A Game of Cat and Mouse - Or Government and Prisoner: Granting Relief to an Erroneously Released Prisoner in Vega v. United States
Erroneously Released Prisoner in Vega v. United States
United States
Danielle E. Wall 0 1
Recommended Citation
0 Danielle E. Wall, A Game of Cat and Mouse - Or Government and Prisoner: Granting Relief to an
1 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Villanova Law Review by an authorized editor of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository
Wall: A Game of Cat and Mouse - Or Government and Prisoner: Granting Re
A GAME OF CAT AND MOUSE-OR GOVERNMENT AND
PRISONER: GRANTING RELIEF TO AN ERRONEOUSLY RELEASED
PRISONER IN VEGA v. UNITED STATES
"The government is not permitted to play cat and mouse with the
prisoner, delaying indefinitely the [expiration] of his debt to society and
his reintegration into the free community."1
his criminal sentence. 2 In the article, prison officials blamed the error on
the prison's computer system, which tracked time served, credits for good
behavior, and other factors affecting the length of criminal sentences. 3
1. Dunne v. Keohane, 14 F.3d 335, 336 (7th Cir. 1994) (acknowledging
common law rule that government cannot require service of criminal sentence in
installments and, therefore, prison sentence runs continuously from date defendant
begins serving it even if prisoner is erroneously released). In Dunne, Chief Judge
Posner used the phrase "play[ing] cat and mouse" to describe the actions of the
government in releasing prisoners only to reincarcerate them later. See id.
(suggesting that rule against installment punishment protects against arbitrary use of
governmental power). The phrase "to play cat and mouse" is a common idiom
used to describe a situation in which one person tries to defeat another person by
tricking him or her into making a mistake in an effort to gain an advantage later.
See CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY OF IDIOMS (2d ed. 1998), available at
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/play+at+and+mouse (last visited Jan. 19,
2008) (defining phrase "play cat and mouse"). This phrase is based on the way a
cat plays with a mouse before killing it. See id. (providing etymology of phrase).
2. See Thomas Farragher, Correction System 'Mess' Held Inmates Past Their Time,
THE BOSTON GLOBE, Apr. 22, 2007, at Al, available at http://www.boston.com/
news/local/ massachusetts/ articles/ 2007/04/ 22 / correction system-mess held_
inmates-past their time (last visitedJan. 19, 2008) (reporting story of inmate held
in Massachusetts prison system four years longer than original sentence due to
negligence of prison officials).
3. See id. (noting that prison officials admitted inmate was held too long
because they relied on computer system that could not adequately account for time
off for good behavior, disciplinary history and arcane court guidelines affecting
length of criminal sentences). The Boston Globe article also mentioned a previous
whistleblower case in which a prison employee complained that she was
transferred for complaining that inmates were being held past their release dates. See id.
(discussing prior complaints regarding prison's sentence computation system).
The prison's correction commissioner testified in this case and admitted that the
department sentence tracking system had become so "dysfunctional" that
sentences needed to be verified manually. See id. at A20. (noting prison official's
admission regarding inadequacy of sentence computation system). The prison
system has since instituted a new computer network, the Inmate Management
System. See id. (describing prison system's efforts to improve accuracy of sentence
calculations). Nevertheless, the prison classification director admitted that the
consequences of some court decisions are still beyond the capability of the new
computer system. See id. (highlighting weaknesses in department's new sentence
(385)
The unveiling of this miscalculation sparked a further investigation by the
United States Department of Corrections to determine if other inmates
were similarly affected. 4 As a result of this investigation, government
officials identified thirteen other inmates who had been detained beyond
their release dates for periods ranging from a mere one day to an
astound5
ing 515 days.
While stories of inmates being held in prison too long are
undoubtedly shocking, even more alarming is the high number of inmates who are
released too early. 6 Our society assumes that after an individual is
convicted and sentenced to serve jail time, the individual is taken into custody
and incarcerated until the sentence expires. 7 Contrary to this assumption,
prison
officials sometimes
mistakenly
release
prisoners
before
their
sentences expire, or fail to take convicted criminals into custody within a
reasonable timeframe. 8 With over-burdened federal, state and local
prison systems releasing approximately 630,000 prisoners each year,
erroneous release and delayed incarcer (...truncated)