Panel: Reduction in drug sentences should be retroactive
WASHINGTON, D.C. - As many as 46,ooo Americans in prison on drug offenses may be eligible for a reduced sentence thanks to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which voted unanimously Friday to make recent reductions in sentencing guideline levels applicable retroactively.
Under the guidelines, the reduced sentences cannot take effect until November 1, 2015 and no offender would be released unless a judge reviews the case and determines that a reduced sentence would not pose a risk to public safety.
Judge Patti B. Saris, chair of the Commission, said Friday that the decision will reduce prison costs and prison populations. She also said it "responds to statutory and guidelines changes since the drug guidelines were initially developed."
In January, the Commission reached a unanimous decision to amend the guidelines to lower the base offense levels in the Drug Quantity Table across drug types, which may mean lower sentences for most drug offenders going forward.
In a statement, Attorney General Eric Holder called Friday's decision "a milestone in the effort to make more efficient use of our law enforcement resources" and says it will "ease the burden on our overcrowded prison system." Holder went on to state that the Bureau of Prisons will begin notifying potentially eligible inmates of the decision immediately.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission is responsible for assuring prison populations do not exceed capacity. Currently, the Federal Bureau of Prisons population exceeds capacity by around 32 percent, according to a release from the Commission.
The Commission said in a statement that the change in the sentencing guidelines is expected to allow over 46,000 offenders to be eligible to have their cases reviewed by a judge. Offenders eligible for a reduction could have their sentences reduced by an average of 25 months. Over time, according to the Commission, these sentence reductions could result in a savings of up to over 79,000 bed years (a bed year is the equivalent of one federal prisoner occupying a prison bed for a year).
In making its decision, the Commission said it studied offenders released early after a similar 2007 amendment to the guidelines for crack offenders and found that those offenders were no more likely to re-offend than offenders who had served their full, original sentences.
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) issued a statement Friday applauding the Commission's decision:
"The common sense on criminal justice that appears to be taking hold in our nation's capital is good for fairness and justice, it's good for public safety, and it reflects a more prudent stewardship of taxpayer resources," NACDL President Jerry Cox said.
Congress has until November 1 to argue against the decision. If it stands, courts could then begin considering petitions from prisoners for sentence reductions.