Cite as: 507 U. S. 43 (1993)
Blackmun, J., dissenting
thus hindered in the overall rehabilitation process since he cannot take maximum advantage of his institutional opportunities.' " 473 U. S., at 730, n. 8, quoting Cooper v. Lockhart, 489 F. 2d 308, 314, n. 10 (CA8 1973).
These harms are substantial and well recognized. See, e. g., Smith v. Hooey, 393 U. S. 374, 379 (1969); United States v. Ford, 550 F. 2d 732, 737-740 (CA2 1977) (citing cases), aff'd sub nom. United States v. Mauro, 436 U. S. 340 (1978); L. Abramson, Criminal Detainers 29-34 (1979); Note, 54 Ford. L. Rev., at 1210, n. 12. More important for our purposes, they were the reason for the IAD's creation in the first place. The majority's sanguine reassurance that delays of several hundred days, while "bad," are "no worse than what regularly occurred before the IAD was adopted," ante, at 50, is thus perplexing. The fact that the majority's reading leaves prisoners no worse off than if the IAD had never been adopted proves nothing at all, except perhaps that the majority's approach nullifies the ends that the IAD was meant to achieve. Our task, however, is not to negate the IAD but to interpret it. That task is impossible without a proper understanding of the seriousness with which the IAD regards the damage done by unnecessarily long periods spent under detainer.
The majority's misunderstanding of the stakes on the inmate's side of the scale is matched by its miscalculation of the interest of the State. It is widely acknowledged that only a fraction of all detainers ultimately result in conviction or further imprisonment. See J. Gobert & N. Cohen, Rights of Prisoners 284 (1981); Dauber, Reforming the Detainer System: A Case Study, 7 Crim. L. Bull. 669, 689-690 (1971); Note, 54 Ford. L. Rev., at 1210, n. 12. It is not uncommon for a detainer to be withdrawn just prior to the completion of the prisoner's sentence. See Carchman v. Nash, 473 U. S., at 729-730; Note, 54 Ford. L. Rev., at 1210, n. 12; Comment, Interstate Agreement on Detainers and the Rights It Created, 18 Akron L. Rev. 691, 692 (1985). All too often,
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