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Sentencing Project
FACT SHEET: TRENDs IN U.S. CORRECTIONs
TRENDS IN U.S. CORREctIONS U.S. State and Federal Prison Population, 1925-2012 1,800,000
2012: 1,571,010
1,600,000
1,200,000 1,000,000 800,000 600,000 400,000
2012
2008
2004
2000
1996
1992
1988
1984
1980
1976
1972
1968
1964
1960
1956
1952
1948
1944
1940
1936
1932
0
1928
200,000
1925
Number of People
1,400,000
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics Prisoners Series.
International Rates of Incarceration, 2011 716
U.S. 595
Rwanda
568
Russia 253
Brazil 159
Spain
133
Australia
122
China
114
Canada Austria
103
France
96 85
Germany
78
Sweden
74
Denmark
Imprisonment Rate Per 100,000 People
32
India 0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
Source: Walmsley, R. (2011). World Population List, 9th Ed. Essex: International Centre for Prison Studies.
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FACT SHEET: TRENDs IN U.S. CORRECTIONs
MASS INcARcERAtION
State & Federal Prison Population by Offense, 2011 Violent
Drug
The United States is the world's leader in incarceration FEDERAL with 2.2 million people currently in the nation's prisons or jails — a 500% increase over the last forty years. Changes in sentencing law and policy, not changes in crime rates, explain most of this increase. These trends 35% have resulted in prison overcrowding and fiscal burdens on states to accommodate a rapidly expanding penal system, despite increasing evidence that large-scale incarceration is not an effective means of achieving public safety.
State Expenditures on Corrections, 1985-2010
Violent
60 53.3
Billions of Dollars
50
Property
Public Order
4% 7.6%
48% 5.4%
Drug
Public Order
1.4%
Public Order
10.6%
Other
36.4
18.3%
30
53%
26.1 16.9 16.8%
10 0
Other
Property
42.3
20
Violent Drug
Property
STATE
51.4
40
Other
6.7 1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2012
Source: National Association of State Budget Officers (19852012). State Expenditure Report Series. Washington, DC: National Association of State Budget Officers.
Source: Carson, E.A., Golinelli, D. (2013). Prisoners in 2012 Advance Counts. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics; Carson, E.A., Sabol, W.J. (2012). Prisoners in 2011. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Population Under Control of the U.S. Corrections System, 1980 & 2010 1980
5,000,000
2010
4,055,514 4,000,000
3,000,000
2,000,000 1,518,104 1,118,097 1,000,000
748,728 319,598
0
Prison
182,288 Jail
840,676 220,438 Parole
Probation
Source: Glaze, L. E. (2011). Correctional Population in the United States, 2010. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics; Corrections: Key Facts at a Glance. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
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FACT SHEET: TRENDs IN U.S. CORRECTIONs
Number of People in Prisons and Jails for Drug Offenses, 1980 and 2011 1980
250,000
237,000
DRuG POLIcY Sentencing policies of the War on Drug era resulted in dramatic growth in incarceration for drug offenses. Since its official beginning in 1982, the number of Americans incarcerated for drug offenses has skyrocketed from 41,000 in 1980 to half a million in 2010. Furthermore, harsh sentencing laws such as mandatory minimums keep drug offenders in prison for longer periods of time: in 1986, released drug offenders had spent an average of 22 months in federal prison. By 2004, federal drug offenders were expected to serve almost three times that length: 62 months in prison.
2011
1980: 41,000 drug offenders 2011: 499,000 drug offenders
200,000 167,000
150,000
94,600
100,000
At the federal level, prisoners incarcerated on a drug conviction make up half the prison population, while the number of drug offenders in state prisons has increased eleven-fold since 1980. Most of these people are not high-level actors in the drug trade, and most have no prior criminal record for a violent offense.
50,000 19,000
17,200 4,700
0
State Prisons Federal Prisons
Jails
Sources: Carson, E.A., Sabol, W.J. (2012). Prisoners in 2011. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics; Mauer, M. and King, R. (2007). A 25-Year Quagmire: The War on Drugs and its Impact on American Society. Washington, D.C.: The Sentencing Project.
Number of People in Federal Prisons for Drug Offenses, 1980-2010 Drug Offenders
Total Offenders
200,000
190,641 166,173
150,000 131,739
97,472
100,000
85,579
83,669 74,276 56,909 46,667
50,000
35,555 24,297
22,037 4,749
0
1980
9,491
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Sources: Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics Online; Guerino, P. M., Harrison, P., & Sabol, W. (2011). Prisoners in 2010. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
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FACT SHEET: TRENDs IN U.S. CORRECTIONs Number of Women in State and Federal Prisons, 1980-2012
WOmEN The number of women in prison, many of whom are incarcerated for drug offenses, has been increasing at a rate 50 percent higher than men since 1980. Women in prison often have significant histories of physical and sexual abuse, high rates of HIV, and substance abuse problems. Women’s imprisonment in female-headed households leads to children who suffer from their mother’s absence and breaks in family ties.
Federal prisons
State prisons
120,000
112,797
107,518
100,000
108,866
93,234
80,000
68,468
60,000 43,845
40,000 20,000 13,258 0
1980
23,099
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2012
Source: Carson, E.A., Golinelli, D. (2013). Prisoners in 2012 - Advance Counts. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Highest and Lowest State Incarceration Rates (per 100,000), 2012 Overall (National = 480) State
Women (National = 63) State
Rate
HIGHEST
Rate
HIGHEST
Men (National = 910)
Louisiana
893
Mississippi
717
State
Alabama
650
HIGHEST
Rate
Oklahoma
127
Oklahoma
648
Louisiana
Idaho
126
Texas
601
Mississippi
1,370
Kentucky
114
LOWEST
Alabama
1,234
Arizonaa
101
Maine
145
Texas
1,121
Louisiana
101
Minnesota
184
Oklahoma
1,178
Rhode Islandb
190
LOWEST
15
Massachusettsc
200
Maine
276
Massachusetts
15
New Hampshire
211
Minnesota
344
Maine
20
North Dakota
372
New York
22
New Hampshire
396
New Jersey
23
Rhode Islandb
376
LOWEST Rhode Island
b c
1,720
a = Prison population is custody count. b = Prisons and jails form one integrated system. c = Includes persons sentenced to one year or more in prison and held in county jails.
Source: Carson, E.A., Golinelli, D. (2013). Prisoners in 2012 - Advance Counts. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
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FACT SHEET: TRENDs IN U.S. CORRECTIONs
Rate of Incarceration per 100,000, by Gender, Race, & Ethnicity, 2011 White
Black
Latino
3,500 3,023
3,000
RAcIAL DISpARItIES More than 60% of the people in prison today are people of color. For black men in their thirties, 1 in every 10 is in prison or jail on any given day. These trends have been intensified by the disproportionate impact of the War on Drugs.
People in State and Federal Prisons, by Race and Ethnicity, 2011
2,500 2,000
5.9%
1,500
White: 516,200
1,238
22.8%
1,000
Black: 581,300
478
500 51
0
33.6%
129
Hispanic: 349,900 71
Women
Men
Other: 90,015
37.8%
Source: Carson, E.A., Sabol, W.J. (2012). Prisoners in 2011. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Source: Carson, E.A., Sabol, W.J. (2012). Prisoners in 2011. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Lifetime Likelihood of Imprisonment All Men
White Men
Black Men
Latino Men
1 in 9
1 in 17
1 in 3
1 in 6
All Women
White Women
Black Women
Latina Women
1 in 56
1 in 111
1 in 18
1 in 45
Source: Bonczar, T. (2003). Prevalence of Imprisonment in the U.S. Population, 1974-2001. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
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FACT SHEET: TRENDs IN U.S. CORRECTIONs
LIFE SENtENcES The number of prisoners serving life sentences continues to grow even while serious, violent crime has been declining for the past 20 years and little public safety benefit has been demonstrated to correlate with increasingly lengthy sentences. The life population has more than quadrupled since 1984. One in nine people in prison is now serving a life sentence and nearly a third of lifers have been sentenced to life without parole.
Number of People Serving Life Without Parole Sentences, 1992-2012 49,081
50,000
Number of People Serving Life Sentences, 1984-2012 180,000
159,520
160,000
40,174
140,000
40,000
127,677
132,000
142,727
120,000
33,633
100,000
30,000
80,000
69,845
60,000 40,000 34,000
20,000
20,000
12,453 10,000
1992
2003
2008
2012
0
1984
1992
2003
2005
2008
2012
Source: Nellis, A. (2013). Life Goes On: The Historic Rise in Life Sentences in America. Washington, D.C.: The Sentencing Project.
Number of Youth Held in Adult Prisons and Jails, 1985-2010
YOutH
Youth in Adult Prisons
Youth in Adult Jails
15,000
12,000
9,000
6,000
3,000
0
1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
There has been a troubling shift in the nation’s responses to at-risk youth over the past 25 years. The creators of the juvenile justice system originally viewed it as a system for providing prevention, protection, and redirection to youth, but it is more common for youth today to experience tough sanctions and adult-type punishments instead. While reforms are underway in many jurisdictions, there remains an urgent need to reframe our responses to youth delinquency.
Sources: Austin, J., Johnson, K. D., & Gregoriou, M. (2000). Juveniles in Adult Prisons and Jails: A National Assessment. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Assistance; Bureau of Justice Statistics Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear Series; Bureau of Justice Statistics Prisoner Series. Strom, K. J. (2000). Profile of State Prisoners under Age 18, 1985-1997. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
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