More Federal Offenders Are Going to Prison
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WASHINGTON — More federal offenders are going to prison and staying there longer since a tough sentencing law took effect five years ago, the Justice Department reported Sunday.
The department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics said that in 1990, 74% of the defendants covered by the Sentencing Reform Act went to prison, compared to 52% of those sentenced in 1986, the last year before the new law took effect.
Federal prisoners released in 1990 had served an average term of 19 months, 29% longer than those released in 1986.
The sentencing act contained guidelines for judges to add prison time in proportion to the seriousness of the offense and in proportion to the defendant’s previous offenses.
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