Thousands of Federal Prisoners to Remain Free After COVID-19 Pandemic

When the pandemic hit, 36,000 federal prisoners were released on home confinement to prevent the spread of COVID. More than 25,000 completed their sentence and 7,600 remain on home confinement. They no longer have to fear going back en masse to finish their sentences because of a new Memo issued by the attorney general.

In short, prisoners placed on home confinement pending the conclusion of the CARES ACT emergency order permitting the Bureau of Prisons to lengthen the maximum amount of time it may place prisoners on home confinement may remain on home confinement. There will be no en masse rescinding of home confinement orders for the thousands of federal prisoners released pending the conclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On December 21, 2021, The Department of Justice released a memo addressing its discretion to continue home confinement placements of federal prisoners after the COVID-19 emergency. The Attorney General determined that its prior memo that would have, in effect, sent prisoners back to jail after the conclusion of the pandemic must be reversed because it failed to address important and persuasive counterarguments. The Attorney General now interprets the CARES ACT to grant the BOP discretion to permit prisoners to remain in extended home confinement after the conclusion of the pandemic.

The BOP will now only recall prisoners where “penologically justified” instead of a blanket one-sized fits all policy of returning.

Prisoners narrowly avoided having to return, but for Attorney General Merrick Garland personally stepping in and reviewing the CARES Act and asking his office of legal counsel to review the decision, 7,700 or more people would have been ripped from their families and ordered to return to prison.

While ContraFed is grateful for the reversal of the hasty decision, 206,000 non-violent offenders still reside in federal jails – 56,000 of them are awaiting trial. Perhaps the justice department is beginning to realize that a cage is not the best place for those needing rehabilitation for non-violent offenses.

Learn more about federal sentencing here in our comprehensive Federal Criminal Defense Guide.