Today, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) sent a letter to Thomas Kane, Acting Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), requesting the agency provide a status update on what actions BOP has taken to address concerns raised by a report issued in May by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Inspector General that found thousands of instances of federal inmates being released from prison after their scheduled release dates.

“I am troubled by the findings contained within the IG’s May 2016 report on untimely releases of inmates. Of the 461,966 federal inmates released between 2009 and 2014, the IG’s report found more than 4,300 inmates were released from federal prison after their scheduled release dates. At least 157 of those cases were “untimely” due to staff error. The remaining 4,183 untimely cases were untimely for “other reasons.”

I understand that BOP’s position is that staff error likely did not contribute to most the untimely releases. I am concerned, however, about reports that BOP lacked complete information on the circumstances of an inmate’s relief,” Sen. Booker wrote in the letter.

“It is no secret that the federal prison population is overcrowded, and I believe untimely releases exacerbate prison overcrowding".

According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), BOP reports a roughly 30 percent crowding rate overall at its institutions, and a 52 percent crowding rate at its highest security level facilities.

Untimely releases exacerbate prison overcrowding, which wastes taxpayers’ money and puts correctional officers and other BOP employees at greater risk of physical danger.

“Given the IG’s troubling findings, I request a written response from BOP on what actions, if any, the agency has taken since the release of the IG report to ensure that no federal inmate has been held or will be held longer than the length of the sentence a federal judge imposed upon them,” Sen. Booker concluded.