WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge frustrated by the mistaken release of jail inmates in the nation’s capital called corrections officials onto the carpet in his courtroom.
U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said Friday that making sure inmates aren’t released by mistake is not “rocket science.”
Sullivan had ordered District of Columbia jail officials to appear before him after inmate Jarrell Harris was nearly set free despite a court hearing requiring he remain held for public safety.
Corrections officials said Harris’s near-release occurred because the department failed to log a request to keep him detained. Court records show several others facing federal charges have been improperly released since June 1.
Sullivan ordered the officials to provide him with quarterly reports on their progress.
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