People in Federal Prison for Drug Offenses: Analyzing Sentencing Decisions through Linked Data

• In Event: Case Processing and Decision Points in the Federal System

Abstract

After decades of growth, the population of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has begun to shrink. People with drug offenses represent about half of the population. Using linked datasets that connect U.S. Sentencing Commission records to people in the Federal Bureau of Prisons at yearend 2013, 2014 and 2015, this paper analyzes the characteristics and sentencing outcomes of individuals incarcerated for drug offenses in the BOP population. We examine this population through the lens of sentencing factors and decisions that form the system response to people convicted of violating federal drug laws. We investigate the change in composition of people imprisoned for federal drug offense between 2013 and 2015 and analyze in more detail the characteristics and sentencing outcomes received by people in federal prison at yearend 2015. Significant policy changes, including the U.S. Department of Justice’s Smart on Crime Initiative and USSC Amendment 782 (also known as “Drugs Minus Two”), occurred during this period which affected the size and composition of people in federal prison for drug offenses. In addition to considering whether a person was convicted of an offense carrying a mandatory minimum penalty, the paper examines whether the mandatory minimum was applied at sentencing.

Authors

• Julie Samuels, The Urban Institute

• William Adams, Urban Institute