The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is facing emergency conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, US Attorney General William Barr announced on Friday. This allows the BOP to release more federal inmates into home confinement.
Prisoners at facilities where major coronavirus outbreaks have occurred will be prioritised, Barr added.
Today AG Barr told BOP to focus the expanded release to home confinement on 3 most hard hit prisons by COVID: FCI Oakdale, FCI Danbury & FCI Elkton: “We have to move with dispatch in using home confinement, where appropriate, to move vulnerable inmates out of these institutions." pic.twitter.com/fQRoTaD74n
— Clare Hymes (@ClareHymes22) April 4, 2020
Earlier on Tuesday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that city authorities had released as many as 900 inmates from prison and will continue to free more prisoners in a bid to stop the COVID-19 spread.
The total number of COVID-19 infections in the US has reached 276,955, with at least 7,406 fatalities.
