Coronavirus was Paul Manafort’s ticket home. Many other old, ill, nonviolent inmates are still in prison
Arthur Rizer, a former Justice Department lawyer and a criminal justice expert at R Street Institute, said many of the criticisms against the Bureau of Prisons are unfair.
“I don’t think there’s anybody twirling their fingers saying, ‘How can we keep more people incarcerated.’ … There’s just not really a good one-snap solution,” Rizer said.
Rizer acknowledged that prison officials have not moved fast enough in releasing nonviolent offenders, including those who committed crimes such as fraud, forgery or petty drug offenses.
“I know it’s not a perfect system. It’s not something that I would advocate for as a way of doing business, when time is of the essence and the number one way to stop infections is to use social distancing … they should be looking at all available tools to get people out that don’t need to be there,” Rizer said.
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