WASHINGTON (AP) - More than 3,100 federal inmates are being released by the Bureau of Prisons as part of a criminal justice overhaul signed into law last year.

  

Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen says the inmates will be released Friday from federal prisons and halfway houses across the country.

  

The overhaul known as the First Step Act gives judges more discretion in sentencing, eases mandatory minimum sentences and encourages inmates to participate in programs aimed at reducing recidivism.

  

The Justice Department has released a risk and needs assessment tool that's intended to measure a prisoner's likelihood of committing new crimes.