Press Release

Media Contact:
Rabiah Burks, 202-822-6700
rburks@famm.org

FAMM releases statement following report on Biden administration’s commutation plan for people on home confinement

WASHINGTON – FAMM President Kevin Ring released the following statement following published reports about the Biden administrations plans for how to address people on home confinement:

“We are glad the president is showing signs that he might use his clemency authority to keep some people released during the pandemic home,” Ring said. “But we remain deeply disturbed that the administration is using arbitrary criteria to decide whom to separate from their families.

“Cheryl Johnson served 7 years in federal prison, has reintegrated successfully while on home confinement, and is parenting her 18, 15, and 12-year-old children. Why should they lose their mom again simply because she didn’t commit a drug crime? The president should keep everyone on CARES Act home confinement home.”

People sent home under the CARES Act were not told that they might have to return to prison. A bipartisan group of more than 25 members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to President Biden, urging the administration to rescind a legal memo on home confinement issued in the waning days of the Trump administration.

In addition, FAMM joined more than 25 organizations signing on to a letter urging President Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland to rescind a legal memo issued in the waning days of the Trump administration that would return thousands of people on home confinement to federal prison. Additionally, more than 30 CARES Act employers sent a letter urging Biden to keep their employees home.

For nearly three decades, FAMM has united the voices of affected families, the formerly incarcerated, and a range of stakeholders and advocates to fight for a more fair and effective justice system. FAMM’s focus on ending a one-size-fits-all punishment structure has led to reforms to sentencing and prison policies at the state and federal level and is paving the way to programs that support rehabilitation for the 94% of all prisoners who will return to our neighborhoods one day.

###

FAMM is a national nonpartisan advocacy organization that promotes fair and effective criminal justice policies that safeguard taxpayer dollars and keep our communities safe. Founded in 1991, FAMM is helping transform America’s criminal justice system by uniting the voices of impacted families and individuals and elevating the issues all across the country.