WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd December, 2021) Inmates placed on home confinement due to the risk posed by the novel coronavirus will not necessarily be returned to prison, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
"Thousands of people on home confinement have reconnected with their families, have found gainful employment, and have followed the rules... We will exercise our authority so that those who have made rehabilitative progress and complied with the conditions of home confinement, and who in the interests of justice should be given an opportunity to continue transitioning back to society, are not unnecessarily returned to prison," the statement said on Tuesday.
Garland's statement was prompted by an opinion issued by the Office of legal Counsel on Tuesday that said the US Bureau of Prisons has discretion to permit prisoners in extended� home confinement to remain there, despite prior plans to recall the prisoners once the coronavirus pandemic ends.
The Director of the Bureau of Prisons was initially authorized to place prisoners on home confinement under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed during the Trump administration.
Garland said in the statement that he directed the Justice Department to engage in a rulemaking process to ensure that they live up to the letter and spirit of the CARES Act in light of the Office Legal Counsel opinion.
