Ashcroft helps keep halfway house away from D.C. school

Attorney General John Ashcroft

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Justice Department abandoned plans to put a halfway house for felons next to a Washington elementary school four days after Attorney General John Ashcroft intervened.

The decision, announced Tuesday, followed complaints from parents groups, civic organizations and local political leaders in the District of Columbia.

Ashcroft said when he became aware of the proposed site, he spoke with the Bureau of Prisons.

"We moved quickly to assure the community that while we want to make sure those who have served their time have the opportunity to become constructive members of society, we also want to be sure that the security of our children and neighborhoods are not compromised," he said.

Ashcroft toured the Adams Elementary School in the Adams Morgan section of the nation's capital on Friday. He talked with teachers and students, then phoned Mayor Anthony Williams and other D.C. officials. His swift intervention followed complaints the Bureau of Prisons was planning to award a contract to a non-profit group, which would have operated the halfway house less than 60 feet from the school.

The facility would have housed 24 to 28 male felons paroled from the federal prison system, but would have excluded sex offenders and arsonists.

"I commend the Bureau of Prisons for being responsive to the concerns of the school and community," Ashcroft said in a written statement. "The Bureau of Prisons has assured me their practice is to consider fully community concerns in making final decisions regarding the awarding of contracts for halfway house sites. I look forward to working with them and all interested parties to find an acceptable location."

D.C. City Councilman Jim Graham, who joined Ashcroft at the school, praised the decision.

"We're delighted with this ruling from the attorney general himself," Graham told CNN. "If just one child had been strangled, we'd all have been wringing our hands wondering how this could have happened."

An elected neighborhood commissioner, Alan Roth, also applauded the decision.

"The significance of this goes well beyond our neighborhood. Hopefully other communities can benefit from our experience," Roth told CNN.

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