A bipartisan congressional task force is recommending that the federal justice system move away from its “one size fits all” approach to dealing with criminals, in order to reduce the prison population.
The 132-page report from the Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections said unnecessary mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes represent the “primary driver” of mass incarceration and a corrections system that’s growing more expensive. Instead, the report recommends those sentences be reserved for drug kingpins and violent offenders.
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“From severe overcrowding to an insufficient array of programs and incentives to encourage behavioral change, the system is failing those it incarcerates and the taxpayers who fund it,” J.C. Watts Jr., a former Republican congressman from Oklahoma and chairman of the Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections, said in a statement.
The nine-person task force, which consists of former lawmakers, corrections officials and academics, recommended that the Justice Department steer nonviolent criminals toward probation and away from prison. It also says the department should limit the types of cases it brings, to ensure that “only the most serious cases” are prosecuted.
If all the recommendations were implemented, the federal inmate count could drop by 60,000 and save the government more than $5 billion by fiscal year 2024. There are currently about 197,000 federal inmates, which cost almost $7.5 billion annually.
The group also urged the Bureau of Prisons to provide more programs to help freed inmates better reintegrate into society and also tackle high rates of recidivism.
The task force, which was named after a man who served time in prison for Watergate-era actions, delivered its report this week to President Obama, Congress and Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
