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6000 drug felons will see early release from prison.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission said that around 6000 drug felons are soon to be released. Among them is Myrna Suner who was considered the queen of the drug empire in Philadelphia during the 80’s. She would rent out street corners and ran a very lucrative cocaine trade in her neighborhood located in north Philadelphia after her 20-year-old son was shot and killed in the streets.
A younger son would then testify against her in federal court in 1990. After the trial Myrna suren was sentenced to life in prison. At the time she was 41 years old. Now aged 67, Suren will soon be leaving the federal prison located in downtown Philadelphia where she has spent her last 25 years behind bars.
But she is just one of the 6000 drug felons which are set to be released around November 1. This is part of a national effort coming from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. They now deem such punishments for drug related crimes to be too harsh and also expensive for the state. The drug laws which were put in motion during the “War on Drugs” era are now costing the state millions which they have to spend on prisoners.
No matter what they are expecting from the outside world upon release, the inmates are still facing a shock. The world has changed a lot these last 20 years. For the prisoners who were in prison for a short period of time this will not be such a problem. But some who have spent over 20 years in a federal prison will have a hard time adjusting to the ways in which the world has changed.
Every year around 50,000 federal inmates are released from prison. This early release program is going to save the taxpayers a lot of money. The state pays around $30,000 annually for each inmate. This is a huge sum compared to the $3,900 it takes to supervise them after they are released.
From the 6000 which are set for release around 2000 of them will be immediately deported upon their release. All of the offenders being released are drug offenders. While prosecutors signed off on most of the petitions for early release they still had to deny some which they considered to be a danger for the community.
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