“We urge you to support and advance criminal justice legislative reforms aimed at meaningfully addressing the primary drivers of dangerous overcrowding, unsustainable costs, and unwarranted racial disparities in the federal prison system,” the statement, issued on Thursday and addressed to the Senate Judiciary Committee, said.
Human rights watchdogs, religious organizations, and criminal justice reform groups that signed the statement decried the “unsustainable growth in the federal prison population.”
They called on the Senate to address the problem by reforming laws that set minimum prison sentences for drug crimes.
“Several recent studies have concluded that mandatory minimum sentences, particularly for drug offenses, are the leading contributor to our burgeoning federal prison population,” the statement said, adding that almost half the federal prison population consists of drug offenders.
Overcrowding can be addressed by reducing sentences for well-behaved prisoners, the statement said. It also called on the Senate to expand compassionate release initiatives for the elderly and other categories of prisoners, such as those who are the only potential caregivers for their dependents.
The US federal prison system was operating 36 percent over capacity as of 2013, according to the Congressional Research Service.
