A special Nebraska legislative committee has issued a 62-page report on what led to the prison sentence miscalculations that led to the premature release of hundreds of prison inmates.
Senator Steve Lathrop of Omaha, chairman of the committee, says Governor Dave Heineman pressured Corrections officials to ease prison overcrowding without spending money on more prison beds. Lathrop says that pressure led to more prisoners being moved through a furlough program than warranted.
Lathrop uses State Corrections Director Mike Kenney’s decision to create the Temporary Alternative Placement Program as an example of the department working without regard to state law.
Lathrop says the committee concluded overcrowding drove a host of questionable decisions by Corrections that led to the premature release of hundreds of prisoners.
