Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/WilliamJSabol

Truth in sentencing (TIS) refers to a variety of policies aimed at reducing the difference between sentences imposed and the actual time offenders serve in prison. Federal TIS initiatives within the 1994 Crime Act were found to have a relatively minor influence on the states: thirty states did not change their existing TIS laws, and eleven states made modest changes. The more extensive reforms made in the remaining states were often related to ongoing reform processes rather than the federal initiative. Examining the influence of state TIS policies on prison populations, this study found no uniform effect of TIS, but rather concludes that impacts should be evaluated within a state-specific context. Results from seven states -- Georgia, Washington, Illinois, Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Utah -- varied because of differences in sentencing structure, other concurrent reforms, and declines in violent crime.

Third in an annual series, this report provides statistics that describe defendants processed at different stages of the Federal criminal justice system for the 12-month period ending September 30, 2000. The data presented are compiled from the Bureau of Justice Statistics' Federal justice database which is maintained by the Urban Institute for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Contrary to the popular image that reentry is a wave of released prisoners about to enter society, the growth of the prisoner release population has leveled off, after the dramatic rise during the 1980s, and the wave has already hit. Inmates returning to society now may be more difficult to reintegrate than their predecessors, as they are more likely (1) to have failed at parole previously; (2) not to have participated in educational and vocational programs in prison; and (3) to have served longer sentences, which attenuate ties to families. A substantial proportion of returning prisoners, largely drug offenders, are likely to "churn" through the correctional system, going from prison to supervision to revocation and back to prison multiple times. Comparatively few neighborhoods in most large cities must accommodate the bulk of returning prisoners. Reentry should be considered in concert with sentencing policies and corrections practice that determine who goes to prison, how long they stay, and how prepared they are for reintegration.

Over the past 25 years, the rate of incarceration in the United States has increased dramatically. In 1972, the incarceration rate was approximately 100 people per 100,000 population. By 1996, more than 450 people per 100,000 were incarcerated. Much of this increase has occurred since the mid-1980s, when the introduction of sentencing reforms such as mandatory minimum sentences, determinate sentencing, and "truth in sentencing" led to increased penalties for specific crimes.

This report evaluates the effectiveness of sentencing reform implemented since the early 1980s. These reforms have been dominated by mandatory penalties for violent offenders, repeat offenders, and drug traffickers. The authors conclude that the beliefs on which public support for these reforms rested were largely false, that the evidence of their effectiveness at reducing crime is mixed, and that the increases in incarceration that resulted have been distributed unevenly.

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