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 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.
Read on...
No comments:
Post a Comment