Photo: Franco Origlia/Getty
In a gesture intended to honor Pope Francis’s all-around-nice-guy-ness, Cuba has announced that it will let 3,500 people out of prison early ahead of his visit to the island next week. BBC News reports that those selected for freedom include “a number of inmates over 60, prisoners under 20 years old with no prior criminal records and inmates with chronic health conditions,” “inmates due for conditional release next year,” and “a number of foreign prisoners.” Not included are those doing time for murder, drug trafficking, or “crimes against state security.” Unfortunately, we don’t expect something similar to happen when Francis sits down at Madison Square Garden at the end of the month.
