U.S. prison, parole population sets record

[Doglips]

U.S. prison, parole population sets record
One in 32 Americans in jail or on parole in 2003The Associated Press
Updated: 12:16 p.m. ET July 26, 2004WASHINGTON - A record 6.9 million adults were incarcerated or on probation or parole last year, nearly 131,000 more than in 2002, according to a Justice Department study.

Put another way, about 3.2 percent of the adult U.S. population, or 1 in 32 adults, were incarcerated or on probation or parole at the end of last year.

A record 4.8 million adults were on probation or parole in 2003, about 73,000 more than the year before. About 70 percent of adults involved in federal, state or local corrections systems fall into this category. The states of California and Texas together accounted for about 1 million.

The number of adults on parole after serving a prison sentence rose by 3.1 percent from 2002 to 2003, to more than 774,500 people. That compares with an average annual rise of about 1.7 percent since 1995 for those on parole, a figure that has been increasing at a much slower rate than those in jails (4 percent a year), in prison (3.4 percent) and on probation (2.9 percent).

Since 1995, states around the country have increased the use of mandatory parole after prison release and cut down on use of discretionary releases overseen by parole boards, the report says.

The report, released Sunday, focused most on the characteristics of those on probation or parole. Its findings include:

Almost half of all probationers were convicted of a felony, with 25 percent convicted of a drug violation.
Washington state had the highest number of people on probation per 100,000 population, at 3,767. New Hampshire had the lowest rate at 426.
Of the 2.2 million people discharged from probation in 2003, three out of five met the conditions of their supervision. Another 16 percent were jailed because of a rule violation or a new crime, with 4 percent becoming fugitives.
About 95 percent of those on parole had been convicted of a felony.
Of the 470,500 parolees discharged from supervision last year, 38 percent went back to jail for a new crime or a rule violation, with 9 percent becoming fugitives.
© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Rave]

Yup,now that the keep them longer than overnight for felonies the numbers do tend to mount up.It looks like the revolving doors are starting to slam shut for a while,it's about time. :nod:

[Rufus Rhastus J]

Well, I guess the liberal would be shocked and appaulled at these stats! But, fact is, crime is still very, very bad. Looks like we need to jail a whole lot more folks, don't it? And, to make things worse, for the liberals, keep them jailed and keep jailing more until the crime reduces!

[Shaun]

Well we can reduce the pop's if we reduce the 20 year term on death rows and start executing some -- then we start tailoring penalties to execute sex offenders, and all violent criminal acts. that is how we will ultimately reduce the the jail population when the criminal elemnet learns that yes they will pay their dues.