Over Half of State Prisoners Serve Sentences of 10+ Years

Illustration courtesy CCJ

Some 57 percent of people held in state prison in 2019 were serving sentences of 10 years or longer—an 11 percent jump from the previous decade, according to a Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) task force.

In a study examining the nation’s use of long prison sentences, researchers found, however, that while the size of the population serving long sentences continues to grow in state prisons, recent state prison admissions of individuals sentenced to terms longer than 10 years remained relatively low.

Individuals serving long sentences amounted to only 17 percent of new state prison admissions.

Nevertheless, the cumulative number of long-term prisoners was a product of what researchers called a “stacking effect.”

The study gives a “ground level understanding of what the numbers look like,” said John Maki, the Director of the Long Sentences Task Force, in a webinar timed to coincide with the study’s release Wednesday. “But it really points to how much we don’t know about long sentences.”

The study found the length of time served by people sentenced to 10 years or more has grown.

Between 2005 and 2019, the average amount of time served by the group increased from 9.7 years to 15.5 years.

The CCJ task force plans to continue studying the implications of long sentencing.

According to the data, 57 percent of individuals serving sentences over 10 years committed a violent offense.

In comparison, 43 percent were imprisoned for non-violent offenses such as drug crimes, firearms violations and other offenses.

Another effect of long sentencing the study found was people 55 and over became the fastest-growing population serving long sentences, jumping from more than 8 percent in 2005 to 19 percent in 2019.

The study also uncovered that the disparities of long sentences between Blacks and whites had increased by 3 percent since 2005.

When accounting for conviction offenses, African Americans received longer sentences for violent crimes compared to whites, and white people saw longer sentences for some property crimes, according to the study.

The report is the first in a series of publications from the Task Force on Long Sentences, which intends to release recommendations for changes in policy and practice in December.

‘This is sort of our first snapshot of what’s going on with long sentences,” said Jenifer Warren, Senior Editor and Director of Media Relations at CCJ, during the panel.

The Task Force, launched in 2022, is co-chaired by former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, who was also U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, and Trey Gowdy, a long-time federal and state prosecutor who served four terms in the House of Representatives.

They were joined by 14 other members representing a broad range of experience and perspectives, including crime victims and survivors, formerly incarcerated people, prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement, courts, and corrections.

The full study can be found here.

James Van Bramer is associate editor of The Crime Report.