ROUND ROCK, Texas — The Biden administration is reportedly considering sending thousands of federal inmates who are in home confinement back into federal prisons.

What You Need To Know

  • When COVID-19 cases started erupting in the spring of 2020, then-Attorney General William Barr declared a state of emergency in prisons which allowed roughly 30,000 eligible inmates to be moved into home confinement

  • Rumors are that the Biden administration may send thousands of federal inmates who are in home confinement back into federal prisons

  • The New York Times suggests a mass scale recall of inmates will likely not happen until after the new wave of COVID cases settle down

  • Criminal justice reform advocates say the White House has the power to end the uncertainty for the remaining 5,000 home confinement inmates whose future is at the mercy of the pandemic

When COVID-19 cases started erupting in the spring of 2020, then-Attorney General William Barr declared a state of emergency in prisons which allowed roughly 30,000 eligible inmates to be moved into home confinement. The move was designed to help mitigate the spread of the deadly disease in brick and mortar prisons while allowing inmates to serve out their sentence under case management at halfway homes. 

Inmates are now learning, however, that the state of emergency was never designed to be permanent and inmates face the risk of returning to prison when the declaration is lifted.

One of those inmates is Kendrick Jermaine Fulton, who's been out of federal prison for just about a year. In 2002, Fulton and 19 other individuals were indicted in a single count drug conspiracy involving 50 grams of crack cocaine and 5 kilograms of powder cocaine. He was eventually convicted and sentenced to 33 years in prison.

Last year, however, amid the chaos around the pandemic, an unexpected door opened for Fulton. The state of emergency issued by Barr opened the door for his exit into home confinement.

“Once the memo came out, I went to my case manager, and just tried to see if I was eligible. I was skeptical at first because I have a 2032 release date, so I have like 10 years left on my sentence. I was very skeptical,” Fulton said. His skepticism turned out to be unwarranted as he was approved and in September of 2020, after serving 18 years in prison, Fulton was released into a halfway house in Central Texas.

“My daughter, my youngest daughter, was 18 months and I left. My son was 3 years old when I left, so he was 21 picking me up driving. She was 19....so it was just exciting to see them, just to see him drive for the first time and just...to see them other than in a prison visiting room,” recalled Fulton.

Fulton wasn't alone. Some 30,000 inmates have been released into home confinement nationwide, and while that number may seem large, criminal justice reform advocates say those inmates had to go through a rigorous eligibility process. 

“These people were heavily vetted so the Bureau of Prisons made sure that these were low risk, low security people who had not committed violent offenses, who had been well-behaved in prison and shown that they were able to follow the rules," said Molly Gill, vice president of Policy at Families Against Mandatory Minimums, who adds that the inmates have used their time in home confinement to get acclimated to civilian life. Fulton says he's worked hard to get back on his feet since his release.

“Since then I've got my driver's license, I’ve reconnected with my family, with my kids. I have three grandchildren. I haven't got a chance to see them much because of COVID but I've got my driver's license, I've got my CDL and I got a job offer,” said Fulton, whose hard work after serving prison time may be short-lived, if rumors about the future of those on home confinement turn out to be true. 

Earlier this summer, given the low numbers of new daily COVID cases then, the Biden administration was reportedly considering recalling the inmates back into prisons, essentially reneging on a campaign promise to lower the inmate population. Fulton said the rumors caught him by surprise.

“In my mind I'm thinking I'm just gonna finish my sentence on home confinement, or something else would happen, no way did I ever think that I'm gonna have to return,” Fulton said.

New reporting by the New York Times suggests a mass scale recall of inmates will likely not happen until after the new wave of COVID cases settle down, but criminal justice reform advocates say the White House has the power to end the uncertainty for the remaining 5,000 home confinement inmates whose future is at the mercy of the pandemic.

“(Inmates) can't decide whether to sign a mortgage or apply for college or start dating or getting married. These are huge life decisions that are all on hold because they don't know where they're going to be in three months or six months,” said Gill, who added the Biden administration has a responsibility to use his clemency powers to end the uncertainty for inmates while addressing the urgent need to keep prison populations low.

Officials from the Bureau of Prisons tell Spectrum News 1 in a statement that “the Bureau of Prisons and Justice Department continue to explore all potential authorities that could be exercised after the end of the pandemic to help address this issue.” 

For Fulton’s part, he hopes to raise awareness about the urgent need for criminal justice reform and continue his life beyond jail.

“Just hope that people would just get informed, you know, families, real families have been affected by this situation...I just hope people just look at each individual situation," he said. "I understand every case is different. I'm just hoping for the best."

Second chances are rare and Fulton is hoping to make this one count.