Feds releasing 179 inmates from Georgia, 6,112 nationwide

3) Illinois: 260

4) California: 250

5) North Carolina: 227

6)Georgia: 179

Source: Federal Bureau of Prisons

The government is freeing nearly 200 federal inmates from Georgia starting Friday as it seeks to alleviate prison overcrowding and shorten harsh sentences handed out to nonviolent drug offenders.

In all, the U.S. Justice Department is releasing 6,112 prisoners with felony drug convictions nationwide through Monday, the largest one-time discharge of inmates. Most are already in halfway houses or in home confinement. Many will remain under the supervision of parole officers.

Of those being freed, 179 lived in Georgia before they were sent behind bars and have returned or will return to the Peach State. Georgia — where Republican leaders are overhauling how nonviolent criminals are punished so expensive prison beds are reserved for more dangerous offenders — ranks sixth among states in the number of inmates being released.

The inmates’ prison sentences were shortened after the U.S. Sentencing Commission, an independent federal agency, voted unanimously last year to reduce sentencing guideline levels for drug trafficking offenders. The panel also made the changes retroactive. But it delayed making them go into effect for a year to give law enforcement authorities time to prepare.

To get their sentences shortened, the prisoners had to petition judges, who weighed public safety factors. Just over a quarter of all the petitions have been denied so far. The average sentence for those receiving reductions is 10.5 years. The reductions will bring their sentences down to an average of about 8.5 years.

Since 1995, the federal prison population has more than doubled to 205,479. About a third of the Justice Department’s budget now goes toward prison spending. At the same time, taxpayers are spending $30,620 on average to incarcerate a federal inmate per year, according to the Bureau of Prisons.

Some federal drug sentences for nonviolent offenders are unfairly long, said Jesselyn McCurdy, senior legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. Federal prison overcrowding, she added, “creates dangerous conditions for both corrections officials and people who are serving time in those prisons.”

“These cases have been carefully reviewed by judges, and the decisions to release them early are taken seriously,” she said. “People who present a public safety risk will not be released.”

But some remained skeptical. Critics noted that not all federal inmates are convicted of every crime they commit. For example, some get charges dropped through plea deals.

“A lot of these so-called first-time offenders that are being released actually have extensive criminal histories,” said Terry Norris, executive director of the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association. “They just don’t have extensive [incarceration] histories.”

Police are also concerned about the possibility that the offenders will commit new crimes after they are freed, said Frank Rotondo, the executive director of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police. The Justice Department released a statement Friday, saying “keeping inmates in prison longer has historically not been shown to make a difference on recidivism.”

Rotondo also wondered about the legal status of the inmates. Of those being released this month, 1,789 aren’t U.S. citizens and will be transferred to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Among them, 763 have already been ordered deported. The rest remain in deportation proceedings. ICE couldn’t say how many lived in Georgia. But the agency confirmed 396 are being transferred to ICE’s custody in its Atlanta area of operations, which includes Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

The Bureau of Prisons did not identify the inmates Friday or say which prisons they are being released from, citing privacy reasons. But the agency disclosed that:

• 4,722 are being released Friday and 1,390 are being freed Monday.

• 63 percent are white, 34 percent are black, 2 percent are Asian and about 1 percent are Native American.

• 92 percent are men and 8 percent are women.

• Five other states are receiving more inmates than Georgia. The largest group – 597 — is heading to Texas, followed by Florida, 310; Illinois, 260; California, 250; and North Carolina, 227.

Tina Hunt, executive director of the Federal Defenders of the Middle District of Georgia, said her office petitioned courts to reduce the sentences of some of those being released this month.

“The process was moving a bit slow and we were having lots of inquiries about it, so we moved on those that contacted us,” said Hunt, whose district includes Albany, Athens, Columbus, Macon and Valdosta. “And the court has granted some of those and denied some of those.”

Hunt added the release of nearly 200 inmates to Georgia will “create a big burden on U.S. Probation.” Many of the inmates must remain under various forms of supervision and submit to drug testing after they are released.

Karen Redmond, a spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, said probation officers in Georgia and elsewhere are “are aware that there will be an influx. And we are prepared as best as we can.”

Meanwhile, Atlanta area groups that help former inmates get back on their feet are bracing for the influx. They said the inmates will need help finding housing, education and jobs, steep hurdles given their criminal convictions.

“Trying to find a job for somebody with a felony conviction is almost impossible,” said Che Watkins, president and CEO of the Center for Working Families, an Atlanta-based group that offers job training and helps people find work. “So we have to have relationships with certain employers that we know understand the circumstances and will work with us, especially depending on what the conviction is.”

Georgia Works!, an Atlanta organization that fights homelessness, addiction and criminal recidivism, will also be ready to help the former inmates, said the group’s executive director, Phil Hunter.

“There are several providers in the area for gentlemen that will be homeless,” Hunter said. “They will probably use some of those resources. We will be one of them. If anybody shows up here and wants help, of course, we will take them through the same process we do with anyone else and see if we can offer services to them.”