March 27---- Released from a federal prison in Alabama on Thursday, former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. drove with family members to a halfway house where one expert said he will experience new freedoms but remain on a tight rein.
"You go to work, school, medical appointments, other kinds of necessities, religious services and you leave for outpatient therapy or counseling," said attorney Alan Ellis, who has advised hundreds of felons entering federal prison.
A felon in a halfway house can apply for a weekend furlough for a conjugal visit, he said. Despite that, the places where halfway houses tend to be located can be so sketchy that prisoners often prefer to stay put in a prison camp, he said.
Ellis, who works out of Marin County, Calif., said when it comes to halfway houses, "you're not going to find one in Bethesda or Chevy Chase."
The Bureau of Prisons, which on Thursday declined to reveal Jackson's destination, oversees 9,779 felons in halfway houses and another 3,406 in home confinement.
One possibility is that Jackson, 50, will be assigned to the Volunteers of America Chesapeake facility in Baltimore, which records show has bed space for 50 male inmates and 10 female inmates. The facility includes a computer lab, library, commercial kitchen, dining room and vending machines, fitness and recreation rooms, TV lounges and indoor basketball court, according to its website.
"We call ourselves an interdenominational church -- a church without walls," said Danielle Milner, a Volunteers of America Chesapeake spokeswoman.
Bureau of Prisons spokesman Edmond Ross said Jackson will remain in a halfway house until he moves to home confinement at an unspecified date.
Jackson, who has served 17 months of a 30-month sentence, will remain in custody until Sept. 20. After that comes three years of supervised release.
Home confinement is intended to give offenders increasing levels of responsibility while providing enough restrictions to "promote community safety and convey the sanctioning value of the sentence," according to the bureau.
While residing at home, inmates are monitored either by daily phone and periodic personal contacts or through an ankle monitor.
On Thursday morning, not long after Jackson left a federal prison camp in Montgomery, Ala., his father, Rev. Jesse Jackson said the family was "ebullient."
"We were extremely sad when he had to go away, and there's a great joy with reunion," the Rev. Jackson said "And he's strong, and he'll do well."
Jackson, a Democrat from Chicago's South Side, was sentenced for using about $750,000 in campaign cash on luxury goods, household items, vacations, celebrity memorabilia and other goods.
His wife, Sandi Jackson, 51, a former Chicago alderman, will begin a one-year prison term a month after his release in September for her role in the crime spree. A judge staggered the sentences because of their children, now ages 15 and 11.
Jackson was in Congress from 1995 to 2012, when he quit after a long leave for treatment of bipolar disorder.
Ellis, the prison expert, offered this advice to Jackson:
"The end is in sight. Go with the flow. Don't do anything to screw things up. And get some benefit out of the outpatient counseling and transitional care."
kskiba@tribpub.com
