The Justice Department announced Tuesday that it will release about 6,000 inmates from federal prison between October 30 and November 2. The move is the result of a decision by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, an independent agency that sets federal sentencing guidelines, which last year voted unanimously to reduce sentences for nonviolent drug offenders after hearing testimony from a diverse set of voices in the law enforcement and criminal justice communities. The commission also decided to apply the new guidelines retroactively, meaning that individuals currently serving long sentences can request early release. The policy changes went into effect Nov. 1, 2014.
The large release announced earlier this week thus has been in the making for over a year, but is not taking place until now because of a delay intended to allow the Justice Department to prepare for the large number of inmates reentering society. Here’s what else you should know about the change in federal sentencing policy that has brought about this unprecedented release of inmates:
1. Low-level, nonviolent drug offenders are not released from prison automatically. Because 6,000 inmates essentially will be freed all at once, it may seem as if drug offenders are being rushed out of the prison gates. This is not the case. Officials with the Federal Bureau of Prisons do not have the legal authority to alter the original sentence imposed by a judge. Inmates must petition a judge to reduce their sentences under the new guidelines. The judges are not required to do so, and are expected to consider the potential threat to public safety of each individual. The 6,000 prisoners who will be released at the end of the month have all had their releases approved by federal judges. The large size of this release is the result of delaying inmate releases to give the Justice Department time to prepare for the increased need for prisoner monitoring and reentry services.
2. More releases of nonviolent drug offenders can be expected. The impact of the sentencing commission’s actions will be substantial. Roughly 46,000 of the approximately 100,000 inmates being held in federal prison for drug convictions are eligible for early release. Thousands more are eligible for reductions in sentences they are currently serving. According to The Washington Post, an average of 70 sentencing reductions are being granted per week, and the sentencing commission estimated that “an additional 8,550 inmates would be eligible for release between this Nov. 1 and Nov. 1, 2016.” Again, eligibility does not guarantee release — federal judges have already denied the release of numerous applicants who appeared to pose too great a risk.
3. About one-third of the 6,000 inmates soon to be released are undocumented immigrants who will be deported. As The New York Times reports, the Obama administration has been criticized in the past for deporting large numbers of undocumented immigrants and breaking up families in the process. But because these deportations will involve convicted drug offenders, they are less likely to create controversy. The deportations, which are expected to take place almost immediately upon release, may ease the burden on the Justice Department, which is charged with monitoring the record number of newly freed inmates. The impact these deportations will have on immigrants’ families is difficult to gauge without more details of individual cases.
4. There is concern among law enforcement officials about the effect of the planned releases on community safety. Because former inmates may have trouble finding work, some in the law enforcement community worry they will return to crime. It is true that individuals with felony convictions have greater difficulty finding employment post-release, especially if they did not receive any job training skills while incarcerated — and many inmates do not. The Justice Department is certainly aware of this challenge, and it is likely that this concern is part of the reason for delaying the initial release of inmates and allowing greater preparation for monitoring and reentry services. But ex-prisoners face these difficulties regardless of whether they are released early. Justice officials argue that after inmates serving long sentences for crack cocaine offenses were freed early under revised guidelines in 2007, their recidivism rates were not higher than individuals who completed their sentences, indicating that early release has little effect on an individual’s risk of reoffending.
Still, a felony conviction is a substantial hurdle to employment. One way to address this is through increasing job training programs available to inmates still serving time, and expanding current efforts to work with employers to provide placement for these individuals upon release. Another avenue is through “ban the box” initiatives, which have been enacted by several states and which Congress is considering with the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2015. Under the proposed bill, federal agencies and contractors would not be allowed to ask about an individual’s criminal background until they offer the candidate a conditional position of employment.
5. The change in sentencing guidelines is one of several efforts to reform drug sentencing policy. Along with the “ban the box” bill, the federal government is taking additional steps to address mass incarceration. Last week a bill was introduced by a bipartisan group of senators that would reduce mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent offenders. If passed, the new sentencing guidelines would likely be made retroactive, and roughly 6,500 inmates could petition for reduced sentences. That the legislation has support from both sides of the aisle is rare in today’s strongly divided Congress and increases the chances that some version of the bill could pass, despite continued resistance from some in the law enforcement community. Adding to these efforts is the recent action taken by President Obama to address long drug sentences by offering clemency to 89 nonviolent offenders.
All of this change is occurring at the federal level. But state and local governments are also taking steps to reduce incarceration, particularly for drug offenders. Together, these developments indicate a larger shift away from the punitive policies of the decades-long War on Drugs. Individuals continue to serve long sentences for drug offenses in federal prison despite the revised guidelines — the average sentence for those set to be released at the end of the month is eight and one-half years — and arrests for some drug offenses, particularly marijuana possession, continue to be high. But there is no denying that substantive reform is taking place, albeit more slowly than advocates would like. In response to the announced release of thousands of inmates from federal prison and with many more expected, it is important now for communities across the country to increase efforts to successfully reintegrate these individuals into society.
Katharine A. Neill, Ph.D., is the Alfred C. Glassell, III Postdoctoral Fellow in Drug Policy at the Baker Institute. Her current research focuses on state sentencing policies for drug offenders and the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana. Neill’s other research interests include criminal justice policy, the private prison industry and the use of public-private partnerships to deliver public services.