"U.S. attorney general seeks to expand home confinement as coronavirus spreads in prisons"

The title of this post is the headline of this new Reuters piece, and here are the details:

U.S. Attorney General William Barr said Thursday he has directed the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to expand its use of home confinement for inmates in appropriate cases, as the coronavirus has continued to spread in the federal prison system.

A total of six inmates and four prison staffers have tested positive for COVID-19, Barr said, adding that several federal facilities including two in New York City are now on lock-down as a result.

The First Step Act, signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump in late 2018, expanded the BOP’s powers to maximize the amount of time that lower-risk inmates can spend in home confinement, when possible. “I’ve asked and issued a memorandum just today to the Bureau of Prisons to increase the use of home confinement,” Barr told reporters during what Barr said was the department’s first-ever “virtual” press conference in order to practice social-distancing.

“One of the things we have to assess is whether that individual...will be more safe in the particular circumstance in which they are going to find themselves. And in many cases, that may not be the case.” He added that any inmate released on home confinement will still face a 14-day quarantine.

Notably, since this article was published, the BOP has updated here its data on positive tests to report that there are now 10 federal inmates and 8 federal prison staffers who have tested positive for COVID-19.

UPDATE:  A helpful colleague provided me with a copy of the two page memorandum titled "Prioritization of Home Confinement As Appropriate In Response to COVID-19 Pandemic."  Here it is:

Download BOP Memo.Home Confinement