ACLU files challenge to Va. budget amendment blocking early inmate release

Richmond, Va.-The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia has filed a legal challenge to a last-minute amendment to the state budget that blocked the planned early release of hundreds of inmates this summer.

The change affected the state’s earned sentence credit program, which was expanded in 2020 to allow inmates to shave more time off their sentences for good behavior.

The budget amendment reined in who can qualify for the expanded credits. The ACLU claims in a lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of inmate Antoine Anderson that state prison officials wrongly interpreted the amendment. The petition demands that Anderson be released immediately.

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