Noting federal prison reforms possible without statutory changes

A helpful reader alerted me to this notable Forbes article by Walter Pavlo which highlights ways the federal prison population could be lowered without waiting for whatever Congress might (or still might not) end up doing to reform federal sentencing statutes.  The piece is headlined "Prison Reform Is All The Rage, But A Real Opportunity For Change Might Be Missed," and here are excerpts:

Many past U.S. Congress’s have drafted criminal reform bills, only to have them lay dormant in committee.  Traditionally, the press releases and sound-bites have only provided false hope to those serving time.  The SAFE Act is the most recent and has received some positive press but lacks significant sponsorship in Congress.  Then there’s the Smarter Sentencing Act and the Second Chance Reauthorization Act that has recently lost some momentum.  There are others, but none worth mentioning....

There are many ways to use existing legislation and policies to reduce populations that need more focus and advocacy.  First, we need to allow more old and sick inmates to go home under compassionate release programs by crediting “earned” good conduct time towards program eligibility.  Second, rather than building new prisons, the federal government should divert the funding to build out of the Residential Reentry Centers (RRC) infrastructure and allow for more direct community placement designations, which was the true intent of the Second Chance Act under 18 USC 3624.  Next, early deportation options should also be explored for those who are in the U.S. illegally.

We have a problem of aging, sick inmates in the federal prison system.  There are currently six (6) major medical facilities that offer treatments for inmates for various ailments ranging from dialysis to chemotherapy.  It’s expensive with some estimates being as high as $57,000 per year per inmate.  The recidivism studies show far lower rates of recidivism for elderly offenders.

Halfway house, RRCs, offer a chance for inmates to serve the remainder of their time in the community working in a regular job, integrating with their family and learning skills. According to [Jack] Donson [a retired BOP employee], the BOP has the statutory authority to place offenders directly in halfway house at any time because the Federal Courts have made clear that RRC’s are penal or correctional facilities within the meaning of the applicable statues.  “Having a person in a community correctional treatment program including a job and integrating with their family is far better than any program the BOP could ever offer and inmate.”  So an RRC is basically a prison where inmates serve their debt to society … except that it would be MORE beneficial to most everyone....

While we wait for the next prison reform bill, let’s hope it is a comprehensive Omnibus Crime bill with both front end and back end (retroactive) measures that can be quickly implemented with a simultaneous build out of the RRC infrastructure. Congressmen and senators would do us all a service by putting pressure on the Department of Justice to use the existing policies and laws to begin changing prisons now.