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Carolina Journal

Advocacy groups push for early release of prison inmates due to Helene


Katherine Zehnder

Carolina Journal


Nine advocacy groups are calling to release some North Carolina prison inmates due to “overcrowding” caused by transfers from of Hurricane Helene. The North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections says that many of their claims are “misinformed or grossly exaggerated.”


In a letter dated October 31, 2024, the left-leaning groups say;

“…it is responsible and prudent administration to minimize the state prison population once again by applying these common sense principals to permit low-risk individuals to return home,” reads the letter. “Principally we would suggest a reduction in population by of 400 women and 1500 men…”


The letter claims that the transfers have caused overcrowding in many prisons, including: Anson Correctional Center for Women (118%), Foothills Correctional (103.7 %), Greene Correctional )104.2 %), Hyde Correctional (109.9 %), Johnston Correctional (104.2%) Lincoln Correctional (112.4%), Nash Correctional (134.7%), Pamlico Correctional (136.7%), Pender Correctional (102.2%), Randolph Correctional 104.4%), Rutherford Correctional (101.3%), and Scotland Correctional Institution ( 103.8%).


“We have no idea, where they got those numbers,” Keith Acree, communications director for the NCDAC told the Carolina Journal. Acree told CJ that prison capacity rates are extremely complicated and that there are three tiers of capacity: standard operating capacity, expanded capacity, and maximum capacity.


The North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections (NCDAC) evacuated more than 2,000 inmates from five different prisons in western North Carolina, the week after Helene devastated the mountains, according to a press release.


“Damages to our state prison facilities due to Helene were minimal,” continued Acree.  “However, the community water and sewer systems that serve five of our facilities were heavily damaged or destroyed, causing us to evacuate five facilities:  Avery Mitchell, Mt. View, Craggy, Western Women’s and Black Mountain Substance Abuse Treatment Center for Women. (Black Mountain SATCW is not a prison.  It is a residential substance abuse treatment center for women on probation.   It is co-located on a campus in Swannanoa with Western Correctional Center for Women).”  


There have been additional evacuations to move offenders into additional available beds or release some transferred offenders due to sentence expiration, Acree told CJ. 

“The Department of Adult Correction has received a letter from a coalition of advocacy groups expressing concerns about prison system conditions in the wake of Hurricane Helene,” according to a statement, from NCDA. “Many of the claims made in the letter are misinformed or grossly exaggerated. About 2,100 offenders were safely transferred from five prison facilities in western North Carolina in the days after the storm. DAC staff are now making plans for transfers to other available non-affected prison housing areas in western North Carolina, as soon as it is feasible to do so. The timeframe for water and sewer restoration to the five vacant institutions remains unclear.  While it may be possible to reoccupy Craggy CI in Asheville in the coming weeks, the timeline for return to facilities in Spruce Pine and Swannanoa appears to be longer. NCDAC has acknowledged the letter and will provide a detailed response to the advocates in the near future.” 


similar push was made during the pandemic when letters were sent to Gov. Roy Cooper and Commissioner of Prisons Todd Ishee, urging the early release of those inmates who are older and with compromised immune systems, or those within 12 months of their release and anyone being held on a technical violation.  


“At some point, overcrowding might conceivably require early release for some prisoners, but my advice for everyone involved—even the human rights advocates—is to be very careful and err on the side of caution,” Jon Guze, senior fellow of legal studies at the John Locke Foundation told the Carolina Journal. “Support for criminal justice reform peaked after the death of George Floyd. The public didn’t like the crime spike that followed, and the public especially didn’t like it when potentially dangerous criminals were released from detention and then went on to commit new crimes. The reaction to what were perceived as soft-on-crime policies has now cost many politicians and prosecutors their jobs, including, arguably, Kamala Harris. Reasonable prison reforms are fine, but the public will not accept people or policies that appear to coddle criminals at the expense of their victims.”

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