amanda88
Well-known member
The US will release nearly 6,000 people jailed for drug crimes in the coming days, an effort to reform policies that led to mass incarceration.
About 3,400 inmates were already confined in places like halfway houses.
Another 1,700 of the inmates are not US citizens and will possibly face deportation.
The changes come as part of an effort to reverse long jail terms for non-violent offenders, who make up about half of the federal prison population.
Many of these prisoners were released from federal custody on Friday. The rest will be released by Tuesday.
They are the first wave of what will be thousands set free because of new rules from the US Sentencing Commission.
On average, their jail terms are being reduced by about two years.
It is not yet clear exactly what will happen to the non-US citizen prisoners. A BBC inquiry to the Department of Justice was not answered.
This release is the biggest of its kind in US history, and up to 46,000 of the country's 100,000 drug offenders could qualify.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34679662
