I heard from a friend's lawyer that they were to going to restore federal parole. Is this so or are they just pulling her leg?

Federal parole is not likely to be restored in the forseeable future. Since 1987, when the Federal Sentencing Guidelines went into effect and parole was abolished, the only time an inmate can receive off of a federal sentence has been 54 days a year, commencing after the person has served 12 months. There have been efforts in recent years to increase the amount of good time a prisoner can receive against their sentence. In 2004, Congressman Bobby Scott of Virginia introduced a bill named L.E.R.A (Literacy, Education and Rehabilitation Act) in the House of Representatives that would have allowed inmates to earn up to 180 days a year good time. However, the bill went nowhere. Anyone interested in the bill should understand that thousands of bills are filed in Congress each year. All are referred to a Committee or Subcommittee and very few get consideration such as hearings. Even if support for the bill could be developed among members of Congress and the Congressional leadership, it likely would take several years before it passed and became law. Also, there likely will be many opponents of such a bill who view it as shortening the sentences of violent, drug and sex offenders whose sentences they would like to see increased. I'm sorry I can't be more positive about the prospects of shorter sentences for federal inmates, but the current political climate just doesn't allow it. However, I also don't mean to discourage you from working towards passage of such a bill. More information on the 2004 bill is available here . A good place to get information on current efforts to increase good time for federal prisoners is the