For the first time in nearly a decade, the population of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has fallen below 200,000. The drop is historic because it represents a nearly 10 percent reduction from its peak of 219,000 in 2013. Perhaps even more noteworthy is that this decline happened over a period of time when the federal prison population was expected to keep growing.

How did we get there? A combination of players — Congress, the Justice Department and the U.S. Sentencing Commission — have all had a role, driven by efforts to correct inequitable and overly punitive sentences for drug offenders.

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