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404
error


Registered: 08/20/10
Posts: 14,539
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The US Department of Justice is set to release 6,000 drug offenders from federal prison 2
#22342147 - 10/06/15 06:41 PM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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https://news.vice.com/article/the-us-is-going-to-let-nearly-6000-drug-offenders-out-of-federal-prison-early?utm_source=vicenewsfb
Quote:
By VICE News October 6, 2015 |
The United States plans to free nearly 6,000 prisoners — the largest ever one-time release of federal inmates — in an effort to reduce overcrowding and ease the punishment for drug crimes.
The massive release, announced on Tuesday by the Department of Justice (DOJ), will take place over a four-day period from October 30 to November 2.
"It's a great first step in addressing a very longstanding problem of over incarceration," said Gary Feldon, chair of the American Bar Association's Section on Civil Rights and Social Justice Criminal Justice. "It's indicative of a general mood in the country on both sides of the aisle, where there's real interest in remedying over incarceration."
Related: How Drug Trafficking Conspiracy Laws Put Regular People in Prison for Life
The releases were set in motion by the US Sentencing Commission, which voted unanimously last year to reduce federal drug sentences by an average of two years. The decision came after nearly two years of public hearings that included testimony from DOJ officials, advocacy groups, and experts.
The lengthy process led to rebalanced federal sentencing guidelines that decrease the weight of drug offenses and encourage early release of prisoners serving long terms for drug-related crimes.
The impact of the new policy could be huge. The approximately 6,000 released prisoners are just the first batch of what is poised to be the nation's largest-ever prison release program. When the commission announced its new "Drugs Minus Two" policy last year, it estimated the changes could result in early releases for as many as 46,000 of the approximately 100,000 drug offenders in federal custody.
The timeline for those releases remains unclear, but Sentencing Commission spokesman Matt Osterrieder said that an additional 8,550 prisoners could become eligible for release within the next year.
The DOJ emphasized on Tuesday that the new policy does not let prisoners off the hook. "Even with the Sentencing Commission's reductions, drug offenders will have served substantial prison sentences," Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates told the Washington Post. "Moreover, these reductions are not automatic."
Though the number of released prisoners is unprecedented, each case still requires the approval of a judge. On average, federal judges have been issuing about 70 reduced sentences per week, the DOJ estimated.
The release program comes as both Democrats and Republicans are increasingly focused on ending mass incarceration. President Barack Obama recently became the first sitting president to meet with federal prisoners as part of VICE documentary, and he has vowed to make criminal justice reform a key priority during the last leg of his presidency.
Congress is also considering the first serious bipartisan criminal justice reform bill in decades. The bill has support from a wide range of stakeholders — from the ACLU to the Koch Brothers — and would cut the prison terms for drug offenders who face so-called mandatory-minimum sentences.
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azur
God of Fuck



Registered: 04/21/12
Posts: 28,103
Loc: Daid
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Re: The US Department of Justice is set to release 6,000 drug offenders from federal prison [Re: 404]
#22343545 - 10/06/15 11:46 PM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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Wow. Nice start
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my3rdeye



Registered: 08/10/12
Posts: 4,354
Loc: Canada
Last seen: 2 years, 8 months
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Re: The US Department of Justice is set to release 6,000 drug offenders from federal prison [Re: 404] 1
#22343799 - 10/07/15 01:26 AM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
404 said:incarceration."
Related: How Drug Trafficking Conspiracy Laws Put Regular People in Prison for Life
Sorry for slightly off topic but that link was great, and horrifying http://www.vice.com/read/how-drug-trafficking-conspiracy-laws-put-regular-people-in-prison-for-life-930
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thebitterbuffalo26
Fartyr



Registered: 04/18/15
Posts: 555
Loc: Texas
Last seen: 7 years, 7 months
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Re: The US Department of Justice is set to release 6,000 drug offenders from federal prison [Re: my3rdeye]
#22346416 - 10/07/15 04:47 PM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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Poor people hopefully prison hasn't fucked then up too much
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Jokeshopbeard
Humble Student

Registered: 11/30/11
Posts: 26,088
Loc: Deep in the system
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Re: The US Department of Justice is set to release 6,000 drug offenders from federal prison [Re: thebitterbuffalo26]
#22347628 - 10/07/15 08:52 PM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
thebitterbuffalo26 said: Poor people hopefully prison hasn't fucked then up too much
That's the really shit part of the situation. I nearly ended up there myself for the same reasons when I was 15. I was put into a release program instead, and I could tell, by how the other offenders there were, just how much it would have fucked up my entire life if I had been fully incarcerated.
-------------------- Let it be seen that you are nothing. And in knowing that you are nothing... there is nothing to lose, there is nothing to gain. What can happen to you? Something can happen to the body, but it will either heal or it won't. What's the big deal? Let life knock you to bits. Let life take you apart. Let life destroy you. It will only destroy what you are not. --Jac O'keeffe
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