Should Certain Inmates Be Excluded from Receiving Time Credits?
One issue policymakers might consider is whether certain inmates should be excluded from
receiving earned time credits for participating in rehabilitative programs and productive activities.
Legislation before Congress would, among other things, exclude inmates who were convicted of
certain offenses (e.g., violent or sex offenses, drug offenses, and fraud offenses) from earning
additional time credits for participating in rehabilitative programming. Research suggests that
inmates should be assessed for risk and needs, and decisions about programming and supervision
should be based on those assessments regardless of the inmate’s current offense. However, many
still argue that inmates who are convicted of certain offenses, such as violent or sex offenses,
should be ineligible for early release, regardless of what they do to reduce their risk of recidivism
and prepare for life outside of prison.
A related issue that policymakers might consider is whether excluding inmates convicted of
certain offenses would have a disparate effect on racial or ethnic minorities. Given the statistics
presented later, some policymakers might be concerned that excluding inmates convicted of
certain offenses from being eligible to receive additional time credits under the proposed
assessment system might mean that, all else being equal, inmates of color would serve longer
prison sentences. However, this would only be true to the extent that inmates of color are more
likely to be convicted of offenses that would make them ineligible for earned time credits.
