The largest amnesty in the United States: 6 will be released from prison thousands of prisoners

At the end of October, the American authorities will release six thousand people, serving various sentences, within three days. This amnesty will be the largest in the history of the United States.

The authorities planned the amnesty for more than a year, and its deadlines were even shifted so that the government would be able to examine in detail the case of each prisoner. In addition, it was necessary to develop in advance a socialization program for prisoners after their release. Regional authorities expressed concern that with such a cardinal amnesty, not all former prisoners would be successfully employed and would be able to return to criminal activity.

The current amnesty looks like a restoration of justice. All six thousand who fell under the amnesty are serving sentences for crimes related to drug trafficking, and are not involved in violent crimes. For a number of articles related to drug trafficking, the US Department of Justice has recently allowed a number of relief measures. After that, the authorities decided that those who had been sentenced to long terms earlier should not be in prison longer than if the sentence had come into force today.

Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have repeatedly stressed that too many people go to prison for too long periods and have not committed any violent acts.

In addition, the number of prisoners who will be released from October 30 to November 2 will solve the problem of overcrowded US prisons. At the same time, it is reported that about a third of prisoners who came under amnesty are illegal migrants who are deported from the United States immediately after release. Many of them were serving sentences from the 80's or 90's of the last century.

Last year, the US Sentencing Commission decided to amend the recommendations on drug verdicts. One of the factors that determines the length of the sentence is the weight of the drug that was found on the suspect. Depending on the weight, the so-called “level” of seriousness of the offense was determined. However, the lawmakers decided that the amount of drugs was a less significant factor than the others, and since 2014, any drug weight has been quoted two levels lower than before. The reform, dubbed "Drugs minus 2", will reduce the maximum penalty by 11 months.

Currently, 46 thousands of prisoners in the United States can appeal the reduction of the sentence under the new rules. This, of course, is not the majority of prisoners in the state - since most of them are serving time in federal prisons - but a rather significant proportion of criminals associated with the drug trade.

It should be noted that over the past year, federal judges, prosecutors and lawyers have reviewed thousands of applications for the reduction of sentences. And, of course, not all of those who went to jail automatically changed their verdicts. Decisions were made, including, depending on the behavior of prisoners in prison, a potential threat to society and other factors. As a result, six thousand people were able to get out of prison ahead of schedule.

The release of prisoners should not be a shock, as the federal authorities annually release thousands of people to 55. In fact, what is to be done in three days, the authorities usually spend five weeks. If we consider that a third of those who came under the amnesty are illegal migrants and will be immediately deported from the US, four thousand people remain, but all of them will be under the close supervision of supervisors who help to adapt to life after the conclusion. Many of them were previously sent to rehabilitation centers, where they are being prepared for release, and some are already at home.

Of course, the simultaneous amnesty of such a large number of prisoners will be a test for the entire US penitentiary system in terms of how it can help prisoners to socialize on such a significant scale. At the same time, the amnesty can be considered as an experiment. The sentencing commission examined the stories of people who had left prison under previous amnesties, and concluded that they were less inclined to return to criminal activity. This argument was one of the key when deciding on the largest amnesty in American history.