Roughly 6,000 federal inmates to be released

[jmotivator]

This should help Colorado's economy greatly.

I don't think these criminals are any more cut out for a job in corporatized marijuana than they were in corporatized hamburgers. They will find some illegal black market to get into the same as they did per-incarceration.

Criminals gonna crim.

 

[TurtleDude]

Roughly 6,000 federal inmates to be released - CNNPolitics.com





I strongly support that as well. This is fantastic news. When you do more time for having a pound of weed than murdering someone, that just doesn't make sense.

lots of that have to do with what are called the sentencing guidelines that raise the sentence based on both the offense level (say in a fraud case-the more money you steal the higher the point level is of your offense) and your criminal history

its why I saw two cases about 20 years ago that really bothered me

a guy who had two prior minor coke trafficking offenses got a life sentence for his third coke offense where a mule ratted him out (his first federal conviction) while a guy who blew the breast off of a bank teller during an armed bank robbery only got 18 years

 

[Lursa]

I think, since most were useless drug arrests, that that's good.

OTOH, IMO there's a good chance many of them were 'criminalized' in jail over time. Not only that, they still have criminal records and will have a harder time finding work...again leading to a higher incidence of failure in society.

What a waste the War on Drugs was/is...$$, lives, futures.

 

[Lursa]

Justice Department to release 6,000 inmates from federal prisons beginning Oct. 30 | Fox News

While “a majority” of the inmates granted release will be transferred to halfway houses and, in certain cases, drug rehabilitation centers, approximately one-third will be handed over to ICE to face possible deportation, according to an official.

I like the deportation aspect as well.

 

[Lursa]

It would save money and reduce overcrowding to shorten all federal prison sentences but it would also increase the number of convicted felons roaming freely among us. With a recidivism rate (of about 60%?) that virtually guarantees more crime victims created simply to relieve prison overcrowding. What is the next class of federal criminal to be let loose earlier to make room for more murders?

Convicted of what? Mostly victimless and non-violent crimes that were mistakes (by crap laws) to begin with?

I see no sense in compounding bad legislation with keeping people in jail just 'because.'

 

[Mason66]

I just hope that...whoever is doing the selecting of who gets out...does so in an intelligent manner. Like, perhaps, the people that actually WORK in whichever particular prison should have the most say on who gets out and who stays. Instead of just some dude at a computer reading arrest records, thousands of miles away.

Past that concern, this is a step in the correct direction, but small to the point of being almost meaningless. We should be letting 100,000 people out for minor drug offenses.

Other question I have is, with a mass release...where are they going to go?

Along that same line, it is highly unlikely that these people will be the same as when they went in.

If they were amateur criminals before, they are experts now.

 

[Mason66]

Justice Department to release 6,000 inmates from federal prisons beginning Oct. 30 | Fox News

Why would inmates need to be sent to rehab centers?

 

[Lursa]

Why would inmates need to be sent to rehab centers?

I think the reference is to halfway houses? Not drug rehab.

Maybe I misunderstood?

 

[Mason66]

The larger point is that they are not really criminals. They are criminals in name only, having harmed nobody, having committed only a crime against the state.

They are now, or they will be as soon as they get out.

 

[Mason66]

rather live among them than an uptight judgemental prick

Then you should, but you should buy really strong locks on for everything you own first.

 

[Mason66]

Convicted of what? Mostly victimless and non-violent crimes that were mistakes (by crap laws) to begin with?

I see no sense in compounding bad legislation with keeping people in jail just 'because.'

You don't know what they actually did, you only know what they were convicted of.

 

[Mason66]

I think the reference is to halfway houses? Not drug rehab.

Maybe I misunderstood?

It listed both, but I highly doubt many of the people they are going to release are active drug users, so why waste beds in rehab centers?

 

[ttwtt78640]

Convicted of what? Mostly victimless and non-violent crimes that were mistakes (by crap laws) to begin with?

I see no sense in compounding bad legislation with keeping people in jail just 'because.'

Neither do I but the "deal" is to review each case. Obviously that is to prevent some folks convicted of the same offense from getting the same "early" release treatment. That seems like keeping at least some folks in jail just 'because'.

Most often sentences are based on plea deals where more serious (or multiple) charges are reduced (or dropped) in exchange for a "reasonable" jail sentence to avoid he cost of a trial. Just because the apparent conviction is for a "victimless" drug crime does not mean that was the reality (or totality) of the situation. Some folks are in jail "voluntarily" for serious crimes yet the official charge noted in the plea deal seems "inappropriate".

 

[Lursa]

You don't know what they actually did, you only know what they were convicted of.

That can be said for any inmate ever released.

 

[Lursa]

It listed both, but I highly doubt many of the people they are going to release are active drug users, so why waste beds in rehab centers?

I'd agree, so again, maybe I didnt understand it correctly.

 

[Henrin]

I think, since most were useless drug arrests, that that's good.

OTOH, IMO there's a good chance many of them were 'criminalized' in jail over time. Not only that, they still have criminal records and will have a harder time finding work...again leading to a higher incidence of failure in society.

What a waste the War on Drugs was/is...$$, lives, futures.

There is also the fact that there is a good chance they have a mental illness that they didn't have before they went in.

 

[Lursa]

There is also the fact that there is a good chance they have a mental illness that they didn't have before they went in.

Source?

 

[Northern Light]

They're being released because of overcrowding. The other stated reasons are just to get political points. If most people knew the conditions of Federal prisons they would call for reprisals. When the prisons are so full that they can't possibly fit another person, our system is broken. You'd be fortunate to get an actual prison cell these days. Most inmates sleep on cots in enormous rooms housing thousands of inmates with no room to walk around. Is that supposed to "correct" criminal behavior?

Releasing thousands of inmates sounds good on paper but it's going to be a mixed bag. Will those inmates have social networks or support to help them reintegrate into society? Jobs? Housing? Family and friends?

Most felons can't get hired. The government should annul the criminal records of petty drug offenders. They shouldn't be put away in the first place.

 

[Lursa]

Most felons can't get hired. The government should annul the criminal records of petty drug offenders. They shouldn't be put away in the first place.

Exactly.

 

[Mason66]

That can be said for any inmate ever released.

But the narrative here is these people didn't hurt anybody and they are not a danger to society, which of course is not true.

 

[Lursa]

But the narrative here is these people didn't hurt anybody and they are not a danger to society, which of course is not true.

If the assess the people released correctly, what is the danger to society?

Caveat: I already pointed out a couple of longer term issues.

 

[Mason66]

If the assess the people released correctly, what is the danger to society?

Caveat: I already pointed out a couple of longer term issues.

Unfortunately that IF is really big.

 

[Lursa]

Unfortunately that IF is really big.

So people that really didnt commit any crimes against persons or for minor drug issues should be stuck in jail because the laws were incorrect, useless, and expensive? And continue to cost taxpayers in jail? Do you really think so?

 

[PoS]

Should have been more, all of those convicted of non-violent victim-less "War on Drugs" crimes should be released.

It should go even further than that- anyone who is charged with a victimless crime of any sort shouldn't be in jail.

 

[Mason66]

So people that really didnt commit any crimes against persons or for minor drug issues should be stuck in jail because the laws were incorrect, useless, and expensive? And continue to cost taxpayers in jail? Do you really think so?

I don't accept your characterization as such.