ALBANY - More than 50 inmates are being released from state prison following an April ruling by New York's highest court that prison officials cannot impose post-release supervision when the sentencing judge neglected to.

Gov. David Paterson's administration has declined to release several hundred others in circumstances that are at least similar and on Friday sought a judge's support to hold them until they are re-sentenced.

The inmates had been sent back to prison for technical violations of their supervision. Defense lawyers said that's unlawful when there was no legal basis for that supervision in the first place.

“There's simply no authority to hold these guys. Judges have to let them go,” said Elon Harpaz, a lawyer with the Legal Aid