Profile of Offenders in the Federal Prison System – what more do we know about drug offenders?

• In Event: Using Administrative Data for Evidence Building: Findings from the BJS’ Federal Justice Statistics Program

Abstract

This paper presents ongoing research into the federal prison population based on a new data set from the Federal Justice Statistics Program that links information on the BOP stock population to the US Sentencing Commission. Given the overcrowded and costly federal prison population, there has been great interest in better understanding the population, particularly drug offenders – who make up half the BOP population. Using the linked data, we will be able to offer a richer picture of these offenders than otherwise available from the BOP dataset, including their criminal history, type of drug involved, role in the offense, and gun involvement.

Authors

• Julie Samuels, Urban Institute

• Sam Taxy, Urban Institute