As Federal Prison Population Spiked 790 Percent, Average Drug Sentences Doubled | Think... - 0 views
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shared by Paul Merrell on 31 Dec 13
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The federal prison population has ballooned 790 percent since 1980, and almost half of those now imprisoned are there for drugs. In the coming years, the Bureau of Prisons projects that prison overcrowding will get even worse. While federal prisons are now 35 to 40 percent over capacity, they are expected by 2023 to reach 55 percent over capacity without a policy change, according to a new report by the Urban Institute. The prison population explosion was not driven primarily by a spike in crime, but by a change in punishment. Over a 25-year period, average drug sentences doubled from 38.5 months in 1984 to 74 months in 2011. And over a similar period, the percentage of convicted federal offenders sentenced to prison spiked from 50 percent in 1986 to 90 percent in 2011. Before the passage of several draconian laws that impose mandated harsh sentences and remove judicial discretion, many offenders received probation or a fine for the same violations.
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Now, public officials are among those looking for a solution. And the Urban Institute found that, while no one policy change will be enough to cure the inmate population explosion, the one single thing that could have the greatest impact is reforming mandatory minimum sentences. “Cutting mandatory minimums in half could save almost $2.5 billion in 10 years,” Urban Institute Senior Fellow Julie Samuels writes. “This measure alone would reduce overcrowding to the lowest it has been in decades.” There are now several bipartisan mandatory minimum bills pending in both houses of Congress. And the bipartisan momentum has never been greater, with even the world’s largest association of corrections officials and the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council urging mandatory minimum reform.
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Life in the "land of the free." Five per cent of the world's population, but 25 per cent of the world's incarcerated prisoners. Drug legalization and release of all prisoners convicted of drug crimes not involving violence would do far more to bring some order to this mess. But the desire to regulate seems irresistible, particularly when it serves as very thin cover for racial repression. Never mind that legalization would also end the drug war raging in Mexico. "But we can't legalize immoral behavior." "Would you prefer that people buy their drugs from a government dispensary or from the kid down the block, you know, the one with the AK-47?"