 and 752, and 28 U.S.C. § 1826(c). There can be no doubt that making arrests is a law enforcement function. Moreover, because escape is a criminal act, preventing it constitutes enforcement of the law. Cf. Milner, 131 S.Ct. at 1272 (Alito, J., concurring) (law enforcement includes ... proactive steps designed to prevent criminal activity). In addition to its primary law enforcement functions relating to escape, BOP officers perform other basic law enforcement functions within BOP facilities, including making arrests for other criminal offenses, see 18 U.S.C. § 3050(1)-(3); seizing prison contraband, see id. § 4012; and performing searches of non-inmates, see 28 C.F.R. §§ 511.10 to 511.16, and inmates, see id. §§ 552.10 to 552.14. Our conclusion that the BOP is primarily a law enforcement agency rather than a mixed-function agency is bolstered by the Privacy Act, where Congress designated that an agency or component thereof which performs as its principal function any activity pertaining to the enforcement of criminal laws includes correctional authorities. 5 U.S.C. § 552a(j)(2). In approving this designation, the Duffin court observed that, as a law enforcement agency, prison authorities also necessarily have the obligation ... to impose discipline for violation of the criminal laws and prison regulations by convicted prisoners who are confined in their custody. To do this the prison must investigate and maintain sources of intelligence. In so acting prisons perform law enforcement functions. Duffin, 636 F.2d at 713. Further support for our conclusion can be found in statutes that designate BOP employees as law enforcement officers for purposes of federal retirement benefits. For example, 5 U.S.C. § 8331(20) defines law enforcement officer as an employee, the duties of whose position are primarily the investigation, apprehension, or detention of individuals suspected or convicted of offenses against the criminal laws of the United States. The definition specifically includes employees of the Bureau of Prisons. Id. § 8331(20)(A). See also 5 U.S.C. § 8401(17)(D)(i) (providing similar definition of law enforcement officer for Federal Employee Retirement Services benefits). Based on the foregoing analysis, we hold that the BOP is primarily a law enforcement agency for purposes of FOIA analysis.