Pubdate: Wed, 07 Oct 2015
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2015 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Timothy M. Phelps
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)

6,000 DRUG OFFENDERS TO BE RELEASED EARLY FROM PRISONS

In the Largest Mass Liberation Yet, the Inmates Are to Be Let Out 
Starting Oct. 30.

WASHINGTON - The federal Bureau of Prisons plans to release 6,000 
prisoners at the end of October, implementing a decision last year to 
slash the number of incarcerated drug offenders by nearly half.

Officials said the nationwide releases over four days starting Oct. 
30 would be the largest in U.S. history.

Last year, in line with a concerted effort by the Obama 
administration to reduce the number of drug offenders in U.S. 
prisons, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to cut drug sentences 
by an average of two years, potentially affecting as many as 46,000 
out of 100,000 cases.

In the coming year, an additional 8,550 prisoners will be eligible 
for release, according to Sentencing Commission spokesman Matt 
Osterrieder, though he added that not all of them would be approved.

When the mass release was first proposed, some federal prosecutors 
and even then-Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. preferred a much narrower approach.

Under a compromise, the commission agreed to delay the releases until 
late this year, permitting a more thorough vetting of each case. 
Congress, where sentencing reform has had bipartisan support, allowed 
the changes to go into effect.

On Tuesday, the Justice Department was solidly behind the releases.

"The Department of Justice strongly supports sentencing reform for 
low-level, nonviolent drug offenders," said Deputy Atty. Gen. Sally 
Yates. "The Sentencing Commission's actions - which create modest 
reductions for drug offenders - are a step toward these necessary reforms."

But officials said the releases were not limited to nonviolent 
offenders, though each release is individually approved by a federal 
judge, who must make a determination that the person is not a threat 
to public safety. So far, Osterrieder said, judges are approving 
about 75% of requests for release.

Studies of previous but smaller mass releases in 2007, when sentences 
were adjusted for crack cocaine, showed that the recidivism rate for 
those released early was about the same as those released at the 
completion of their sentences, about 40%, Osterrieder said.

Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Pierce said that about one-third 
of those released would be deported because they were not U.S. 
citizens. Most of the others will be sent to halfway houses or 
supervised home release, officials said.

The Obama administration and a bipartisan coalition in Congress have 
also been working on reforms to lower the country's incarceration 
rate, one of the highest in the world.

But Obama's 89 clemencies to date constitute a small fraction of the 
roughly 8,000 clemency petitions pending from prisoners. His efforts 
have so far fallen short of expectations set last April, when the 
Justice Department announced the most ambitious federal clemency 
program in 40 years and invited lawyers across the country to help 
tens of thousands of federal drug offenders apply.

A bipartisan group of senators recently announced agreement on a bill 
to reduce mandatory minimum prison sentences, and a hearing on the 
proposal is expected this month.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom