Budget Considerations:
The awarding of good conduct allowances as proposed in the bill would decrease the amount of time served in prison by manyprisoners. This would result in savings to the United States. With prisoners serving less time, the Bureau of Prisons would have more bed space that it could use to house federal prisoners who are now being held in state facilities and local jails. However,
there is not sufficient information available to project the extent to which prison populations would be decreased by the bill and, therefore, the fiscal impact cannot be determined.
(b) Credit Toward Service of Sentence for Satisfactory Behavior. - (1) Subject to paragraph (2), a prisoner who is serving a term of imprisonment of more than 1 year, other than a term of imprisonment for the duration of the prisoner's life, may receive credit toward the service of the prisoner's sentence, beyond the time served, of up to 54 [insert] 180 days at the end of each year of the prisoner's term of imprisonment, beginning at the end of the first year of the term, subject to determination by the Bureau of Prisons that, during that year, the prisoner has displayed exemplary compliance with institutional disciplinary regulations. Subject to paragraph (2), if the Bureau determines that, during that year, the prisoner has not satisfactorily complied with such institutional regulations; the prisoner shall receive no such credit toward service of the prisoner's sentence or shall receive such lesser credit as the Bureau determines to be appropriate. In awarding credit under this section, the Bureau shall consider whether the prisoner, during the relevant period, has earned, or is making satisfactory progress toward earning, a high school diploma or an equivalent degree [insert] or a certification through an accredited vocational training program, college, or university. Credit shall also be given based on equivalent interventional rehabilitation programs completion including but not limited to mental health treatment and any other interventional rehabilitation programs deemed appropriate for this credit by the Director. Credit that has not been earned may not later be granted. Subject to paragraph (2), credit for the last year or portion of a year of the term of imprisonment shall be prorated and credited within the last six weeks of the sentence. (2) Notwithstanding any other law, credit awarded under this subsection after the date of enactment of the Prison Litigation Reform Act shall vest on the date the prisoner is released from custody. (3) The Attorney General shall ensure that the Bureau of Prisons has in effect an optional General
Educational Development program for inmates who have not earned a high school diploma or its equivalent. (4) Exemptions to the General Educational Development requirement may be made as deemed appropriate by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
There's more, check the link above for the full text. If you are willing to work with FPPR to make LERA a reality for the 173,000 federal prisoners and their families, send them an email at director@fppr.us. Please show your support for Federal Prison Policy Project’s LERA initiative.
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