March 27, 2020–Due Process Institute Policy Counsel Jeremiah Mosteller was quoted in Law360 regarding the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package passed by the U.S. Senate: “The bill itself states that defendants’ rights under the Sixth Amendment will not be diminished. Jeremiah Mosteller, policy counsel at the Due Process Institute, said that piece was important amid reports that the Justice Department had sought a suspension of some rights during the crisis. ‘It’s great to see that Congress is reaffirming that our constitutional rights still stand,’ he said.”
Also contained in this package is a provision that would grant the Bureau of Prisons the power to immediately increase the use of an existing program that releases incarcerated individuals to home confinement under emergency conditions, but unfortunately it does not require an increased use. Another provision would require all federal prisons to provide free video visitation and phone calls under emergency conditions to try to provide incarcerated persons with access to their families at a time when personal visitation is prohibited. Other provisions authorize federal district courts to use video and phone conferences for almost any court function other than a trial even though many courts have already been doing so in recent weeks.
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