The U.S. Department of Justice has agreed to stop stonewalling the release of prisoners who were deemed innocent by a federal court ruling.

 

All of the cases involved individuals serving time under a federal law for being caught with a gun after being previously convicted of a crime that resulted in sentences of a year or longer. In North Carolina, some low-level offenders caught possessing a gun were thrown in prison even though their previous crimes resulted in sentences that were less than a year long because other people convicted of the same crime could have received longer sentences.

 

This predicament was reviewed by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which decided North Carolina was not enforcing the federal law correctly. The ruling meant that the low-level offenders should be freed.

 

But the Justice Department was reluctant to abide by the ruling at first. Then, the department decided this week to reconsider its position and drop any legal objections to the prisoners’ release.

 

An investigation by USA Today found at least 60 people who were wrongly imprisoned for having a gun.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Dozens Of 'Innocent' Prisoners Could Be Freed (by Brad Heath, USA Today)

Dozens Imprisoned for Violating Non-Existent Federal Gun Control Law (by Matt Bewig, AllGov)

Scores in N.C. are Legally 'Innocent,' yet still Imprisoned (by Brad Heath, USA Today)