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Computer glitch frees 3200 prisoners early in Washington state
The Seattle Times reports: Inslee said his office learned of the problem, which a Department of Corrections (DOC) analysis said affected about 3 percent of all releases, on December 16.
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A glitch in the way the Washington state Department of Corrections software calculates early releases – specifically, releases for good behavior – has been using incorrect math for 13 years. But it has taken until now for a fix to be sorted out – the correct formula for release date calculation will be in place by 7 January.
The governor said he has hired two former federal prosecutors to investigate why the problem was not addressed immediately. When the DOC changed the computer coding to recalculate the sentences, it over-credited those offenders who had sentencing enhancements.
The DOC estimates some 3,200 offenders may have been released early over the course of 13 years.
A glitch in accounting for “good time” may have caused thousands of prisoners to be released early. In accordance with Supreme Court precedent, most of the offenders who were released early will be given with day for day credit for their time in the community.
Inslee’s general counsel, Nicholas Brown, said most of the errors were 100 days or less.
“That this problem was allowed to continue for 13 years is deeply disappointing to me, totally unacceptable and, frankly, maddening”, said Inslee. Department of Corrections officials said most are not likely to be locked up if they stayed out of trouble.
“I have a lot of questions about how this happened”, Inslee said, noting the public would also have questions, and saying that an external, independent investigation would find what went wrong. Five inmates have been returned to serve out the remainder of their sentences, as the state goes back to review all releases affected by the error.
It estimated that prisoners on average saw a 49 day reduction in their prison sentences, because of the bug.
About 3% of all releases were given excessive “good time” credits.
In 2002, the Supreme Court issued a ruling requiring the Corrections Department to carry good-behaviour credits earned in county jail over to state prison sentences.
“I want to acknowledge the anger this brings to so many people”, said Department of Corrections Secretary Dan Pacholke. The officer notified DOC leadership who, in turn, notified Inslee.
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Corrections officials learned of a problem in 2012 and began the process of a computer-sequencing fix, according to Inslee.