The Department of Justice on April 4 issued a final rule granting discretion to the director of the Bureau of Prisons to allow individuals placed in home confinement under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES, Act to remain in home confinement after the emergency period expires.
“This final rule makes clear that the Director of the Bureau of Prisons has the discretion to ensure that those who have made rehabilitative progress and complied with the conditions of home confinement are not unnecessarily returned to prison,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a press release.
According to the announcement, the final rule gives the bureau discretion and flexibility to impose proportional and escalating sanctions for individuals who commit infractions, including returning them to prison. It also allows the bureau to move individuals into residential reentry centers when needed, including instances when a residence is no longer viable or due to either minor accountability issues or non-significant disciplinary issues.
Consistent with the final rule, the director of the Bureau of Prisons on April 4 also announced any individual placed in home confinement under the CARES Act will remain in it under the CARES Act for the remainder of their sentence, provided they comply with the rules and regulations of that placement.
The final rule comes after Garland issued a statement directing the DOJ to engage in a rulemaking process to ensure individuals placed in home confinement under the CARES Act are not unnecessarily returned to prison, according to the press release.
The proposed rule was published on June 21, 2022, and the comment deadline concluded on July 21, 2022. According to the announcement, before the publication of the proposed rule, the Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion interpreting the CARES Act to give the Bureau of Prisons discretion to permit individuals in home confinement to remain there after the COVID-19 emergency has ended.
Since the enactment of the CARES Act on March 26, 2020, the Bureau of Prisons has placed more than 12,000 individuals in home confinement under CARES Act authority, the announcement noted. Of those, the DOJ said only a fraction of one percent have been returned to secure custody due to new criminal conduct.