Federal Prisons, Sentencing Reform, and the Death Penalty
Key takeaways
- The United States holds nearly 2 million people in prisons and jails, most of them in state and local facilities.
- The federal Bureau of Prisons holds roughly 155,000 people and has struggled with staff shortages, closing six facilities in 2026.
- Mandatory minimum sentences, mostly for drug and gun crimes, drove the growth of federal prisons from the 1980s to 2013.
- The 2018 First Step Act lets low-risk prisoners earn time off for rehabilitation programs.
- The Justice Department lifted the federal execution moratorium in 2025, sought death sentences in dozens of cases, and in 2026 added the firing squad as a method.
- States carried out 47 executions in 2025, the most since 2009.
Punishment is mostly a state matter: states and counties hold about 90 percent of the people behind bars and carry out nearly all executions. The federal system is smaller but sets national examples and handles drug trafficking, gun, immigration, and white-collar crimes.
This guide explains how federal sentences and prisons work, the reforms and reversals of recent years, and the death penalty debate, presenting the main arguments on each side.
About 27 states allow the death penalty and 23 plus D.C. have abolished it. Executions rose to 47 in 2025, while new death sentences remained near historic lows. Supporters of tough sentencing and capital punishment say they deliver justice, incapacitate dangerous people, and deter crime. Critics say the United States imprisons people at one of the highest rates in the world, that long sentences fall hardest on Black Americans and the poor, and that more than 200 people have been exonerated from death row.
Nearly 2 million people are held in the United States: about 1 million in state prisons, several hundred thousand in county jails, many awaiting trial, and roughly 155,000 in federal prisons. The Federal Bureau of Prisons, part of the Justice Department, runs more than 100 facilities. It has faced staff shortages, aging buildings, and scandals, and in July 2026 it announced it would close six facilities, citing extreme staffing challenges.
Federal judges sentence using advisory guidelines written by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, along with mandatory minimum sentences set by Congress, mostly for drug and gun crimes. Federal parole was abolished in 1984, so prisoners serve at least 85 percent of their sentences, minus credits. Because prosecutors choose the charges, they have great influence over sentences, and most cases end in plea deals.
The President can pardon federal crimes or commute sentences, usually after review by the Justice Department's pardon attorney, though Presidents can bypass it. Governors or state boards handle clemency for state crimes. Recent Presidents have used clemency both for large groups, such as people serving long drug sentences, and for political allies, drawing criticism from both sides.
Federal law allows the death penalty for about 60 crimes, mostly murders. After a 17-year pause, 13 federal executions were carried out in 2020 and 2021, then the Biden administration paused them, and in December 2024 President Biden commuted 37 of the 40 federal death sentences. In 2025 the Justice Department lifted the moratorium and authorized seeking death in dozens of cases, and in April 2026 it readopted lethal injection with pentobarbital and added the firing squad.
The bipartisan First Step Act of 2018 cut some drug minimums, made the 2010 crack sentencing reform retroactive, and let low-risk prisoners earn up to 15 days of credit for every 30 days in rehabilitation and work programs, usable for earlier release to halfway houses, home confinement, or supervision. Staff shortages have limited programs, and in 2026 the Bureau of Prisons proposed rules on applying credits. After release, most people serve terms of supervised release overseen by federal probation officers.
See the full process in how a federal criminal case works, clemency in pardons explained, or state courts in how state courts work.