There are 63,913 people in federal prison convicted of drug trafficking crimes, as of April 2024. With a total population of 158,547 prisoners, this means that 40% of the people in federal prison are serving time for drugs. This doesn’t even consider the hundreds of thousands of people in state prison for drug offenses, assuming the same incarceration rate of 40% for drug crimes (which has been the national rate for decades). With so many people locked up for drug offenses, why are we seeing record-breaking overdose deaths and seizures of tons of drugs?
It’s because throwing people in prison doesn’t work. Neither does threatening them with longer prison terms. In the past few years, Congress has dealt with the exploding fentanyl crisis by increasing the prison terms for such offenses, literally doubling them. It hasn’t made a dent. Why? Because most drug dealers have no idea what prison term they would face if caught — nor do they care. The lure of making money is far greater than the chance of going to prison. Drug addiction is about instant gratification, and making money feeds that. A drug dealer (and arguably any person committing a crime) just can’t see that far in the future to grasp the damage a long prison sentence imposes.
Yet, lawmakers, prosecutors, and the courts keep doing the same thing expecting a different result. Congress even says, somehow with a straight face, that longer sentences are needed “to promote respect for the law.” See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(A). Seriously, Congress believes this? What’s worse is that the judges believe this. How blind are they? They’re not blind; they’re numb.
I’ve been challenging federal sentences for over 15 years. I talk to people serving long prison sentences every day. They don’t have more “respect for the law.” In fact, they have less than when they committed their crime. They’re bitter. Thirty years for a street-level drug dealer selling cocaine. That’s a case I worked on just this week. Not only is the guy in prison bitter but so are his family and friends. This long sentence has created more disrespect for the law.
The problem is that it has become a numbers game. Go to any federal sentencing hearing and it’s like a math class. They start with the Sentencing Guidelines and then add points for all sorts of things, like whether the person being sentenced had a bigger role in the offense than other defendants. Almost always, this enhancement applies. Each time a point is added, more years are stacked on the base sentence. An hour of back and forth with the defense lawyer, the judge, and the prosecutor over all these numbers, and the person being sentenced becomes invisible.
It’s all about the numbers at this point, not the person being sentenced. I have to admit, I’m guilty of the same thing. When I challenge a sentence, I spend hours on these numbers and forget that there is a person impacted by them. It’s too easy to get lost in the numbers.
But back to why people sell drugs: money. Take a look at Prohibition, when the U.S. decided to make alcohol illegal. Did it make people stop using alcohol? Nope. They just went underground and did it illegally. The government made alcohol legal again a few years later, and thereby a legitimate source of income for millions. Can the same thing be done with drugs? Sure it can. And the government can make a ton of money from it like it has with alcohol sales and regulation. I use alcohol as an example because marijuana is not totally legal in this country yet.
Lawmakers say that making drugs legal and regulating their sale and use “enables” addiction. In effect, these lawmakers are saying that the only way to stop drug addiction is to make it illegal (which the Supreme Court has said is unconstitutional, by the way). Until this mindset goes away, the failed war on drugs will continue.
Until then, I’ll keep challenging harsh sentences imposed by the courts at the government’s urging. I don’t see an end in sight for this nonsense.
Dale Chappell works with individuals, families, and attorneys on sensitive and high-profile federal cases, focusing on prison preparation, housing, and post-conviction strategy. He supports clients and legal teams with research, issue analysis, and drafting used in federal post-conviction matters, including § 2255 motions, appeals, sentence reductions, and related filings.
His work is based on nearly 17 years of experience and more than 450 published articles in legal publications focused on post-conviction relief. His focus is helping clients and their families understand how the system actually works and avoiding preventable mistakes.
Have questions?
Email Dale directly at dale@dale-chappell.com.
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