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Attorney General Eric Holder announced Tuesday that the federal prison population had declined by roughly 4,800 inmates since Sept. 2013, the first year the number has fallen since 1980.

This is nothing less than historic, Mr. Holder during at a conference at the Brennan Center for Justice, part of New York University School of Law. Clearly, criminal justice reform is an idea whose time has come.

And thanks to a robust and growing national consensus a consensus driven not by political ideology, but by the promising work thats underway we are bringing about a paradigm shift, and witnessing a historic sea change, in the way our nation approaches these issues.

The United States has often been criticized for having the highest incarceration rate in the world. Judicial reform advocates have often argued it is from unbalanced sentencing laws that have cracked down on minor drug offenses. Some estimates place the U.S. at having nearly 25 percent of the worlds prison population.

During Tuesdays conference, Mr. Holder said the Justice Department must take steps to focus on reducing crime rather than simply incarcerating criminals because the United States will never be able to prosecute or incarcerate its way to becoming a safer nation.

We know that over-incarceration crushes opportunity. We know it prevents people, and entire communities, from getting on the right track, he said.

The attorney generals speech came the same day the Brennan Center released a report arguing that the federal government should take steps to reform the judicial system so that it isnt focused on incarceration but on reducing violent crime.

Prosecutors increasingly agree that they can advance public safety and justice without excessively relying on incarceration, said Inimai Chettiar, director of the Justice Program at the Brennan Center.

A press release for the report noted that federal prosecutors are a uniquely powerful force for change, as they have wide discretion over criminal charges, plea agreements and sentencing recommendations.

The Brennan Center report recommends thata judicial offices focus on achieving clear guidelines such as tracking actions that lead to changes in the crime rate, reduce prison populations, and reduce the recidivism of criminals to ensure they dont commit crimes once theyre released.

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Holder: Federal prison population declines for first time in 34 years

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder delivers a keynote speech at New York University's law school, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014, in New York. According to Holder, the Justice Department expects to end the current budget year next week with a federal prison population of roughly 215,000 inmates. The prison population has dropped in the last year by roughly 4,800, the first time in several decades that the inmate count has gone down, according to the Justice Department. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

WASHINGTON (AP) The federal prison population has dropped in the last year by roughly 4,800, the first time in several decades that the inmate count has gone down, according to the Justice Department.

In a speech Tuesday in New York City, Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department expects to end the current budget year next week with a prison population of roughly 215,000 inmates. It would be the first time since 1980 that the federal prison population has declined during the course of a fiscal year.

In addition, internal figures from the Bureau of Prisons show a projected drop of more than 2,000 inmates in the next year, and nearly 10,000 in the year after.

"This is nothing less than historic," Holder said, addressing a conference at the New York University School of Law that was hosted by the Brennan Center for Justice. "To put these numbers in perspective, 10,000 inmates is the rough equivalent of the combined populations of six federal prisons, each filled to capacity."

The crime rate has dropped along with the prison population, Holder said, proving that "longer-than-necessary prison terms" don't improve public safety.

"In fact, the opposite is often true," he said.

With policies that have at times unsettled prosecutors and others in law enforcement, Holder has worked in the last year to reduce a prison population he says is costly and bloated. The Bureau of Prisons accounts for roughly one-third of the Justice Department budget, and the prison population has exploded in the last three decades as a result of "well-intentioned policies designed to be 'tough' on criminals," Holder said.

In August 2013, for instance, he announced a major shift in sentencing policy, instructing federal prosecutors to stop charging many nonviolent drug defendants with offenses that carry mandatory minimum sentences. More recently, the Justice Department has encouraged a broader swath of the prison population to apply for clemency, and has supported reductions in sentencing guideline ranges for drug criminals that could apply to tens of thousands of inmates.

"We know that over-incarceration crushes opportunity. We know it prevents people, and entire communities, from getting on the right track," Holder said.

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Federal prison population drops by roughly 4,800

Attorney General Eric Holder told a crowd at New York University that the nation has a critical opportunity to change its approach to policing in the wake of Michael Browns death and the protests that followed in Ferguson, Missouri.

Will we again turn a blind eye to the hard truths that Ferguson exposed, burying these tough realities until another tragedy arises to set them off like a powder keg? Mr. Holder asked.Or will we finally accept this mandate for open and honest dialogue, reach for new and innovative solutions, and rise to the historic challenge and the critical opportunity now right before us?

At an event dubbed Shifting Law Enforcement Goals toReduce Mass Incarceration, held byBrennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law, Mr. Holder spoke at length about the need to cut down on incarceration in the country saying doing so would reduce crime and arguing the countrys over-reliance on prison sentenceshad a disparate impact on minority communities.

The United States will never be able to prosecute or incarcerate its way to becoming a safer nation. We must never, and we will never, stop being vigilant against crime, and the conditions and choices that breed it, Mr. Holder said. But, for far too long, under well-intentioned policies designed to be tough on criminals, our system has perpetuated a destructive cycle of poverty, criminality, and incarceration that has trapped countless people and weakened entire communities particularly communities of color.

Though he was speaking in New York,Mr. Holdermade no mention of local issues connected to the themes of his speech such as New Yorks own steep drop in jail populations as crime rates have continued to fall. Nor did he mention the NYPD, its use of stop and frisk though he did mention being stopped himself or thebroken windows policy thatsome criticsargueneedlessly arrestscitizens for minor crimes.

And while he spoke about the unrest in Ferguson, he did not mention the death of Eric Garner, a Staten Island who died as he was being arrested for selling untaxed cigarettes. In his remarks on prison reform, Mr. Holder made no mention of the scandal-ridden Rikers Island, either.

Outside, a small smattering of protesters called for independent reviews of police.One woman shouted: Eric Garner would be alive if he were white!

Mr. Holder did address the tensions between many communities and their police saying discord, mistrust, and roiling tensions fester just under the surface in communities across the country.

The situation in Ferguson has presented leaders across the nation, and criminal justice and civil rights leaders in particular, with a moment of decision and a series of important questions that can no longer be avoided. Will we allow this time, our time, to be defined by division and discord? Or will we summon the resolve, the fortitude, and the vision to reassess and even to remake our system, through cooperation, consensus, and compassion? he asked.

Mr. Holder said the questions werent rhetorical, but he said answering them would require understanding the plights of both people who have felt targeted by police and of police who face dangerous communities.

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Eric Holder Talks Ferguson, Reducing Arrests, at NYU

NEW YORK - Attorney General Eric Holder announced Tuesday that for the first time since 1980, the federal inmate population has fallen, rather than risen.

At the end of the 2014 fiscal year next week, the federal prison population will show a drop to about 215, 000 inmates - about 4,800 fewer than a year ago.

The attorney general called the change a major breakthrough for advocates who have sought to shorten strict sentences for non-violent offenders.

Holder said the Justice Department estimates the federal prison population will continue to fall for the next two years. In 2015, it is projected to drop by 2,200 inmates, he said. In 2016, the population is projected to drop by 10,000 - the equivalent of six federal prisons.

"This is nothing less than historic," Holder said. "Now, these projected decreases won't result in any prison closures, because our system is operating at about 30% above capacity. But my hope is that we're witnessing the start of a trend that will only accelerate."

Holder spoke at New York University School of Law during a conference hosted by the Brennan Center for Justice, a non-partisan law and policy institute that works on issues such as campaign finance, racial justice in criminal law and constitutional protections in the fight against terrorism.

Since President Obama took office, Holder said, overall incarceration rates have fallen by roughly 10%.

"We can all be proud of the progress that's been made at reducing the crime rate over the past couple of decades - thanks to the tireless work of prosecutors and the bravery of law enforcement officials across America," Holder said. "But statistics have shown - and all of us have seen - that high incarceration rates and longer-than-necessary prison terms have not played a significant role in materially improving public safety, reducing crime or strengthening communities."

He said prosecutors should focus on reducing recidivism and violent crime rates to measure progress.

"It's time to shift away from old metrics and embrace a more contemporary, and more comprehensive, view of what constitutes success," Holder said. "This means developing a new system of assessment ?? because what gets measured is what gets funded, and what gets funded is what gets done."

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Holder: Federal inmate numbers drop first time since '80

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