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CCJ releases “How long is long enough?: Task force on long sentences final report”

By Douglas Berman

I have repeatedly noted this post from last year discussing the Council of Criminal Justice’s impressive Task Force on Long Sentences, in part because that Task Force for the better part of a year has been producing all sorts of important research and analysis concerning long sentences (see prior posts linked below).  And today I am excited to see that the Task Force’s main report, titled “How long is long enough?,” has been released today with 14 thoughtful recommendations.  Released along with this full report is this press release, which helps summarize the work of the Task Force and its report.  Here is how the press release starts:

As cities across the nation grapple with effective responses to increases in violent crime, a task force co-chaired by former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and former U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy today released a report outlining a comprehensive approach for the use of lengthy prison sentences in the United States. 

The report, How Long is Long Enough?, presents 14 recommendations to enhance judicial discretion in sentencing, promote individual and system accountability, reduce racial and ethnic disparities, better serve victims of crime, and increase public safety.  Defining long sentences as prison terms of 10 years or longer, the panel’s proposals include:

  • Shifting savings from reductions in the use of long prison sentences to programs that prevent violence and address the trauma it causes individuals, families, and communities (Recommendation 1).
  • Allowing judges to consider all relevant facts and circumstances when imposing a long sentence, and requiring that sentencing enhancements based on criminal history are driven by individualized assessments of risk and other factors (Recommendations 6 and 8)
  • Providing selective “second look” sentence review opportunities and expanding access to sentence-reduction credits (Recommendations 11 and 12)
  • Focusing penalties in drug cases on a person’s role in a trafficking organization, rather than the amount of drug involved, (Recommendation 7)
  • Reducing recidivism by providing behavioral health services and other rehabilitative living conditions and opportunities in prison (Recommendations 3 and 13)
  • Strengthening services for all crime victims and survivors by enforcing victims’ rights, removing barriers to services, and creating restorative justice opportunities (Recommendations 2, 4, and 9)

Prior related posts on CCJ’s Task Force on Long Sentences: