Do not panic, thousands of prisoners did not escape their cells. What is happening, or rather, what is going to happen, is that the federal government is allowing for the early release of nearly 6,000 prisoners, starting at the end of October.

These prisoners are termed “non-violent drug offenders,” according to the Washington Post. This means they were arrested on drug charges and were not violent outside or inside of prison. Essentially, the U.S. government believes these drug offenders do not deserve the harsh terms they were originally given, so they are letting them free a bit early.

This release will be one of the largest in American history and it is the start of a plan to release nearly 50,000 prisoners in all from the prison system. Overcrowding is the main reason why prisons want to get rid of prisoners, but new drug laws also factor in.

The U.S. is trying to lessen the charges against low-level drug dealers to the point that if there is no gang affiliation, the person selling will not be charged by prosecutors. In overhauling this process, it was decided that those already in prison who have clean backgrounds and have behaved well should be released also.

Is the U.S. government insane?

Well, yes, but not so much in this situation.

Reports say that two-thirds of the released prisoners will go to halfway houses or rehabilitation facilities, while the last third, who are all foreign citizens, will be deported. There will not be 6,000 criminals running loose once this process is over.

However, the plan seems a bit rushed. I understand that these criminals are non-violent, but chances are most of them are already repeat offenders, so odds are many of them will simply go back to their old drug-selling ways and end up in prison again.

Also, the fact that a third of these inmates are not even American citizens makes absolutely no sense. Why are our tax dollars being spent to keep these criminals locked up when they are not even American citizens? Also, why are they all of a sudden going to be deported? Why were they not deported right away, when they were charged?

This shows that the justice system in America is a bit messed up at the moment. Small-time drug dealers do not deserve terribly lengthy sentences, but they do deserve some punishment. It is difficult to see how this release will be beneficial besides decreasing the prison population.

People deserve second chances, but relaxing drug laws and releasing prisoners may not be the best course of action. While it is not as dangerous as some may think it is, it is still a bit unnerving knowing that thousands of criminals will be released within the next year.

The American justice system does need an overhaul, but just getting rid of prisoners does not fix the fact that many of them may end up back in prison anyway.

While the thought of an old-fashioned jailbreak is terrifyingly entertaining, this simply is not that, so there is no need to freak out about rapists and murderers being released back into the public. Drug offenders do deserve less punishment than murderers, but full-fledged freedom should be reserved for those that prove they can keep within the law. Maybe these prisoners will go back to living normal lives, but if they do get arrested and charged again, the cycle will begin anew and the prison system will be stuck in a state of overpopulation again.

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