From the Sentencing Project (http://www.sentencingproject.org):
New analysis of significant changes in federal sentencing
Since reaching a peak in 2013, the federal prison population declined 13% by the close of 2016—twice the national rate of decarceration. But recent policy changes by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and certain Congressional proposals appear poised to reverse this progress, according to a new analysis from The Sentencing Project. Indeed, the Department of Justice’s budget proposal for 2018 forecasts a 2% increase in the federal prison population.
Federal courts frequently impose stiff mandatory sentences on individuals even though many people who receive federal drug sentences are in the lower levels of the drug trade, were not caught with weapons, or have limited criminal histories. The average federal prison term being served for a drug offense is 11.3 years. And yet:
Almost half (48%) of individuals receiving a federal drug sentence in 2009 were at or below the level of “street-level dealers,” which is defined as selling less than one ounce of drugs.
No weapon was involved in 82% of the cases in which someone received a federal sentence for a drug offense in 2016.
As criminologists and many policymakers have cautioned, ratcheting up already punitive policies is ineffective in reducing drug use and crime rates, while carrying heavy fiscal, social, and human costs. Although crime rates remain near 40-year lows, areas with rising crime and substance abuse problems require more effective policies than tougher sentences that have limited effect while causing great harm.
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