The Justice Department Announced A Huge Move To Ease America’s Overcrowded Prisons

Under the new rules, prisoners charged under the old guidelines can have an average of two years removed from their sentence after a federal judge reviews their case.

In order to adhere to the new sentencing guidelines in federal court, the New York Times reported that the Justice Department is preparing to release around 6,000 inmates from federal prisons beginning at the end of the month. Because many of them were convicted of significant legal offenses, President Obama is unlikely to be criticized as sharply for their release by those who have objected to past deportations by the administration.

With this new mechanism, two years will be taken of eligible prisoners’ imposed sentences.

The move represents the largest such purge by the department and is related to newly-adopted federal sentencing policies.

According to the commission’s annual report, around 40,000 offenders may become eligible for reduced sentences, which must be approved by federal judges before terms can be cut. And it’s also different from the recent bills proposed in Congress to reduce sentences and mandatory minimums for nonviolent crimes.

In a few cases, federal judges have denied inmates’ requests for early release.

As the Post notes, this is the largest ever one-time release of prisoners. The guidelines recommend sentences that factor in the types and quantities of the drugs.

Many defendants slated for early release are small-time drug dealers affected by harsher approaches to drug enforcement.

Though the commission has repeatedly amended the guidelines, including narrowing the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences that resulted in disproportionately long penalties for blacks, the latest revision is its most sweeping because it covers all drug types.

One Republican leader of the bipartisan campaign for criminal justice reforms said he suspected the story was leaked by career prosecutors in the Justice Department or elsewhere, hoping to sabotage reform legislation inching through Congress.

“Certainly for a number of years we have had population pressures and management issues based on population”, Ross said.

Ronald E. Teachman, former police chief in South Bend, Ind, said that inmates were not always convicted of the crimes they committed and that prisoners can find jobs based on the job skills they received while in prison.

“The drug war has devastated families and communities, and it is time for the healing to begin”, said Papa, who himself spent 12 years behind bars on a mandatory minimum drug sentence.

Inmates seeking early release have to petition a judge, who decides whether to grant the reduced sentence.

The planned releases continue a drive that started in 2013 when US Attorney General Eric Holder dropped mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders.

Others who are granted reductions will be released from prison gradually, as their sentences finish.

Certainly, a year ago, when the Sentencing Commission made this decision to allow these prisoners to be released, Senator Chuck Grassley, who heads up the Senate Judiciary Committee, expressed concern that murderers and robbers would be let back out onto the streets.

This process has already been going on for months, said the official, who didn’t want her name used.

So, strictly speaking, it’s true that the prisoners will be “released” from government supervision by November 2 – that is, they’ll be transitioning into the parole system.