[10] FMC Carswell has an administrative high security unit,[12] which houses women in the BOP system who are classified as "special management concerns" due to violence and/or escape attempts.

[15] Articles criticizing FMC Carswell have appeared in various media outlets relating to various forms of prisoner abuse.

[16] Over a seven-year period, seven FMC Carswell staff members were convicted of sexual abuse of a prisoner.

[22] In May 2008, Vincent Inametti, a Roman Catholic priest who worked as a chaplain at FMC Carswell, was sentenced to 48 months in prison and ordered to pay a $3,000 fine after pleading guilty in November 2007 to two counts of sexual abuse of two inmates.

[23][24] Inametti, Register # 36889-177, was imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Institution, Butner Low in North Carolina and released in October 2011.

The 30-year-old Native American Andrea Circle Bear (BOP# 18015-273), who was serving a two-year sentence on a drug-related charge, died on April 28.

[1] In July 2020, it was reported that 28-year-old inmate Reality Winner had tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the prison's total of confirmed cases to more than 500.

According to The Guardian, "Despite weeks of pleas for cleaning supplies and commissary privileges, attorneys, health providers and even the guard's union are all denouncing the rudimentary protocols inside FMC Carswell."

Marius (Marie) Mason is one of the first transgender individuals to be diagnosed with gender dysphoria and given hormone treatment with testosterone.