Computer programs errors released violent people from prison

Because of computer errors, prison officials in California released 450 inmates with a “high risk of violence” by mistake. These inmates were released as part of a program that doesn’t require them to report any parole officers. And, no one has tried to return the prisoners to prison or get them supervised by a parole officer. This news just after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that California’s prisons are overcrowded and the state has to figure out how to lower its inmate population.

From the LA Times:

The computer program prison officials used to make that assessment does not access an inmate’s disciplinary history.

The program also relies on a state Department of Justice system that records arrests but is missing conviction information for nearly half of the state’s 16.4 million arrest records, according to the inspector general report.

Lee Seale, a deputy chief of staff for the California prisons, acknowledged that the corrections department’s computer system can’t access an inmate’s disciplinary record. But that information is reviewed manually by a member of his staff before prisoners are released, said spokesman Luis Patino.