Owning Up to Failed 'War on Drugs,' DOJ To Release Wave of Nonviolent Offenders

We're always happy to hear about people being set free, and it's encouraging to see governments taking compassionate approaches to justice!

The U.S. Department of Justice is preparing to release from federal prisons up to 6,000 people whose nonviolent drug sentences were recently reduced, as part of what advocates say is the country's ongoing march towards justice within its “failed” War on Drugs.

According to the Washington Post, which broke the news on Tuesday afternoon, the event marks the largest ever one-time release from the federal prison system.

“The inmates from federal prisons nationwide will be set free by the department’s Bureau of Prisons between Oct. 30 and Nov. 2,” the Post reported. “Most of them will go to halfway houses and home confinement before being put on supervised release.”

The move follows a decision last year by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, a body within the judicial branch that sets federal sentencing policies, to apply new sentencing guidelines to people who are currently serving time for select nonviolent drug offenses.