AUSTIN (KXAN) — Responding to concerns from more than two dozen members of Congress, the Federal Bureau of Prisons gave a vague answer when asked what will happen to the thousands of prisoners released under the CARES Act once the pandemic ends.
“As these regulations will guide parameters of implementation, we cannot speak to specifics at this time,” Acting Assistant Director James Wills wrote.
The letter, dated Feb. 7, is a response to a request from 27 members of Congress asking for specific details regarding whether or not all released prisoners will remain on home confinement and “on what basis” the BOP require inmates — like Round Rock truck driver Kendrick Fulton — to return to prison.
The BOP noted it has “discretion” to keep inmates on home confinement.
“Regulations are being prepared to implement this decision,” Wills wrote.
Back in December, the BOP put out a memo saying it plans to develop a plan to evaluate “which offenders should be returned to secure custody” noting sentence length will be a “significant factor.”
“It is likely that inmates that have longer terms remaining would be returned to secure custody,” the memo stated, “while those with shorter terms left who are doing well in their current placement would be allowed to remain there.”
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) was among those who signed the letter asking the BOP for more information. She told KXAN she isn’t satisfied with the response she received.
“Our office finds that the response is insufficient and leaves many questions unanswered,” her spokesperson, Mike Shanahan, said. “We will be reaching out to the Bureau of Prisons to set up a meeting to get further answers to some of the very important questions.”
Inmates, like Fulton, who have successfully reintegrated back into society, say they are living life in limbo. Without clemency, Fulton could be forced to return to prison to serve another decade on a non-violent drug charge.
“Still wait and see,” he texted KXAN after reading the BOP’s letter. “That’s what I get.”