Sentencing

Dear Friend: Yesterday, U.S. Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), took a bold step toward a more fair and effective criminal justice system. He introduced a bi-partisan bill with Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) that would create a blue-ribbon commission to conduct an 18-month review of the nation's criminal justice system and offer concrete recommendations for reform. "America's criminal justice system has deteriorated to the point that it is a national disgrace," said Senator Webb. "With five percent of the world's population, our country houses twenty-five percent of the world's prison population. Incarcerated drug offenders have soared 1200% since 1980. And four times as many mentally ill people are in prisons than in mental health hospitals." We agree with Senator Webb's assessment of the criminal justice system. Since his election in 2006, The Sentencing Project has been working with Senator Webb to provide information and analysis on sentencing and drug policy, along with recommendations for reform. We commend Senator Webb for his leadership on this issue, and look forward to working with his office, and other leaders in the House and Senate to advance sentencing reform, examine racial disparity and improve the juvenile justice system. You can help The Sentencing Project continue to advocate for a more fair and effective criminal justice system by making a contribution to our work today. Every day, support from individuals like you is making a difference in The Sentencing Project's work to change the way Americans think about crime and punishment. Thank you. Sincerely, Marc Mauer Executive Director

[Courtesy of Drug Policy Alliance] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 11, 2008 Contact: Tony Newman at 646-335-5384 or Bill Piper at 202-669-6430 New Justice Department Report: 1 in 31 Americans in Prison, Jail, on Parole or Probation More than Half of Federal Prisoners Incarcerated for Drug Law Offenses President-elect Obama, Vice President-elect Biden, and Secretary of State Nominee Clinton Favor Major Sentencing Reform A government report released today by the U.S. Justice Department found that 1 in 31 Americans were in prison or jail or on parole or probation last year. The U.S. has less than five percent of the world’s population but almost 25 percent of the world’s prison population, incarcerating more of its citizens per-capita than any other country in the world. The total incarcerated population of 2.3 million far exceeds China’s, which ranks second but whose overall population is four times that of the United States. More than 53 percent of federal prisoners are there for drug law violations. “Alcohol Prohibition was repealed 75 years ago because it wasted taxpayer money, increased violence, and fueled corruption; drug prohibition is doing all that and filling our prisons with hundreds of thousands of nonviolent offenders,” said Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. “Policymakers need to start treating drug use as a public health issue instead of a criminal justice issue.” A recent Justice Department report found that the number of people in federal prison for drug law offenses increased from 74,276 in 2000 to 95,446 in 2007. Nationally, an estimated 500,000 people are behind bars for a drug law violation. That is ten times the total in 1980, and more than all of western Europe (with a much larger population) incarcerates for all offenses. It costs billions of taxpayer dollars to incarcerate them, and many policymakers are supporting efforts to reduce drug sentences and divert nonviolent drug law offenders to treatment instead of incarceration to save money. Earlier this year, President-elect Barack Obama, Vice President-elect Joe Biden, and Secretary of State nominee, Hillary Clinton, supported legislation in Congress to reform federal cocaine sentencing laws. Obama’s official web site states that “Obama and Biden believe the disparity between sentencing crack and powder-based cocaine is wrong and should be completely eliminated.” Under current federal law, crack cocaine offenders are punished 100 times more severely than powder cocaine offenders. “America desperately needs a coherent and compassionate national drug policy that reduces the problems associated with both drugs and drug prohibition,” Piper said. “Eliminating the crack/powder sentencing disparity is a great place for the Obama Administration to start.” ###

From the Desk of Ethan Nadelmann

Dear friends,

I have been traveling back and forth to California this year, working on a ballot initiative that represents the most significant reform of prisons and sentencing in the history of the United States. We’re calling it the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act or “NORA” for short and we’ve just heard from the California Secretary of State that it has officially qualified for the ballot.

We wrote this measure and we are spearheading the campaign. I’m telling you about it because, as with past campaigns, our success in California, the most populous state, will have a national impact.

Now I need you to make a donation to help us build our fund for voter education and television advertising in the days leading up to the election.

Our research shows a substantial majority of Californians really like what’s in NORA. It provides a solution to the state’s prison overcrowding crisis through a combination of measures that will simultaneously and safely reduce the size of the prison population, provide effective treatment and rehabilitation, reduce recidivism and crime, and save taxpayers billions of dollars.

It would be great if NORA could be enacted into law by the State Legislature, but our friends in Sacramento tell us the only way to get it done is through the ballot initiative process. That’s why I need your help. I’ve raised millions from wealthy folks -- including some who live outside California and regard this as a fundamental issue of human rights, smart public policy and/or fiscal responsibility -- but we can’t get to the finish line without lots of support from people across the country who care. Please make a donation now.

I should tell you that NORA isn’t just about solving California’s prison overcrowding crisis and saving taxpayers billions of dollars. It’s also about reforming California’s prison industrial complex in ways that will transform the state into a leader in sensible drug and sentencing policy, and serve as a model for other states.

California used to be known as the State of Higher Education. Now it’s known as the State of Higher Incarceration. NORA can change that with your help.

You might also be interested to know that NORA includes a provision that changes the penalty for marijuana possession from a misdemeanor to an infraction -- like a traffic ticket. This single change will protect some 40,000 people a year convicted of simple marijuana possession from the serious and life-long collateral consequences of a criminal record.

So, if you want to know more about the details of NORA, click here, but please also take the opportunity to make a generous donation to ensure NORA wins on Election Day. There are still millions of people in California and across the country who think the best solution to every problem is to lock people up. Don’t let them win the day.

And after you’ve made your donation, please forward this email to everyone you know and encourage them to support NORA as well. There’s never been an opportunity like this to accomplish so much good for so many people.

One in eight Americans lives in California, and a victory in November will send a clear message to policy makers across the country that the American people want a public health approach to drug problems, not more wasteful prison spending. Your support of this California initiative will mean similar reforms will be more likely to pass across the country.

We’re talking about freedom, compassion and responsibility. Smart drug policy. Smart crime policy. And good government for a change.

Many thanks,

Ethan Nadelmann
Executive Director
Drug Policy Alliance Network

P.S. I need to raise the remaining money to run a powerful campaign through Election Day. Please give now to help me build a war chest for NORA.

[Courtesy of The Sentencing Project] Dear Friends, Less than one year after a national report found Iowa prisons and jails maintain the highest rate of racial disparity in the nation, Governor Chet Culver yesterday signed legislation requiring examination of the racial and ethnic impact of all new sentencing laws prior to passage. "Iowa's aggressive attempt to address racial and ethnic disparity can jumpstart a movement for fairness around the nation," said Marc Mauer, Executive Director of The Sentencing Project and co-author of the report that helped instigate the legislative response. Passage of the Minority Impact Statement Bill provides a means for legislators to anticipate any unwarranted disparities and enables them to consider alternative policies to accomplish the goals of legislation without causing undue negative effects on public safety. High rates of incarceration among people of color signal a failure to address social and economic problems within communities and can indicate bias within the justice system. The consequences for communities are disproportionate rates of voter disenfranchisement, unemployment, and disassociation among its citizens. Representative Wayne Ford (D- Des Moines) authored the legislation, House File 2393, which garnered broad bipartisan support when passed by Iowa's House and Senate. In a statement he said, "I believe that we need to be tough on crime, but we must also make sure that our laws are fair and equitable." In July, The Sentencing Project released its report, Uneven Justice: State Rates of Incarceration by Race and Ethnicity, which found that Iowa incarcerates blacks at a rate 13 times that of whites, more than double the national average. Iowa is the first state to pass legislation examining the racial and ethnic impact of new criminal justice policies. Bills to enact minority impact statements are also pending in Connecticut and Illinois. Last year, Oregon was the first state to introduce similar legislation. For more information, visit the Governor's Web site.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 19, 2007 CONTACT: Ed Hatcher, 301-656-0348 New Report Calls for Major Reforms to Reduce America’s Soaring Prison Population Leading criminologists recommend shorter length of stay in prison and elimination of prison time for technical parole and probation violations WASHINGTON, D.C. – Burdened by the world’s largest prison population, which has grown six-fold in the past 35 years, the United States should reform its criminal justice system by sending fewer people to prison and reducing the time they serve, a major new report concludes. “Unlocking America: Why and How to Reduce America’s Prison Population,” is co-authored by nine leading criminology and penal experts from around the country and relies on a thorough review of recent research into crime and incarceration. “The number of people incarcerated has skyrocketed over the past three decades and yet there is little if any scientific evidence of a causal relationship between crime rates and incarceration rates," said James Austin, president of the JFA Institute and report co-author. "A major reason for the rise in prison populations is longer prison terms. But there is no evidence that keeping people in prison longer makes us any safer. The report provides a practical roadmap for reducing prison populations and more effectively addressing crime by adopting sentencing policies that are now being used in a number of red and blue states." The report finds that putting more people in prison is financially wasteful, disproportionately burdens the poor and minorities, and has limited impact on recidivism and crime rates. In response, it calls for reducing prison sentences and eliminating prison terms for people who violate the terms of their probation or parole without committing new crimes. “People who break the law must be held accountable, but many of those currently incarcerated should receive alternative forms of punishment, and those who are sent to prison must spend a shorter period incarcerated before coming home to our communities,” the report says. Released by the JFA Institute, a Washington-based nonprofit organization focused on research-based solutions to criminal justice issues, the report also calls for decriminalizing the possession and sale of recreational drugs. The researchers say that widespread incarceration of people involved in the drug market has only fueled more violence and has not reduced the demand for drugs. “Unlocking America” also calls for improving prison conditions by reducing overcrowding and expanding access to health care, academic and vocational programs for incarcerated people to help them succeed in life after prison and increase public health and safety. A final recommendation calls on states to ease the transition from prison to free society by lifting barriers to employment and restoring voting rights so that people coming out of prison can be productive members of the workforce and society. The report’s recommendations, if implemented nationally, would gradually and safely reduce the nation’s prison and jail populations by half and generate annual savings of $20 billion, money that could be reinvested in more promising crime-prevention strategies. The authors of the report are convinced that the United States needs a different strategy for justice reform. Approximately 2.2 million people are now in jail or prison. The number serving sentences in state and federal prisons has grown from 196,000 in 1972 to more than 1.4 million today. An additional 750,000 people are in local jails awaiting trial or serving time for less-serious crimes. The number is growing and shows no signs of leveling off. “Our criminal laws and criminal justice policies and practices exacerbate the crime problem, unnecessarily damage the lives of millions of people, and worsen living conditions in low-income neighborhoods of American cities,” the report states. Under current sentencing policies, the state and federal prison populations will grow by another 192,000 prisoners over the next five years, according to the report. Such an increase will force the nation to spend an additional $27.5 billion in prison construction and operation costs over the five-year period, in addition to the $60 billion now spent annually on corrections. This growth in imprisonment is largely due not to rising crime rates but to changes in sentencing policy that led to dramatic increases in the numbers of felony convictions. This resulted in more prison sentences and increasing the length of the prison stays themselves. The report cites extensive research suggesting there is little relationship between fluctuations in crime rates and incarceration rates. The study highlights that minorities are more likely to be imprisoned than whites, noting that incarceration rates for blacks and Latinos are six times higher than for whites. If incarceration rates were race neutral, prison populations would drop by half. The report’s authors are: James Austin, president, the JFA Institute; Todd Clear, professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice; Troy Duster, professor, New York University; David F. Greenberg, professor, New York University; John Irwin, professor emeritus, San Francisco State University; Candace McCoy, professor, City University of New York; Alan Mobley, assistant professor, San Diego State University; Barbara Owen, professor, California State University, Fresno; and Joshua Page, assistant professor, University of Minnesota. For copies of the report, visit: www.jfa-associates.com/

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Federal crack cocaine penalties overstate the harmfulness of the drug, apply mostly to low-level offenders, and hit minorities hardest, concludes the U.S. Sentencing Commission in a new report to Congress, "Cocaine and Federal Sentencing Policy," released today, May 15. Based on these findings, the Commission maintains it's consistently held position that current crack cocaine penalties significantly undermine the congressional objectives of the Sentencing Reform Act, including fairness, uniformity and proportionality. The solution? Congress should act, says the report. Mary Price, vice president and general counsel of Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), a national, nonpartisan sentencing reform organization, says, "The prisoners, children and families torn apart by these unjustifiably harsh penalties are watching closely and will welcome crack sentencing reforms that restore some justice to crack penalties. Only Congress can change our harsh mandatory minimum crack laws. Lawmakers should not squander the important opportunity presented by the most recent set of findings and recommendations by the Sentencing Commission. The time is ripe for reform, especially given the bipartisan support for crack sentencing reform that has emerged in recent years." In its report, the Commission again unanimously and strongly urged Congress to act promptly on the following recommendations: (1) Increase the five-year and ten-year mandatory minimum threshold quantities for crack cocaine offenses to focus the penalties more closely on serious and major traffickers, (2) Repeal the mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession of crack cocaine and (3) Reject addressing the 100-to-1 disparity by decreasing the five-year and ten-year mandatory minimum threshold quantities for powder cocaine offenses, citing no evidence to justify such an increase in quantity-based penalties for powder cocaine offenses. In addition, the Commission seeks authority to incorporate any future changes to the mandatory minimums for crack into the federal sentencing guidelines. FAMM strongly supports these recommendations and looks forward to working with members of Congress to implement these reasonable and long-overdue reforms to crack cocaine sentencing. Visit www.ussc.gov to read the report.