SENTENCES ON DECLINE FOR DRUGS, STUDY SAYS

Average sentences for federal drug offenders declined during the
1990s, a private research study reported Sunday, as Congress, judges
and prosecutors took opportunities to soften the nation's tough drug
sentences for certain types of defendants.

The findings by Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access
Clearinghouse (Trac) are somewhat surprising. The 1990s saw tougher
drug laws passed throughout the nation, federal drug-control spending
rose by nearly two-thirds to $16 billion a year in 1998, and federal
drug convictions climbed to an annual record of 21,571 in 1998.

Primary beneficiaries of the shorter sentences were nonviolent,
first-time offenders and criminals who saved the government the cost
of a trial and helped agents catch fellow lawbreakers in return for
being allowed to plead guilty to lesser charges.

``There are a number of reasons for the decline,'' Justice Department
spokesman John Russell said. ``Enactment of the `safety valve'
provision for first-time, nonviolent drug offenders; the trend among
drug defendants toward more guilty pleas and fewer trials; and the
increase in the number of drug defendants providing substantial
assistance'' to investigators.

The decline in sentence length showed up in data collected by U.S.
Courts, the Justice Department and the U.S. Sentencing Commission,
each of which uses a slightly different definition to categorize drug
crimes. The drop occurred in both average drug-sentence lengths and in
median sentences, which are those for which half of all sentences are
longer and half are shorter.

The most extensive data set, from the U.S. Court system, found the
decline began in 1992, the final year of the Bush administration. A
peak of 95.7 months occurred in 1991; from there, the average sentence
dropped to 74.6 months in 1999, Trac found.

Justice Department data showed the average sentence declined from 86
months in 1992 to 67 in 1998, and the median declined from 48 months
in 1992 to 46 months in 1998, Trac reported.

Sentencing Commission data showed the average dropped from 88.2 months
in 1992 to 78 months in 1998, and the median from 60 months in 1991 to
56 in 1998, Trac reported.

Trac and federal officials cited a variety of reasons that might
explain the sentence-length decline, including a decline in serious
drug use; more effective police work that produced more guilty pleas
and fewer trials; and a feeling that tough mandatory minimum
sentences, which began emerging in the 1980s, had not left sufficient
flexibility to deal with all defendants.

``Congress' changes in the law, combined with the key roles of federal
prosecutors and federal judges, suggest a pretty wide consensus that
previous sentences were too high for some defendants,'' Trac
co-director David Burnham said.

The percentage of federal drug offenders sentenced to less prison time
than recommended by U.S. Sentencing Guidelines rose from 33.7 percent
in 1993 to 42.9 percent in 1998, Sentencing Commission figures showed.

Such so-called downward departures from the guidelines resulted from
actions by both judges and prosecutors.

The percentage of all federal drug convicts given lesser sentences by
judges rose from 6.2 percent in 1993 to 12.8 percent in 1998. In those
cases, judges were required to explain their belief that the
sentencing guidelines did not adequately cover the case.

Prosecutors can seek sentences shorter than the guidelines when they
can show the criminal substantially helped investigators. They sought
leniency for 27.5 percent of the defendants in 1993, rising to 30.1
percent in 1998.