Laws in effect at the time of Pollard's sentencing mandated that federal inmates serving life sentences be paroled after 30 years of incarceration if no significant prison regulations had been violated, and if there was a "reasonable probability" that the inmate would not re-offend. On July 28, 2015, the United States Parole Commission announced that Pollard would be released on November 20, 2015. The U.S. Justice Department informed Pollard's legal team that it would not contest the Parole Commission's unanimous July 7 decision.