In 2018, President Trump signed the First Step Act, which was put into place to help inmates. The First Step Act is supposed to help inmates get out of prison earlier. Inmates can obtain “time credits” by participating in prisons’ work programs and educational programs.
There are a few problems with the First Step Act. It is only in place going forwards, so inmates who were incarcerated in the past are left behind. Sometimes time credits aren’t recorded correctly, and some inmates aren’t being released as early as they should be. Courtney Curtis, a former Missouri lawmaker, was sentenced to 21 months in prison because of “wire fraud related to the misallocation of campaign funds.” He claims that he hasn’t had any time credits added to his record since January; he says that if they had been added, he would have been released in June. However, his current release date is October 22. Curtis claims that his time credits were not counted correctly, even though he participated in prison programs called “Be Successful,” “Drug Education,” and “Talk to Your Doctor.”
The Bureau of Prisons told NBC that as of June 18, 2022, more than 8,600 inmates have had their sentences shortened and are set for early release due to their accumulated time credits. However, the Bureau of Prisons also said it doesn’t know how many inmates with the required numbers of time credits should have been released by now, but are still stuck in prison.
Bureau officials said, “We have no data which suggests inmates had their release dates delayed.” However, with the identification of more than 66,600 inmates who could potentially earn time credits, industry experts estimate that there are thousands of inmates who are missing out on the full benefits of the First Step Act. Apparently, this is because the First Step Act Agency doesn’t know how to determine what those benefits are and how inmates can earn them.
The First Step Act is the first step in ensuring that inmates can be redeemed.
Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/thousands-federal-inmates-still-await-early-release-trump-era-first-st-rcna35162
There are a few problems with the First Step Act. It is only in place going forwards, so inmates who were incarcerated in the past are left behind. Sometimes time credits aren’t recorded correctly, and some inmates aren’t being released as early as they should be. Courtney Curtis, a former Missouri lawmaker, was sentenced to 21 months in prison because of “wire fraud related to the misallocation of campaign funds.” He claims that he hasn’t had any time credits added to his record since January; he says that if they had been added, he would have been released in June. However, his current release date is October 22. Curtis claims that his time credits were not counted correctly, even though he participated in prison programs called “Be Successful,” “Drug Education,” and “Talk to Your Doctor.”
The Bureau of Prisons told NBC that as of June 18, 2022, more than 8,600 inmates have had their sentences shortened and are set for early release due to their accumulated time credits. However, the Bureau of Prisons also said it doesn’t know how many inmates with the required numbers of time credits should have been released by now, but are still stuck in prison.
Bureau officials said, “We have no data which suggests inmates had their release dates delayed.” However, with the identification of more than 66,600 inmates who could potentially earn time credits, industry experts estimate that there are thousands of inmates who are missing out on the full benefits of the First Step Act. Apparently, this is because the First Step Act Agency doesn’t know how to determine what those benefits are and how inmates can earn them.
The First Step Act is the first step in ensuring that inmates can be redeemed.
Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/thousands-federal-inmates-still-await-early-release-trump-era-first-st-rcna35162
