The U.S. Sentencing Commission released its quarterly report providing "data concerning recent court decisions considering motions to reduce the length of imprisonment for certain offenders convicted prior to November 1, 2007 of offenses involving crack cocaine."

The AP story summarizes.

New guidelines cut sentences for 3,000 crack offenders By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press WriterThu Apr 24, 5:00 PM ET

More than 3,000 crack cocaine convicts have had their prison sentences cut since the federal government eased harsh penalties for drug crimes overwhelmingly committed by blacks. A U.S. Sentencing Commission study released Thursday says it is not immediately clear how many offenders have actually been released from custody after having their sentences reduced. In all, 3,647 crack offenders so far have applied for early prison release since March 3, when new federal sentencing guidelines were enacted.

Here is the full report.

A bit of perspective here. According to the 2007 World Prison Population List, published by Britain's Home Office:

The United States has the highest prison population rate in the world, some 714 per 100,000 of the national population, followed by Belarus, Bermuda and Russia (all 532), Palau (523), U.S. Virgin Islands (490), Turkmenistan (489), Cuba (487), Suriname (437), Cayman Islands (429), Belize (420), Ukraine (417), Maldive Islands (416), St Kitts and Nevis (415), South Africa (413) and Bahamas (410).

Over 2.5 million are behind bars and over 7 million are in jail, on parole or on probation. (DOJ's corrections statistics). So 3,000 is hardly a giant sum. But Crack Baby Steps, I guess.