Pubdate: Sun, 05 Aug 2012
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2012 The New York Times Company
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298

TOO MANY PRISONERS

The Justice Department in its recent annual report on federal 
sentencing issues wisely acknowledged that public safety can be 
maximized without maximizing prison spending. As it noted, the 
growing federal prison population, now more than 218,000 inmates, and 
a prison budget of almost $6.2 billion are "incompatible with a 
balanced crime policy and are unsustainable."

The department calls for reforms "to make our public safety 
expenditures smarter and more productive." Yet it fails to address 
sentencing changes that should be made, which would significantly 
reduce the problem of overincarceration in federal prisons.

Last fall, the United States Sentencing Commission issued a 
comprehensive report that said mandatory minimum sentences are often 
"excessively severe," especially for people convicted of 
drug-trafficking offenses, who make up more than 75 percent of those 
given such sentences. Mandatory minimums have contributed in the last 
20 years to the near tripling of federal prisoners, with more than 
half the prisoners now in for drug crimes.

There is no good evidence that long mandatory sentences deter crime. 
There is very good evidence that older prisoners (45 and up) are the 
least dangerous and that many should be released.

The Justice Department report does not mention mandatory minimum 
sentences or their major contribution to overincarceration in federal 
prisons. And it fails to urge Congress to make repealing mandatory 
minimums a high priority, as it should. It does not mention releasing 
older prisoners, which the Federal Bureau of Prisons has the power to do.

Nor does it mention adjusting its own policies on drug cases so it 
would put away fewer offenders not considered dangerous. About 25,000 
people were convicted of federal drug offenses last year, almost the 
same number as during the Bush administration in 2008 - a substantial 
proportion in low-level roles of drug trafficking, according to the 
Sentencing Commission.

The department sensibly calls for more cost-effective prison 
policies, but that would require reconsideration of the basic purpose 
of punishment. The unsustainable federal prison budget and the rising 
inmate population reflect the country's long, wasteful embrace of 
retribution. Both numbers are higher than they need to be for public safety.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom