Need assistance? Check out our Federal Pro Se Compassionate Release Toolkit.
CARES Act Home Confinement & the OLC Memo
At this moment, thousands of people safely completing their sentences at home are living in fear that they’ll be sent back to federal prison through no fault of their own. A memo issued in the final days of the Trump administration threatens to send around 4,500 people on home confinement back to federal prison after the pandemic ends. This memo, from the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), is incorrect. Moreover, none of these people were told that they might be sent back and most made plans for a future with their families at home. If the Biden administration doesn’t act to fix this, these families will be torn apart.
FAMM launched the Keep Them Home campaign in order to urge the administration to fix this mess. Right now, we need to bring attention to this issue and have as many people as possible tell the administration that this needs immediate action.
The Biden administration should grant clemency to the thousands of people currently at home with their families under CARES Act home confinement.
Thousands of people on home confinement will be forced to go back to federal prison unless President Biden acts now. Urge the Biden administration to grant clemency to people on CARES Act home confinement and #KeepThemHome!
Take Action: Join us in urging the Biden administration to grant clemency to the 4,500 people currently at home with their families who are at risk of being sent back to prison!
- Contact the Biden administration directly. Instructions can be found in our social toolkit: bit.ly/KeepThemHomeToolkit
- Raise awareness of this issue by posting about it online. Download FAMM’s social media toolkit for posts and graphics to use: bit.ly/KeepThemHomeToolkit
- Text HOME to 40419 to join the campaign to #KeepThemHome.
- Add your name to FAMM’s Keep Them Home campaign and urge the Biden administration to rescind the memo and ensure that families stay together.
Public Summary:
Hear from Affected Families
Kendrick Fulton, Miranda McLaurin and Robert Edwards—three returning citizens released on home confinement—share how they’re affected by the Trump Department of Justice’s memo from the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), which incorrectly states that people released to home confinement under the CARES Act must return to prison after the pandemic.
Additional Resources:
- Read FAMM and CAN-DO’s letter to the Bureau of Prisons in opposition to sending people on CARES Act home confinement back to prison for technical violations
- Read the letter FAMM sent with 25 other organizations to the administration
- Read the letter Senators Dubin and Booker sent to the Attorney General
- Read the letter that bipartisan members of the U.S. House to President Biden
- Read about the issue in the Washington Post
- Read about the issue in Reuters
- Read the OLC memo itself