US Attorney General orders release of more federal inmates due to coronavirus pandemic

U.S. Attorney General William Barr declared on Friday that the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is facing emergency conditions due to the fast-spreading coronavirus, a move that will pave the way for the BOP to begin releasing more inmates out of custody and into home confinement.

Barr said under his emergency order, priority for releasing vulnerable inmates into home confinement should be given first to those housed in federal prisons that have been hardest hit by COVID-19, including Oakdale in Louisiana, Elkton in Ohio and Danbury in Connecticut.