Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr on Monday urging him to release “as many prisoners as possible” from federal facilities who are at high risk of becoming dangerously ill with the coronavirus.
The letter called on the Justice Department and the federal Bureau of Prisons to use their authority and “modify the sentences of prisoners who present ‘extraordinary and compelling reasons.'”
“We call on you, in the most urgent terms, to do the right thing and exercise this authority and immediately move to release medically-compromised, elderly and pregnant prisoners from the custody of the BOP,” the letter says. “In addition, we urge that you use every tool at your disposal to release as many prisoners as possible, to protect them from COVID-19.”
The missive was signed by Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, the chairman of the committee, and Rep. Karen Bass of California, the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
It comes in the wake of the first death of a prisoner in federal custody because of COVID-19.
The 49-year-old prisoner died Saturday in Louisiana and had pre-existing medical conditions that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified as risk factors for developing “more severe COVID-19 disease.”
The letter also noted that a guard at the facility is in intensive care with the virus and 30 prisoners and staff have tested positive.
The lawmakers said the $2.2 trillion rescue plan signed by President Trump last Friday gives the Justice Department and the Bureau of Prisons the authority to “release prisoners to home confinement.”
Nadler and Bass also raised concerns that the Bureau of Prisons is still moving prisoners between federal facilities.
“We are familiar with BOP’s directive suspending internal movement during the COVID19 pandemic, with limited exceptions,” the letter says. “Unfortunately, I have heard multiple reports that BOP is transporting prisoners outside of the limited exceptions BOP has enumerated.”
Rep. Fred Keller (R-Pa.) said he plans to introduce a bill to halt the movement of prisoners during the pandemic.
“While I hope, given the national urgency to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, any legislation stopping BOP prisoner movement can pass Congress quickly, it is just one avenue I am pursuing,” he told Fox News. “The fastest way to stop inmate movement is for those in charge of this process to see the danger continued inmate movement poses to BOP employees and their communities and stop it immediately.”