Report urges capping US prison sentences at 20 years to end mass incarceration

Policymakers should take steps to limit prison sentences in the United States—which incarcerates far more people than any other country and where the imprisoned population has soared 500% in recent decades—to 20 years for all crimes, a report published Wednesday by a leading criminal justice reform group argues.

“As the United States marks 50 years of mass incarceration, dramatic change is necessary to ensure another 50 do not follow,” asserts the Sentencing Project report, entitled Counting Down: Paths to a 20-Year Maximum Prison Sentence. “In no small part due to long sentences, the United States has one of the world’s highest incarceration rates, with nearly two million people in prisons and jails.”

The report continues:

The destabilizing force of mass incarceration deepens social and economic inequity—families lose not only a loved one, but income and childcare. By age 14, 1 in 14 children in the United States experiences a parent leaving for jail or prison. Individuals returning to the community face profound barriers to employment and housing. Meantime the communities most impacted by crime—poor communities and communities of color—disproportionately bear the burden of incarceration’s impacts. Long sentences affect young Black men disproportionately compared to every other race and age group. Twice as many Black children as white children have experienced parental incarceration. Mass incarceration entrenches cycles of harm, trauma, and disinvestment and consumes funds that might support investment in interventions that empower communities and create lasting safety.

“In the United States, over half of people in prison are serving a decade or longer and 1 in 7 incarcerated people are serving a life sentence,” the publication states. “To end mass incarceration, the United States must dramatically shorten sentences. Capping sentences for the most serious offenses at 20 years and shifting sentences for all other offenses proportionately downward, including by decriminalizing some acts, is a vital decarceration strategy to arrive at a system that values human dignity and prioritizes racial equity.”

The report notes that “in countries such as Germany and Norway, periods of incarceration rarely exceed 20 years, including for homicide offenses.”

The report also aims to dispel fears that releasing violent offenders would lead to a surge in recidivism.

“Research shows that, while very serious, committing homicide is typically an isolated offense,” the report states. “When individuals who commit homicides return to the community, their likelihood of committing another homicide is extremely low, typically 1-3%.”

“Capping all sentences at 20 years is a challenging but feasible policy goal, as demonstrated by its success in other countries and a project worthy of advocates’ and policymakers’ attention,” the report concludes. “The path to a 20-year cap will be different in every jurisdiction, but all steps offer vital hope to people serving lengthy sentences and their loved ones.”

Originally published at Commondreams.org.