The Marshall Project

Byron Miller’s Race Against Time

Months ago, the attorney general ordered pandemic prison releases. After 24 years behind bars, Miller is one of many still waiting for a ticket home.

As COVID-19 ravaged prisons around the country, my inbox filled with emails from frightened family members. In March, Attorney General William Barr ordered the Justice Department to release eligible people behind bars to home confinement. But federal officials have The families detailed how their incarcerated loved ones met Barr’s criteria, and questioned why they remained in prison. What was the hold up, they wondered?

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Marshall Project

The Marshall Project6 min readCrime & Violence
Think Private Prison Companies Are Going Away Under Biden? They Have Other Plans
CoreCivic and GEO Group have been shifting away from prisons toward other government contracts, like office space and immigration detention.
The Marshall Project3 min readMedical
Should Prisoners Get Covid-19 Vaccines Early?
Now that shipments of Covid-19 vaccine are on the move and FDA approval on the fast track, the fight begins over who will get the scarce vaccine first. States have until Friday to finalize distribution plans and submit them to the federal government
The Marshall Project4 min read
Coronavirus Has Sparked Another Epidemic in My Prison: Anti-Asian Racism
Sitting in my cell on a mandatory precautionary quarantine, I'm still finding it difficult to make sense of everything that's going on. In the beginning, “pandemic” was a word I had to translate for my cellie, a Vietnamese refugee who struggled with

Related Books & Audiobooks