Attorney General Bill Barr is ordering federal prison officials to intensify their efforts to release “vulnerable” inmates at three prison complexes that are struggling to contain major outbreaks of the coronavirus
A total of 522 inmates were moved to home confinement following Barr’s directive last week, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
“I have not done that at all, but some states are letting people out of prison. Some people are getting out that are very serious criminals, in some states. And I don't like that. I don't like it,” Trump said during a regular White House briefing. “But it's a city or state thing in certain cases, as you know. I think maybe Philadelphia comes to mind. ... We don't like it. The people don't like it. And we're looking in to see if I have the right to stop it in some cases.
"While we have a solemn obligation to protect the people in BOP custody, we also have an obligation to protect the public," the attorney general wrote. "That means we cannot simply release prison populations en masse into the streets. Doing so would pose profound risks to the public from released prisoners engaging in additional criminal activity, potentially including violence or heinous sex offenses.
Barr's latest move to step up releases came as lawmakers, criminal justice reform advocates and lawyers for inmates pressed the department to move more quickly to reduce the danger of coronavirus sweeping through federal prisons.to him Monday to urge more widespread releases as well as other steps to limit the virus' spread.
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