JUSTCLEMENCY
Why NOW?
1. Clemency can help safely reduce the federal prison population.
There are thousands of people in federal prison serving excessive sentences who could safely return to their families and communities.
2. Clemency advances racial justice.
Lengthy federal prison sentences disproportionately impact people of color. Black men are more likely to be charged with offenses carrying a mandatory minimum sentence than white men. Black and Hispanic people are disproportionately overrepresented in the federal criminal justice system.
3. Clemency has broad public support.
There is robust public support for policies that reduce incarceration and for clemency in particular. Now is the moment for decisive action.
The Problem
The outsized federal prison population
There are more than 158,000 people in the federal prison system, making it the largest in the country. Many are languishing on lengthy sentences for crimes that would result in far shorter sentences today.
Long and unnecessary sentences
Federal sentences are extremely long; more than 26,000 people in federal custody are serving sentences of 20 years or more, many of them for drug crimes. More than 20% of the federal prison population is over the age of 50, and many are past the age of retirement.
Systemic racial disparities
Black people make up just 14% of the U.S. population, but nearly 40% of the federal prison population. Similarly, Hispanic people make up 20% of the U.S. population, but they represent 29% of people in federal prison.
The downward trend in the federal prison population has stalled since 2020.
Federal Prison Population, 1980-2024
Source: Federal Bureau of Prisons. Population Statistics and Past Inmate Population Totals.
Accessed July 11, 2024. https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/population_statistics.jsp
The Federal Prison Population by the Numbers
Federal Prison Population, July 2024
Federal Prison Population
158,000
In Federal Prison and Over 50 Years Old
31,572
In Federal Prison for Drug Offenses
64,424
In Federal Prison and Female
10,516
Source: Federal Bureau of Prisons. Statistics. Accessed July 11, 2024.
https://www.bop.gov/stats/statistics/
Over half of the federal prison population is serving sentences of 10+ years, and almost 80% are serving sentences of 5+ years.
Federal Prison Population, July 2024
Source: Federal Bureau of Prisons. Statistics. Accessed July 11, 2024. https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/
Note: percentages do not add up to 100% because of missing sentence data.
Racial Disparities in the Federal System by the Numbers
Black people are
14%
of the U.S. population
39%
of people in federal prisons
32%
of people in federal prison for drug offenses
Hispanic people are
20%
of the U.S. population
29%
of people in federal prisons
39%
of people in federal prison for drug offenses
Black men receive sentences that are
13%
longer than their white counterparts
Black men are
53%
of men serving sentences of 20+ years for drug offenses in federal prison
Black men are
65%
more likely to be charged by federal prosecutors with offenses that carry mandatory minimums than comparable white men
Hispanic men receive sentences that are
11%
longer than their white counterparts
Hispanic men are
27%
of men serving sentences of 20+ years for drug offenses in federal prison
Hispanic men are
27%
less likely to receive a probationary sentence than white men
The Vision
From 2009 to 2022
The U.S. prison population dropped by
24%
From 2008 to 2022
The Black imprisonment rate declined by
46%
Safely reducing the prison population is possible
Past efforts successfully reduced lengthy federal sentences without compromising public safety.
In recent years, the U.S. Sentencing Commission has retroactively reduced a number of sentencing guidelines, resulting in shorter sentences for thousands of people in federal prison. Similarly, both the First Step Act and the CARES Act allowed many incarcerated individuals to reunite with their families and communities, sometimes years before their originally scheduled release date. In each case, studies have shown that people who were released early from federal prison were no more likely to recidivate than comparable people who served their full sentence, and in some cases studies even found reduced recidivism among them.
Advancing safety and justice
Over the past decade, 45 states reduced imprisonment rates and crime rates simultaneously, with crime declining two times as fast in these states as in the five that increased imprisonment.
Decades of research show that incarceration is among the least effective and most expensive means to advance safety. Disproportionately long sentences don't deter or prevent crime. In fact, incarcerating people can increase the likelihood people will return to jail or prison in the future. Public safety and a more fair and just criminal system are not in conflict.
We need to rebuild families and communities
Decades of ineffective and punitive policies have torn apart countless families. Nearly half of all adults in the U.S. have a family member who has been incarcerated. In 2016, more than half of people in federal prisons were parents of at least one minor child.
Decades of punitive policies, including harsh mandatory minimum sentences, have led to too many people being locked up for too long. Many are elderly and suffering from terminal or long term illnesses. Many are serving sentences that would be significantly shorter today. Clemency will give people a chance to rebuild their lives, support their loved ones, and positively impact their communities.
Voices of Impacted Individuals
The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls
“He ended up giving me clemency, that was the happiest day of my life… [President Obama] wanted to see who I really was, and who I really could be.”
Danielle Metz is the Director of Clemency for The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls and a Dean's List recipient at Southern University. She is currently screening her documentary “Commuted” across the country. When she received clemency, she had already served more than 20 years of a triple life sentence plus twenty years for a nonviolent drug offense that occurred in her twenties.
The Solution
There is broad public support for clemency
Nearly three-quarters of likely voters believe it is important to reduce the jail and prison population in the U.S., including more than 60% of Republicans, 84% of Democrats, and large majorities of Americans of color, particularly Black voters.
There is similar support for clemency: regardless of which presidential candidate they preferred, overwhelming majorities of voters support increasing the number of commutations through clemency.
Support for Reducing Incarceration
President Biden can build on the successful legacy of President Obama's clemency initiative, which resulted in people gaining back almost 20,000 years to spend in their communities and with their families that would otherwise have been spent under a federal prison sentence.
Number of Years Saved by Presidential Commutations
Source: Department of Justice and White House reports and statements as of October 4, 2024. Obama administration years saved are calculated using the average number of years saved per person by Obama's Clemency Initiative (11.6); they do not include other commutations outside of the initiative. These numbers represent reductions in prison sentences, not necessarily the amount of time saved compared to what would have been served without commutations.
Number of Sentences Commuted by Presidential Administration
Source: Department of Justice and White House reports and statements as of October 4, 2024.