FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- The Kentucky Supreme Court has upheld a cost-saving initiative that has allowed the early release of thousands of prison inmates.
Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr., writing for the full court in a ruling released Wednesday, concluded the Department of Corrections was following state law in allowing the releases.
Prosecutors had argued that prison officials were improperly releasing inmates under the plan approved by Kentucky lawmakers in 2008. That plan was enacted as a means to cut down on the $457 million annual cost of housing Kentucky's 22,000 inmates.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
