To lay the groundwork for a realistic challenge to mass incarceration and to provide a better approach to advancing public safety, policymakers should ensure that all people in prison are evaluated for parole release no later than 15 years into their sentence. This reform entails expediting parole consideration for those serving parole-eligible life sentences and reinstating parole eligibility for all sentences.

…

While hard-won reforms have begun to curb incarceration for low-level offenses, they have yet to scale back punishment for violent crimes, for which half of the U.S. prison population is sentenced. Currently one in seven imprisoned people in the United States is serving a life sentence (206,000 “lifers”) and people are paroled from life sentences much later than in the past. Most serving life sentences were convicted of serious violent crimes. But three facts make prolonged prison terms ineffective. First, incarcerating those who have “aged out” of their crime-prone years produces little public safety benefit. Second, long sentences are limited in deterring crimes since most who commit crimes do not expect to be caught, are not familiar with legal penalties, or have their judgment compromised by substance abuse or mental illness. Third, excessive prison terms are costly and impede public investments in effective crime prevention and drug treatment programs. Long sentences also place upward pressure on penalties for less serious crimes.

…

To empower paroling authorities to release individuals when they no longer pose an unreasonable risk to public safety, state legislatures and Congress should reinstate parole eligibility for all sentences and expedite parole consideration. Such a reform would undo the delays and restrictions that legislatures created for parole eligibility beginning in the 1990s. This reform would also adhere to the recommendation of national parole experts Edward Rhine, Joan Petersilia, and Kevin Reitz, who have written: “For extremely long sentences, release eligibility should occur no later than 15 years.” This proposal is echoed by the American Law Institute and serves as a major pillar of a forthcoming campaign by The Sentencing Project.