North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue said she will not allow the scheduled release of 20 prisoners, despite a state court of appeals ruling that those inmates had served their full sentences. The release order, which hinges on an analysis of good behavior credit, has generated considerable controversy in the state, reports the North Carolina News Network. State law formerly allowed inmates to get credit for good behavior, but the policy was changed in the 1990s.
Perdue’s halt of the release is based on what she called a legal question over whether the Department of Correction had the authority to give inmates day for day credits for good behavior. She said she does not believe the department had that authority, and until these new legal issues have been resolved by the courts, these violent offenders will not be released.