The largest mass release in the Bureau of Prison history is happening at the end of October 2015.
And why is that? Why do almost 6,000 prisoners get the choice of having an early release? Well, the U.S. Sentencing Commission has lowered the maximum sentences for drug offenders, implying non-violence and low-level offenses. The minimum sentence for a drug offender is now reduced to 108 months on average, which means that thousands of people imprisoned for this specific crime will have their sentences reduced by 25 months or 18,8% of their present sentence.
It has been estimated by the U.S. Sentencing Commission that in all 46,290 drug offenders will “be eligible to have their cases reviewed by a judge to determine if their sentences should be reduced,” which will result in thousands of releases besides the roughly 6,000 that have already had their cases reviewed and reduced.
Circa 2,000 of the inmates being released as a consequence of the new reform are being set free on October 30, 2015, and on November 2, non-citizens of the United States will be released and forwarded to U.S. Immigration Custom Enforcement officials for ‘deportation proceedings” says a Justice Department official.
Deputy attorney general with the Justice Department, Sally Quillian Yates, states “The Department of Justice strongly supports sentencing reform for low-level, non-violent offenders.” She also ensures that the released prisoners will be supervised and monitored by probation officers.
All prisoners being released have already served an average of nine years and were “due to be released in about 18 months,” claims an official. It’s also revealed that many of the inmates were already in halfway houses.
“The Commission is tasked by law with minimizing the likelihood that prison populations exceed capacity. Currently, the Federal Bureau of Prisons population exceeds capacity by around 32%,” says the news release from the U.S. Sentencing Commission regarding the new reform. This reform will not only be up-to-date with the outdated, sky high punishment for carrying drugs, but it will also help the overpopulated environments in the federal prisons on a national basis.
Image via Flickr/martin
