How Long Is Too Long? Task Force on Long Sentences Final Report
While drug crimes account for a minority of the nation’s long sentences, the Task Force believes it is critical to emphasize that long prison terms are especially ineffective in addressing substance use disorders and related or cooccurring mental health disorders. The Task Force concluded that one important way to address these findings is to place the sentencing focus on an individual’s role in drug-related offenses, rather than the amount of a drug or substance involved in an individual’s offense.
By uncoupling drug and substance amounts from long mandatory sentences, policymakers can prioritize long sentences for higher level leaders of trafficking organizations. Likewise, to promote improved outcomes for people with substance use and mental health disorders, the Task Force recommends that state and federal authorities support policies and programs that provide alternative criminal justice sanctions and investments in rehabilitation and evidence-based treatment programs outside of the criminal justice system.62
62 Cullen, F. T., Pratt, T. C., & Turanovic, J. J. (2016). It’s hopeless: Beyond zero-tolerance supervision. Criminology & Public Policy, 15(4), 1215–1227; Kleiman, M. A. (2009). When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment. Princeton: Princeton University; Larkin, P. J. (2015). Swift, certain, and fair punishment: 24/7 Sobriety and HOPE: Creative approaches to alcohol-and illicit drug-using offenders. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 105, 39.
