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Federal Prison Population Drops

Projected Decline of More Than 12,000 Inmates Over Next Two Years, Attorney General Holder Says

Sept. 23, 2014

By ANDREW GROSSMAN - Wall Street Journal


Attorney General Eric Holder announced the expected decline in federal prison population. Pictured, the Federal Bureau of Prisons correctional complex in Butner, N.C. Getty Images

The federal prison population is projected to fall by more than 12,000 inmates over the next two years, as policies that reduce sentences for nonviolent offenders spur the first such drop since 1980.

The projected decline comes on top of a 4,800-inmate reduction in the prison population during the 12-month period that ends Sept. 30. That would leave about 215,000 inmates in U.S. federal prisons.


Attorney General Eric Holder announced the figures in a speech at the New York University School of Law on Tuesday. Throughout his six years in office, he has made it a priority to reduce what he views as overlong prison sentences and an unnecessarily high incarceration rate.

Mr. Holder attributed the drop in federal prisoners to efforts to reduce long mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent offenders. It also comes four years after the passage of the Fair Sentencing Act, which shrunk the disparity in sentences for crack and powder cocaine.

"This is nothing less than historic," Mr. Holder said. "To put these numbers in perspective, 10,000 inmates is the rough equivalent of the combined populations of six federal prisons, each filled to capacity."

The reduction won't mean that the federal government can close prisons, Mr. Holder said, since they are already overcrowded.

The decline comes amid an uptick in incarceration at the state level. Statistics released last week showed that the number of state prisoners rose by 6,300 to 1.4 million in 2013, the first increase since 2009.

Mr. Holder and other advocates of shorter sentences for nonviolent offenders say that they relieve strains on budgets without leading to an increase in crime.

The Justice Department is implementing a program that would dramatically boost the number of nonviolent offenders it recommends for presidential commutations. Meanwhile, Mr. Holder has backed other measures that would reduce future sentences that are handed down.

"Statistics have shown—and all of us have seen—that high incarceration rates and longer-than-necessary prison terms have not played a significant role in materially improving public safety, reducing crime or strengthening communities," Mr. Holder said.

Some Republicans have criticized the administration's efforts to reduce sentences, saying stricter punishment was critical to the decline in crime rates over the last two decades.