The United States has begun implementing a program designed to re-integrate prisoners into society with plans to release more than 3,100 inmates for vocational training in an effort to reduce the nation's prison population, the US Department of Justice said in a press release on Friday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th July, 2019) The United States has begun implementing a program designed to re-integrate prisoners into society with plans to release more than 3,100 inmates for vocational training in an effort to reduce the nation's prison population, the US Department of Justice said in a press release on Friday."Our communities are safer when we do a better job of rehabilitating offenders in our custody and preparing them for a successful transition to life after incarceration," Attorney General William Barr said in the release. "The Department is committed to and has been working towards full implementation of the First Step Act, which will help us effectively deploy resources to help reduce risk, recidivism and crime."
More than 3,100 Federal prison inmates will be released from the Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) custody as a result of good behavior, the release said.
In addition, the First Step Act's retroactive application of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 has resulted in 1,691 sentence reductions, the release added.
The 2018 law created an easier pathway for inmates to participate in programs such as vocational training and drug abuse rehabilitation to earn reductions in their sentences, the release said.
The First Step Act also requires the Justice Department to develop a Risk and Needs Assessment System that will help identify all federal prison inmates who may qualify for early release, according to the release.
The American criminal justice system has the world's highest incarceration rate, with nearly 2.3 million inmates in nearly 2,000 state and federal prisons, according to published reports.
