MORE THAN TWO DOZEN MEMBERS OF CONGRESS PEN BIPARTISAN LETTER URGING PRESIDENT BIDEN TO REVERSE CRUEL TRUMP DOJ MEMO THAT COULD FORCE THOUSANDS BACK TO FEDERAL PRISON
Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Kelly Armstrong, Cori Bush, Rashida Tlaib, and Pramila Jayapal, and 23 Others are Calling on Biden Admin. to Reverse DOJ Memo that Could Send Thousands of People on Home Confinement Back Behind Bars
“Reducing sentences for those who have successfully reintegrated into their communities would keep families together, save money, and improve public safety.”
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, more than two dozen of Congress from both sides of the aisle sent President Biden a letter urging his administration to reverse a last-minute memo issued by the Trump DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel that could force thousands back to prison. The memo, issued on January 15, 2021, states that those transferred from federal prison to home confinement due to a CARES Act provision have to return to federal prison after the COVID-19 crisis is deemed over. Today’s bipartisan letter calls on President Biden to intervene on this harmful, unnecessary policy, and use his executive clemency authority or direct the Justice Department to seek compassionate release for those who have demonstrated they are not a threat to public safety. Of the nearly 22,000 people who have been transferred to home confinement since March 2020, just one person committed a new crime.
“These men and women have safely returned to their families, found employment, pursued continuing education, and contributed to their communities and the nation’s recovery. To tear them away and send them back to prison because of a last-minute memo would be a devastating reminder that our country’s over-incarceration problem is one of our own making,” said Inimai Chettiar, Federal Director of Justice Action Network. “Members of Congress from both parties and advocates from across the political spectrum have come together to urge President Biden and the Department of Justice to use their authority to keep these families together. We hope they will heed the call and keep their promise to lead on criminal justice reform.”
This letter comes on the heels of a similar letter sent to Attorney General Garland and President Biden last week endorsed by dozens of criminal justice reform organizations from across the political spectrum. That letter is available here.
***Full Member Letter Below and HERE***
April 8, 2021
The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Biden:
We are writing to you today to urge you to reverse the Trump administration’s cruel and misguided decision to require thousands of people currently serving on home confinement to return to federal prison. Such a move would harm families, waste tax dollars, and undermine public safety.
Last March, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, to provide emergency assistance to the states and individuals. The law included a provision to allow the Attorney General to expand the amount of time people in federal prison could spend on home confinement. Typically, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is authorized to send someone to home confinement only at the very end of their sentence. Congress’s decision to expand the period of home confinement to help mitigate the spread of Covid-19 in federal prisons saved lives. Since last March, the BOP placed nearly 22,000 people on home confinement, with more than 7,500 currently on home confinement.
On January 15, 2021, in the waning days of the Trump administration, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel issued a memo arguing that the CARES Act requires the BOP to return those serving extended home confinement terms back to federal prison. We believe this memo is wrong as a matter of law – the CARES Act includes no such requirement – and harmful to the wellbeing of thousands of families and communities.
The vast majority of those people on home confinement today have reunited with their families and are working and contributing to society. They were not told they would have to return to prison and forcing them to do so would be cruel and devastating. You rightly pledged to reduce the federal prison population. Sending thousands of people back to federal prison who have already proven that they do not need to be there would undermine this commitment and would undermine, not advance, public safety.
Rather than follow through on the Trump administration’s misguided scheme to send people back to prison, we urge you to use your executive clemency authority or direct the Justice Department to seek compassionate release for people who have demonstrated that they no longer need to be under federal supervision. Reducing sentences for those who have successfully reintegrated into their communities would keep families together, save money, and improve public safety.
Sincerely,
BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN
KELLY ARMSTRONG
KAREN BASS
EARL BLUMENAUER
CORI BUSH
ANDRÉ CARSON
STEVE COHEN
DANNY K. DAVIS
ADRIANO ESPAILLAT
RAUL M. GRIJALVA
SHEILA JACKSON LEE
PRAMILA JAYAPAL
HAKEEM JEFFRIES
MONDAIRE JONES
ROBIN L. KELLY
BARBARA LEE
GRACE MENG
JERROLD NADLER
ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ
ILHAN OMAR
BOBBY L. RUSH
JAN SCHAKOWSKY
BENNIE THOMPSON
RASHIDA TLAIB
RITCHIE TORRES
DAVID TRONE
NYDIA M. VELÁZQUEZ