United States: policy shifts reduce federal prison population

A decline in the number of federal prosecutions and in the severity of sentences for drug-related crime in recent years has resulted in a significant drop in the federal prison population, according to statistics from the Judiciary, the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC), and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP).

The federal prison population fell from a peak of nearly 219,300 inmates in 2013 to 188,800 in April 2017, a nearly 14 percent reduction, according to BOP statistics. The decrease reflects a dramatic shift in federal policies away from stiff penalties for drug trafficking and other drug-related offenses in recent years. It also has mitigated overcrowding at BOP facilities – the inmate population, once at 37 percent overcapacity, is now at 13 percent overcapacity.

Changes in sentencing guidelines are a major contributor to the inmate population decline. In 2011, the USSC implemented lower crack cocaine penalties in line with the Fair Sentencing Act passed by Congress the year before. The new guidelines were made retroactive, which resulted in the release of prisoners who had already served their time under the new guidelines. Because drug crimes account for nearly a third of all criminal filings in federal courts, changes in drug sentences have a big impact on the federal prison population.

Chief Judge Patti B. Saris, the immediate past chair of the Sentencing Commission, said at her final public meeting in December, “In arriving at these decisions, the commission found that crack cocaine penalties were not proportionate to the harms on society, and that the impact of the unduly severe penalties were borne most by minorities.”

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