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Judge orders release of 17 virus-vulnerable federal inmates

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A judge has ordered the release of 17 inmates from a federal prison in Connecticut by Saturday, saying government officials have been too slow in moving medically vulnerable prisoners to home confinement or furlough to protect them from the coronavirus.

U.S. District Judge Michael Shea in Hartford issued the order Thursday night as part of a lawsuit by inmates at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury.

A settlement of the lawsuit in July requires the federal Bureau of Prisons to promptly identify prisoners who are low security risks and have a greater chance of developing serious complications from the virus and release them to home confinement.

The settlement calls for prisoners to be released within 14 days of being approved. But lawyers for the inmates say some of them have been waiting nearly three months to be released after being approved for home confinement.

In court documents, prison officials cited several reasons for the delays in releasing the inmates, including required 14-day quarantines due to the virus and new Bureau of Prisons guidelines in releasing inmates to the community.

A message seeking comment about Shea’s order was left with the U.S. attorney’s office in New Haven, which is representing prison officials.

The inmates’ attorneys say they are representing about 450 medically vulnerable prisoners at Danbury, which houses about 1,000 male and female inmates.

The Bureau of Prisons says there are 30 Danbury inmates and two staff members now infected with COVID-19. Since the pandemic began, 81 inmates and 67 staff members have recovered from the virus, and one inmate has died.

The lawsuit was filed in April by four inmates who said prison officials were not taking seriously a directive by Attorney General William Barr to maximize transfers to home confinement.

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Brian Kilmeade

Local Headlines