Our criminal sentencing policies are extreme. We see a bipartisan fix.
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Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation proceedings elevated a debate about the nuances of federal sentencing policy to a rare level of public visibility. But missing from that discussion is recognition of the overwhelming recognition among lawmakers that federal mandatory sentences are often too long, incarcerate people with no or little criminal history and have a disproportionate impact on communities of color.
There are multiple pieces of sentencing reform legislation with broad, bipartisan support pending in the Senate that would build on the legacies of both Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama – and would give thousands of incarcerated people a second chance at freedom. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell should work together to pass the bills on the Senate floor.
Legislators must not squander this opportunity. Take it from us – two people with vastly different experiences with our criminal justice system. One of us is a formerly incarcerated person who was sentenced to life without parole and served 33 years in federal prison. The other was a prison guard in college and became the general counsel of Koch Industries.
My poor decisions landed me in prison. Now I’m making the most of my second chance.
Despite our differences, we both wholeheartedly believe America’s sentencing policies are far too extreme, leave little hope for redemption and exacerbate problems with crime in our neighborhoods. They must be changed. Let’s build on the reforms that have shown to be effective in red states, blue states and at the federal level.
An over-incarceration problem
It’s important to understand just how harsh the U.S. criminal legal system is. Our courts dole out some of the longest punishments in the entire world. More than 200,000 people in the United States are serving life sentences and have virtually no hope of getting out. And between 1986 and 2016, the average time spent incarcerated for a federal drug offense more than tripled.
Largely due to these extreme sentences, there are more than 156,000 people in federal prisons today – representing a 535% increase since 1980.
Execution rightly halted:The Texas courts have spared Melissa Lucio’s life. Now she can prove her innocence.
Despite our propensity to use long prison sentences, rigorous research shows they have no significant effect on public safety. Long sentences also don’t significantly deter people from committing crimes.
It’s incredibly costly to keep people behind bars when they pose little to no threat to public safety. This diverts precious dollars from investments that could actually prevent crime or enable law enforcement to solve more cases.
Hope for bipartisan solutions
Fortunately, there are several pieces of legislation with diverse support moving through the Senate that would help curb extreme sentences. All of them build on the First Step Act, a historic law Trump signed in December 2018.
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