US expands prision time credits for foreign sentences

Washington, Aug 29 (IANS) In a significant prison reform move, the United States has expanded federal prison time-credit rules, allowing thousands of inmates to begin earning credits earlier and extending eligibility to some Americans serving sentences imposed abroad.

The Bureau of Prisons estimates the changes could give affected prisoners an average of nearly 24 additional credit days and save taxpayers more than USD 54 million annually.

The development represents a substantial change in the implementation of the First Step Act. It could accelerate the movement of eligible inmates from secure prisons to residential re-entry centres, home confinement or supervised release.

The Bureau has issued an interim final rule making two changes to the programme.

The first allows eligible prisoners to begin earning credits once their prison term commences, including while they are awaiting transportation to the federal institution where they will serve their sentence.

The second covers US citizens or nationals transferred from foreign prisons into Bureau of Prisons custody under international treaties.

Such prisoners may now use First Step Act credits if the US Parole Commission determines that their foreign sentence has an equivalent under the US Code.

The rule takes effect on September 30.

The Bureau said the amendments were needed to align its regulations with the statute and recent federal court decisions.

Under the previous wording, prisoners could begin earning credits only after arriving or voluntarily surrendering at their designated Bureau of Prisons facility.

Several courts concluded that the restriction added an eligibility condition that did not appear in the First Step Act.

The revised rule states: “An eligible inmate begins earning FSA Time Credits after the inmate’s term of imprisonment commences.”

It means eligible prisoners awaiting transfer to their designated institution can participate in approved programmes and begin accumulating credits.

The change does not mean every prisoner will automatically earn credits immediately after sentencing. An inmate must complete evidence-based programmes or productive activities assigned through an individual risk-and-needs assessment.

Eligible inmates earn 10 or 15 days of credit for every 30 days of successful participation. Prisoners assessed as having a minimum or low risk of reoffending can qualify for the higher rate if they maintain or reduce that risk level.

The government estimates that 7,554 inmates annually could use additional credits for earlier transfer to prerelease custody. Another 11,258 could qualify for earlier supervised release from residential re-entry centres, while 6,486 could leave conventional prison facilities sooner.

The projected annual saving of USD 54.13 million includes about USD 32.09 million from earlier supervised release from re-entry centres and USD 20.13 million from earlier release from federal prisons.

The foreign-sentence provision applies to offenders transferred under treaties between the United States and other countries.

US citizens or nationals convicted abroad may be moved into federal custody to serve the remainder of their sentences. The revised regulation will no longer exclude them solely because their convictions were imposed under foreign law.

–IANS

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