Software bug leads to early release for thousands of prisoners

More than 3,000 prisoners in the state of Washington have been released early from prison as a result of a software bug. The formula used to calculate sentence reductions was found to be inaccurate, and while the average early release prisoner mistakenly had 49 days shaved from their sentence, one was set free almost two years early.

The software bug stems from a software update way back in 2002. The update introduced a new way to apply good behaviour credits, and governors are astonished that the problem has been on-going for 13 years. The Washington Department of Corrections says that it has been aware of the issue since 2012.

The DoC had been alerted to the bug three years ago when the family of a victim discovered that the perpetrator was being released early. But it has taken until now for a fix to be sorted out -- the correct formula for release date calculation will be in place by 7 January. So far just five prisoners have been rounded up, and police are in the process of trying to round up more.

Washington's governor Jay Inslee said:

That this problem was allowed to continue for 13 years is deeply disappointing to me, totally unacceptable and, frankly, maddening.

Although there is a computer system in place that is supposed to take care of release dates, the DoC has ordered that manual checks are performed until the software fix is put in place in the new year.

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