Thousands of federal inmates are held in prison for longer than their sentences

The federal prison system hangs on to hundreds of prisoners for longer than it is supposed to each year, finds a new report on the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) from the inspector general at the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Between 2009 and 2014, some 4,183 federal inmates were subject to "untimely release," with 152 late releases due to staff errors. Three of the staff-caused mistakes resulted in prisoners being held for more than a year past the end of their sentences, the DOJ said, though most were held for about one extra month.

Though the DOJ report doesn't include the names of the prisoners affected, one case which fits the description is that of Jermaine Hickman, an Omaha man who was imprisoned for 13 months past his mandatory release date. Astonishingly, the BOP attempted to blame Hickman himself for his late release, arguing that he was at fault because he did not "raise any issues concerning his sentence computation or continued incarceration via the formal grievance process with the BOP." Hickman ultimately received a settlement of $175,000 for wrongful imprisonment.

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