WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department is set to release about 6,000 inmates early from prison in an effort to reduce overcrowding and provide relief to drug offenders who received harsh sentences over the past three decades.
In what is set to be the largest ever one-time release of federal prisoners, the inmates from federal prisons nationwide will be set free by the department's Bureau of Prisons between Oct. 30 and Nov. 2. Most of them will go to halfway houses and home confinement before being put on supervised release.
The early release follows action by the U.S. Sentencing Commission -- an independent agency that sets sentencing policies for federal crimes -- that reduced the potential punishment for future drug offenders last year, then made the change retroactive.
The commission's action is separate from an effort by President Barack Obama to grant clemency to certain nonviolent drug offenders, an initiative that has resulted in 89 inmates being released early.
The panel estimated that its change in sentencing guidelines could result in 46,000 of the nation's approximately 100,000 drug offenders in federal prison qualifying for early release. The 6,000 figure, which has not been reported previously, is the first tranche in that process.
The Sentencing Commission estimated that an additional 8,550 inmates will be eligible for release between Nov. 1 and Nov. 1, 2016.
The releases are part of a shift in the nation's approach to criminal justice and drug sentencing. Along with the commission's action, the Justice Department has instructed its prosecutors not to charge low-level, nonviolent drug offenders who have no connection to gangs or large-scale drug organizations with offenses that carry severe mandatory sentences.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously for the reduction last year after holding two public hearings in which it heard testimony from former Attorney General Eric Holder, federal judges, federal public defenders, state and local law enforcement officials, and sentencing advocates. The panel also received more than 80,000 public comment letters, with the overwhelming majority favoring the change.
Congress did not act to disapprove the change to the sentencing guidelines, so it became effective on Nov. 1, 2014. The commission then gave the Justice Department a year to prepare for the huge release of inmates.
An average of about two years is being shaved off eligible prisoners' sentences under the change. Although some of the inmates who will be released have served decades, on average they will have served 8½ years instead of 10½, according to a Justice Department official.
"Even with the Sentencing Commission's reductions, drug offenders will have served substantial prison sentences," Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates said. "Moreover, these reductions are not automatic. Under the commission's directive, federal judges are required to carefully consider public safety in deciding whether to reduce an inmate's sentence."
In each case, inmates must petition a judge who decides whether to grant the sentencing reduction. Judges nationwide are granting about 70 sentence reductions per week, Justice Department officials said. Some of the inmates already have been sent to halfway houses.
In some cases, federal judges have denied inmates' requests for early release. For example, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth recently denied requests from two top associates of Rayful Edmond III, one of Washington, D.C.'s most notorious drug kingpins.
Critics, including some federal prosecutors, judges and police officials, have raised concerns that allowing so many inmates to be released at the same time could cause crime to increase.
But Justice Department officials said that about one-third of the inmates who will be released in a few weeks are foreign citizens who will be quickly deported.
They also pointed to a study last year that found that the recidivism rate for offenders who were released early after changes in crack-cocaine sentencing guidelines in 2007 was not significantly different from offenders who completed their sentences.
Federal prison costs represent about one-third of the Justice Department's $27 billion budget. The U.S. population has grown by about a third since 1980, but the federal prison population has increased by about 800 percent and federal prisons are operating at nearly 40 percent over capacity, Justice officials said.
Last week, a group of senators introduced a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill, the first such legislation in decades. Although some advocates say it doesn't go far enough, the measure, which is supported by a coalition that includes the Koch brothers and the American Civil Liberties Union, would shorten the length of mandatory-minimum drug sentences that were part of the tough-on-crime laws passed during the war on drugs in the 1980s and 1990s.
If passed by Congress and signed by Obama, the reforms would apply retroactively, allowing inmates who were previously incarcerated under mandatory minimums an opportunity for release.
Information for this article was contributed by Spencer S. Hsu of The Washington Post.
A Section on 10/07/2015