Pubdate: Fri, 18 Jan 2008
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Page: B04
Copyright: 2008 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Robert E. Pierre, Washington Post Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

INMATES QUALIFY FOR FEDERAL DRUG PROGRAM PERK

District inmates held in federal prisons are now eligible to have a 
year shaved off their sentences for completing an intensive 
drug-treatment program.

Inmates, their families and advocacy groups had complained that D.C. 
inmates were the only federal prisoners not to have sentences reduced 
after completing the 500-hour program, largely because of their 
unique status -- the District is the only jurisdiction in the country 
in which all felons are sent to federal lockups.

The D.C. Council tried to end the inequity when it passed legislation 
in 2005 that brought city law into compliance with federal law, in 
effect making D.C. inmates eligible for the provision. But federal 
rules had to be rewritten and approvals were needed at several levels 
of government.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), who announced the change this 
week, had pressed for it.

"They just weren't paying attention," she said, referring to the time 
that passed since the District modified its law. "Why should we be a priority?"

The District transferred its prisoners to federal control after 
Congress agreed to take over the costs. About 7,000 D.C. inmates are 
being held in 75 institutions nationwide.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons runs the 500-hour residential 
drug-treatment program at many facilities.

"They have always been permitted to be enrolled," said Traci 
Billingsley, a bureau spokeswoman. "Now they can get the time off."

The move is one of the first concrete changes since Norton scheduled 
a congressional hearing in October. She said inmates from the 
District were not getting the same treatment as other prisoners in 
federal facilities, and she was particularly critical of the 
privately operated Rivers Correctional Institution in North Carolina. 
Federal prison officials have acknowledged that Rivers had 
substandard drug-treatment and vocational training programs compared 
with other federally run facilities.

Drug treatment is of particular concern. Two-thirds of D.C. residents 
released from prison have abused drugs, according to studies. Bureau 
officials say that about 34 percent of federal inmates need 
residential substance-abuse treatment, and most of them volunteer for 
and receive such treatment while in prison.

The treatment program has been credited with reducing recidivism.

"We're dealing with people who got virtually nothing while out in the 
open," Norton said. "At least we can send them out clean. That gives 
them a leg up in finding a job." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake