11-02-2015, 11:57 PM
ENDING MASS INCARCERATION / PRISONERS RELEASED TO SOCIETY TODAY
Some in law enforcement are worried about public safety; others say, "it's about damned time".
How many people are we talking about?
About 6,100 prisoners total — mostly Hispanic and African-American men incarcerated for drug trafficking crimes.
Why are they getting out?
Last year the U.S. sentencing commission, which sets guidelines for federal crimes, decided to cut suggested prison terms for those who commit drug trafficking crimes and apply those changes retroactively for people who were already incarcerated.
An inmate who was eligible had to apply for early release and have a judge review the case, make a determination about public safety and sign off on reducing the sentence. Judges shaved off an average of two years from their sentences.
Will they all be released straight from prison?
No. About 4,300 of the total (6,100) are being released from prison, from halfway houses or from home confinement. Of those 4,300, about 80 percent have been living in halfway houses or home confinement for the past few months, to ease their transition back into the community — so they will not go straight from prison to freedom.
Where will they be going back to? What supervision or support will they receive?
The largest numbers are from Texas, Florida, California, North Carolina and Illinois.
The U.S. Probation Office will be watching these prisoners for a specific amount of time, and has been preparing for more than a year. Officials say they have beefed up hiring of probation officers — devoting resources to prisoners who pose the biggest risk — and started working with them a while ago.
What about the rest of the 6,100?
About 1,700 of the inmates are undocumented immigrants, and they will not be released from federal custody. These people will be transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which will begin deportation proceedings against many of them.
Is there any concern these prisoners could end up committing crimes after being released?
Justice officials say that is always a concern. But, they say, the great majority of these prisoners would be getting out at some point regardless; the issue is whether it's now or in two or three or four years. That said, they say they are going to be watching closely.
Ref: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2...te-release
Some in law enforcement are worried about public safety; others say, "it's about damned time".
How many people are we talking about?
About 6,100 prisoners total — mostly Hispanic and African-American men incarcerated for drug trafficking crimes.
Why are they getting out?
Last year the U.S. sentencing commission, which sets guidelines for federal crimes, decided to cut suggested prison terms for those who commit drug trafficking crimes and apply those changes retroactively for people who were already incarcerated.
An inmate who was eligible had to apply for early release and have a judge review the case, make a determination about public safety and sign off on reducing the sentence. Judges shaved off an average of two years from their sentences.
Will they all be released straight from prison?
No. About 4,300 of the total (6,100) are being released from prison, from halfway houses or from home confinement. Of those 4,300, about 80 percent have been living in halfway houses or home confinement for the past few months, to ease their transition back into the community — so they will not go straight from prison to freedom.
Where will they be going back to? What supervision or support will they receive?
The largest numbers are from Texas, Florida, California, North Carolina and Illinois.
The U.S. Probation Office will be watching these prisoners for a specific amount of time, and has been preparing for more than a year. Officials say they have beefed up hiring of probation officers — devoting resources to prisoners who pose the biggest risk — and started working with them a while ago.
What about the rest of the 6,100?
About 1,700 of the inmates are undocumented immigrants, and they will not be released from federal custody. These people will be transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which will begin deportation proceedings against many of them.
Is there any concern these prisoners could end up committing crimes after being released?
Justice officials say that is always a concern. But, they say, the great majority of these prisoners would be getting out at some point regardless; the issue is whether it's now or in two or three or four years. That said, they say they are going to be watching closely.
Ref: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2...te-release