Thousands of federal prison inmates will be released in November as a result of the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s decision to lower federal sentencing for all drug trafficking and distribution crimes.
According to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, the release will include inmates with violent criminal histories who committed crimes involving assault, firearms, and even murder.
“It is our understanding that tens of thousands of federal inmates are eligible for early release as a result, and that the BOP inmate population will fall by more than 12,000 inmates by the end of fiscal year 2016. Overall, the Sentencing Commission has estimated that 46,376 prisoners are eligible for early release under Amendment 782 — with nearly 8,000
offenders eligible for immediate release on November 1, 2015.”
ast year, the Sentencing Commission made a two-level reduction, through Amendment 782, in the base offense levels for all drug trafficking and distribution offenses — including those that impose mandatory minimum sentences. Those reductions are retroactive and apply to every drug offense inmate in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons. Thousands of inmates filed motions for sentence reductions in their jurisdictions within the last year.
Congress is expected to take up legislation relating to mandatory sentencing reform in the near future.