"Last week, the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) quietly published a final rule governing conditions and policies at the Communications Management Units (CMUs) -- two highly restrictive prison units that segregate certain prisoners and sharply restrict their access to family, loved ones, and the outside world. Astonishingly, this rule emerges almost nine years after the Bush administration secretively opened the first CMU in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 2006, and almost five years after the BOP was flooded with criticism during a public comment period about the units. Even with all the time they had, the BOP's long-overdue attempt to explain what these prison units are, and how they function, clarifies very little. ..."

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