Second Chances Resource Library

The Council on Criminal Justice’s Task Force on Long Sentences assessed the nation’s use of long prison terms and formulated recommendations to advance safety and justice. This series of charts served as a foundation for the deliberations of the group, a diverse set of experts from varied sectors of the criminal justice field and across the ideological spectrum. The data provides a different perspective on the nature and extent of long prison sentences, which the Task Force defines as a court-imposed prison term of 10 years or more, independent of the time people actually serve.

The data address three fundamental questions regarding the nature and extent of long prison sentences:

• Admissions: What are the number and share of people admitted with a long prison sentence? Admissions data show changes in the frequency with which courts impose long sentences.
• Population: What is the size of the prison population serving long sentences, and what share of the total population do these individuals represent? Prison population data, based on a snapshot of people incarcerated at a moment in time (typically at year’s end), reveal how many people behind bars are serving long sentences.
• Releases: What are the number and share of people released from prison after serving a long sentence and how much time did they actually serve? Every jurisdiction has statutes and policies such as discretionary parole and credits for good behavior that permit people to be released prior to serving their maximum sentence. Release data enable us to discern how many people are released after having served 10 or more years, independent of the upper limit of their sentences.