U.S. attorney general orders release of more federal inmates due to
coronavirus pandemic
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[April 04, 2020]
By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney
General William Barr declared on Friday that the federal Bureau of
Prisons (BOP) is facing emergency conditions due to the fast-spreading
coronavirus, paving the way for the agency to begin releasing more
inmates out of custody and into home confinement.
Barr said under his emergency order, priority for releasing vulnerable
inmates into home confinement should be given first to those housed in
federal prisons that have been hardest hit by COVID-19, including
facilities such as Oakdale in Louisiana, Elkton in Ohio and Danbury in
Connecticut.
Barr's order comes after five inmates at FCI Oakdale 1 and two at FCI
Elkton 1 died from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel
coronavirus.
The BOP said Friday that 91 inmates and 50 of its staff throughout its
122 institutions have fallen ill with COVID-19. Union officials and
families of prisoners have told Reuters they believe the number of
people sickened with the virus is much higher.
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Earlier this week, the BOP took the unprecedented step of ordering all
of its facilities to place inmates into a 14-day quarantine by confining
them to their cells or living quarters.
The $2 trillion stimulus bill signed by President Donald Trump last week
included a provision designed to make it easier for federal prisons to
release more inmates into home confinement to help control the
coronavirus outbreak. Prior to the stimulus law, the BOP could release
to home confinement only inmates who had already served at least 90% of
their sentence or had no more than six months left to go.
The new law allows the BOP director greater discretion to release a
larger cohort of inmates. But it required that Barr first declare a
state of emergency for the federal prison system.
"For all inmates whom you deem suitable candidates for home confinement,
you are directed to immediately process them for transfer and then
immediately transfer them following a 14-day quarantine," Barr directed
the BOP in a memo released late Friday.
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U.S. Attorney General William Barr takes part in the "2019 Prison
Reform Summit" in the East Room of the White House in Washington,
U.S., April 1, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
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Criminal-justice advocates have warned for months that U.S. jails
and prison are potential hothouses for infection. Inmates live in
close quarters, share bathrooms and dining halls, and often have
limited access to health care.
Many have been critical of Barr for not taking action sooner to
release more inmates from jails and prisons - a move that some
states like New York and California have shown a greater willingness
to do.
Earlier on Friday, Reuters reported that federal prosecutors around
the country in recent weeks have fought back against a variety of
efforts by inmates to be released, even temporarily, due to the
coronavirus pandemic.
In court filings, prosecutors have urged judges to deny release on
bond to defendants who are in jail awaiting trial and suggested that
some inmates with pre-existing medical conditions would be safer in
prison than at home, among other arguments.
U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler cheered
Barr's order on Friday, saying it was a much-needed action to help
lower the prison population amid the pandemic.
"This is a positive development, and I urge appropriate and swift
use of this power," Nadler said in a statement.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Sandra Maler, Leslie Adler
and Jane Wardell)
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