Replacement Prison Planned in Danbury

The Bureau of Prisons is considering replacing the female Federal Correctional Institute in Danbury with a smaller low-security prison for women after turning the main facility into a men-only prison.

U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, and senators from New York and Vermont announced the new, smaller female facility in a Monday phone press conference. 

The Bureau of Prisons had originally planned to switch Danbury's facility from women to men. That would have left New England without a women's prison. The U.S. Senators from New England, including Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Kristen Gillibrand from New York, argued against the switch, saying New England families and children would have a much harder time visiting the prisoners.