Home Leaves from Prison

I read an article this morning from the Washington Post about how some inmates are using the online consumer review site Yelp to rate jails and prisons. It’s an interesting mix of good reviews (“[I]f you’re going to get arrested, do it in Arlington County”) and bad (“This was the worst experience of my life and I am a combat veteran from Iraq”). The article notes that sites like Yelp may be the only outlet for some inmates in light of the restrictive exhaustion requirements of the federal Prison Litigation Reform Act. Even among those who gave four- or five-star reviews, I suspect many of them would rather be home. And that brings me to the real subject of today’s post, home leaves from prison. Raleigh news outlet WRAL reported last week that inmate Raymond Cook, convicted in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter, felony death by vehicle, and impaired driving for vehicle crash that killed a 20-year-old woman, has been receiving 48-hour passes to visit with his family. Mr. Cook received a 36–53 month sentence for the crime, giving him a projected release date of February 28, 2014. According to the article, Mr. Cook leaves prison during the week for a work release job at a pharmaceutical company and then gets weekend passes to go home “on a regular basis.” A corrections department spokesman said the practice was not unusual and that inmates in Cook’s custodial status can receive one 48-hour home leave and two 6-hour leaves each month. Division of Adult [...]