President Trump shortened the sentences of thousands of prisoners by signing the First Step Act days before Christmas. But one week later, inmates and their frustrated families say they are afraid the gift won’t be delivered in time to hasten release dates.
Silence from the Federal Bureau of Prisons is creating fear that foot-dragging will eat into reductions mandated by Trump’s most significant bipartisan policy achievement. The new law gives many prisoners an extra seven days off their sentences for each year of good behavior, but it’s unclear when authorities will make the calculations.
“Literally, my brother has packed his stuff and is waiting for the call,” said Veda Ajamu, whose brother Robert Shipp, 46, has served 25 years of a drug sentence.
Shipp had a November 2019 release date, but Ajamu believes he may be going home immediately under the new law, which would shave off about 175 days, potentially making him eligible for a halfway house or home confinement, which is typical at the very end of sentences.
“I’m thinking to myself, ‘I don’t know what to do. I’m feeling anxious. I don’t want to be at the wrong place when he calls,’” said Ajamu, who plans to pick up her brother.
“Some families have loved ones who they know would be home tomorrow,” said Kevin Ring, president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums and a former executive director for the conservative Republican Study Committee. “People are very concerned about when this is going to get done. Congress has passed this. It’s in effect.”
Advocates estimate that 4,000 federal prisoners will be released almost immediately under the good-time expansion. A smaller number can petition courts for old crack cocaine sentences to be reduced.
For Craig Steven Houston, 48, the good-behavior change alone could mean 210 days off a 30-year crack cocaine sentence. He had an August release date, but the law means he could get out in just 22 days, on Jan. 19., according to his family.
“We want to be prepared and know what’s going on,” said Steve Henderson, who was raised with Houston and considers him a brother.
Concerned families are calling the Bureau of Prisons’ Designations and Sentence Computation Center, which calculates sentences. But some say calls haven’t been answered.
“When you have an infraction in prison, when they take the time away from you, they calculate it immediately… the next day it is gone,” Henderson said. “You have people across the country who are supposed to be home. All of a sudden DSCC isn’t answering their phones.”
It’s unclear what effect the ongoing partial government shutdown is having. Bureau of Prisons spokespeople did not respond to multiple requests for clarification this week.
Part of the delay may be explained by lack of implementation guidance. “We are currently reviewing the new legislation to determine implementation guidance for BOP and other DOJ components,” said Justice Department spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle.
Hornbuckle noted that more than 80 percent of the department workforce is working through the government shutdown, which began hours after Trump signed the First Step Act.
A Justice Department shutdown contingency plan prepared in September says all staff at federal prisons would work during a funding lapse, but it does not directly address the fate of the sentence-calculating office.
Although many inmates want to be out immediately, for others, the uncertainty creates practical problems by shortening planned halfway house stays. Without the temporary housing at the very end of a prison sentence, some people have nowhere to go.
Angela Stanton King, a former inmate now a reform advocate, said there are services available in such situations. The American King Foundation, which she helps lead, is one group helping people who may lose transitional housing due to the uncertainty.
“People coming home need a bridge in that first year to help keep them grounded, lessening the chance of repeat offenses. Sometimes people just need someone to talk to, or someone who understands what it’s like to pop out of prison after serving two decades — and how you do that without taking the chance of going back in,” King said.
For many inmates, anxiety is likely to grow as they struggle to learn what’s happening.
“These are people at the holidays jumping up and down because the bill passed, and then they’re like, ‘Now what are we waiting for?'” Ring said.
