Washington accidentally released some inmates early; one re-arrested years later sues

Mr Person said:

(SEATTLE) — A man who was released early from a Washington state prison due to a software glitch is suing the Department of Corrections, saying his re-arrest three years later to serve the remaining time was illegal and upended the life he had painstakingly rebuilt. Orlando Wright was released in 2012, 76 days early, from his eight-year term for robbery. He was one of more than 3,000 inmates released prematurely due to the coding error, which lasted from 2002 to 2015. State authorities discovered the problem in 2012, but fixes were repeatedly delayed before the department notified Gov. Jay Inslee in late 2015. Amid a public outcry, the department re-arrested some offenders it had released early. Among them was Wright, who by then says he had obtained an apartment, a car and a job at a car wash; enrolled in a welding program at a technical school; and had a baby daughter, whom he saw regularly. When he was released again in April 2016, that was all gone. He wandered the streets of Seattle for nearly two weeks, homeless.
...
In his complaint, filed March 16 in U.S. District Court in Seattle, Wright, 37, seeks damages for wrongful arrest and constitutional violations. His maximum sentence date had expired, and officials had no authority to return him to prison over a mistake they had made and known about for three years, the complaint says. Nevertheless, they re-arrested him. Instead of obtaining a warrant from a court, they issued a “secretary’s warrant” claiming he had escaped from custody or work-release — something his lawyer, Tiffany Cartwright, called “completely unauthorized.”
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But in the middle of the night, his mother called from Chicago: Federal marshals had come to her door. . . .Days later, officers confronted Wright in his car, parked at a friend’s house. He served the 76 days at the prison. He never saw a judge or lawyer, he said, and though he knew he hadn’t escaped, he had no means to contest his confinement. Meanwhile, he said, his roommate moved, unable to pay both shares of the rent. Wright’s possessions in the apartment vanished. The mother of his daughter filed for full custody, and he couldn’t attend the hearing because he was in prison. His car disappeared from the house where he’d been arrested. When his time was up, prison authorities gave him $60 and sent him on his way.

Man Sues Over Re-Arrest After Early Prison Release | Time



WTF?

You let him out early. Your mistake. You're going to let him build up a life again - what we supposedly want criminals to do - only to yank it right out from under him? You're going to abuse law and process to do it?

You're going to do that three years later?



This is an obscenity.

Click to expand...

Mr Person said:

(SEATTLE) — A man who was released early from a Washington state prison due to a software glitch is suing the Department of Corrections, saying his re-arrest three years later to serve the remaining time was illegal and upended the life he had painstakingly rebuilt. Orlando Wright was released in 2012, 76 days early, from his eight-year term for robbery. He was one of more than 3,000 inmates released prematurely due to the coding error, which lasted from 2002 to 2015. State authorities discovered the problem in 2012, but fixes were repeatedly delayed before the department notified Gov. Jay Inslee in late 2015. Amid a public outcry, the department re-arrested some offenders it had released early. Among them was Wright, who by then says he had obtained an apartment, a car and a job at a car wash; enrolled in a welding program at a technical school; and had a baby daughter, whom he saw regularly. When he was released again in April 2016, that was all gone. He wandered the streets of Seattle for nearly two weeks, homeless.
...
In his complaint, filed March 16 in U.S. District Court in Seattle, Wright, 37, seeks damages for wrongful arrest and constitutional violations. His maximum sentence date had expired, and officials had no authority to return him to prison over a mistake they had made and known about for three years, the complaint says. Nevertheless, they re-arrested him. Instead of obtaining a warrant from a court, they issued a “secretary’s warrant” claiming he had escaped from custody or work-release — something his lawyer, Tiffany Cartwright, called “completely unauthorized.”
...
But in the middle of the night, his mother called from Chicago: Federal marshals had come to her door. . . .Days later, officers confronted Wright in his car, parked at a friend’s house. He served the 76 days at the prison. He never saw a judge or lawyer, he said, and though he knew he hadn’t escaped, he had no means to contest his confinement. Meanwhile, he said, his roommate moved, unable to pay both shares of the rent. Wright’s possessions in the apartment vanished. The mother of his daughter filed for full custody, and he couldn’t attend the hearing because he was in prison. His car disappeared from the house where he’d been arrested. When his time was up, prison authorities gave him $60 and sent him on his way.

Man Sues Over Re-Arrest After Early Prison Release | Time



WTF?

You let him out early. Your mistake. You're going to let him build up a life again - what we supposedly want criminals to do - only to yank it right out from under him? You're going to abuse law and process to do it?

You're going to do that three years later?



This is an obscenity.

Click to expand...