Dealing in Lives

The “tough on crime” era of the 1980s and 1990s ushered in a growing reliance on prisons, the ratcheting up of sentence lengths, and a broader expansion of the criminal justice system. Life sentences, historically rarely imposed, became increasingly commonplace in the 1980s through the 2000s, contributing to the ballooning imprisoned population. While there are growing concerns about the increased use of life sentences in the United States, there has been limited empirical study of these sentences. This report seeks to fill this gap with a particular focus on the federal sentencing system and the imposition of life sentences for drug offenses. Specifically, the current report documents federal life sentences imposed for drug trafficking over the last three decades, taking a closer look at the defendant and case-specific characteristics, and providing a descriptive account of the factors that are associated with those sentenced to life in prison in federal courts.

After record highs in the 1990s and 2000s, the number and rate of life and de facto life sentences imposed have declined significantly over the last decade.

A set of federal sentencing laws enacted in the 1980s laid the foundation for a dramatic increase in the number of federal life sentences imposed for drug offenses over the next two decades.  But, as early as the mid-1990s, legal reforms started to cut back on federal life sentences for drugs. Reforms starting in 2010 particularly accelerated the federal system’s move away from life sentences. In the decade between 2011-2020, federal courts imposed on average 60 life sentences for drug offenses, as compared to an average of 207 life sentences from 1991-2000 and 170 life sentences from 2001-2010.

Life and de facto life sentences for drug offenses in the federal system were disproportionately imposed on Black and Hispanic people.

The racial disparity in the imposition of life or de facto life sentences in the federal system for drug offenses is glaring. A staggering 62.4% of those sentenced to life for drugs in the federal system are Black, an additional 22% are Hispanic. The same disparity are found in the rates with which life sentences were imposed. Since 1990, Black defendants were sentenced to life in prison for drug offenses at the rate of 15.4 per 1,000, compared to only 4 white defendants per 1,000. These disparities hold across all drug types.

Defendants convicted of crack cocaine-related offenses were by far the most likely to be sentenced to life or de facto life in prison.

Defendants sentenced for crack cocaine were nearly 2.5 times as likely to be sentenced to life than defendants sentenced for powder cocaine, 3.75 times more likely than methamphetamine trafficking defendants, and 4.3 times as likely as heroin trafficking defendants. But while rates of life sentences have been consistently higher for crack cocaine relative to powder cocaine, the gap has significantly narrowed in recent years. Today, rates for both forms of cocaine are comparable and low relative to historic patterns.

Trial penalty and mandatory minimums seem to play a significant role when it comes to life or de facto federal life sentences for drug offenses.

An astonishing 72% percent of those sentenced to life or de facto life for drug trafficking exercised their right to trial. In comparison, only 2-5% of all sentenced federal defendants in the United States chose to go to trial. Those who were sentenced to life were more likely to have gone to trial than those who were sentenced to a de facto life sentence (73% and 64%). Virtually all of those sentenced to life and de facto life sentences (98%) for drugs were subject to a mandatory minimum sentence and 97% percent were subject to a drug mandatory minimum. One-third of all people sentenced to life for drug trafficking were sentenced to a drug mandatory minimum life sentence.

Those sentenced to life or de facto life for drug trafficking have substantially lower levels of educational attainment than the general U.S. population.

Forty-four percent of those sentenced to life or de facto life for drug trafficking never graduated from high school relative to just 25% of the U.S. population over the age of 25 in 1990 and 9% of the U.S. population over 25 in 2020. While 20% of the U.S. population had a college degree in 1990 and 38% did by 2020, just 1.9% of those sentenced to life in prison for drugs had graduated from college.

Five federal districts account for 25% of all life and de facto life drug trafficking sentences.

While some districts rarely impose life sentences for drugs, others have done so more routinely. The five districts that imposed the most drug trafficking life and de facto life sentences are Northern District of Florida (263), Southern District of Florida (246), Middle District of Florida (237), Eastern District of Virginia (218), and South Carolina (142), accounting for 25% of all federal life and de facto life drug trafficking sentences imposed during this period. However, the most common districts for imposing life sentences have evolved somewhat over time as life sentences have dropped and rates vary district to district.