[News] America the Gulag

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One in 75 US men in prison.
68 percent of inmates members non-white.
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May 27, 2004

Report: 1 of Every 75 U.S. Men in Prison
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- America's inmate population grew by 2.9 percent last 
year, to almost 2.1 million people, with one of every 75 men living in 
prison or jail.

The inmate population continued its rise despite a fall in the crime rate 
and many states' efforts to reduce some sentences, especially for low-level 
drug offenders.

The report issued Thursday by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice 
Statistics attributes much of the increase to get-tough policies enacted 
during the 1980s and '90s, such as mandatory drug sentences, 
``three-strikes-and-you're-out'' laws for repeat offenders, and 
``truth-in-sentencing'' laws that restrict early releases.

Whether that's good or bad depends on who is asked.

``The prison system just grows like a weed in the yard,'' said Vincent 
Schiraldi, executive director of the Justice Policy Institute, which pushes 
for a more lenient system.

Without reforms, he said, prison populations will continue to grow ``almost 
as if they are on autopilot, regardless of their high costs and 
disappointing crime-control impact.''

But Attorney General John Ashcroft said the report shows the success of 
efforts to take hard-core criminals off the streets.

``It is no accident that violent crime is at a 30-year low while prison 
population is up,'' Ashcroft said. ``Violent and recidivist criminals are 
getting tough sentences while law-abiding Americans are enjoying 
unprecedented safety.''

There were 715 inmates for every 100,000 U.S. residents at midyear in 2003, 
up from 703 a year earlier, the report found.

The nation's incarceration rate tops the world, according to The Sentencing 
Project, another group that promotes alternatives to prison. That compares 
with a rate of 169 per 100,000 residents in Mexico, 116 in Canada and 143 
for England and Wales.

Russia's prison population, which once rivaled the United States', has 
dropped to 584 per 100,000 because of prisoner amnesties in recent years, 
the group said.

The U.S. inmate population in 2003 grew at its fastest pace in four years. 
The number of inmates increased 1.8 percent in state prisons, 7.1 percent 
in federal prisons and 3.9 percent in local jails.

In 2003, 68 percent of prison and jail inmates were members of racial or 
ethnic minorities, the government said. An estimated 12 percent of all 
black men in their 20s were in jails or prisons, as were 3.7 percent of 
Hispanic men and 1.6 percent of white men in that age group, according to 
the report.

The report also said:

--The number of women in state and federal prisons grew by 5 percent, 
compared to a 2.7 percent increase for men. Still, men greatly outnumber 
women: 1.36 million to 100,102.

--Local jails held 691,301 inmates.

--The inmate population in 10 states increased at least 5 percent. Some of 
the smallest state prison systems saw the largest increase: Vermont's grew 
by 12.2 percent, Minnesota was up 9.4 percent and Maine 9.1 percent.

--Only nine states logged a decrease in prison population, led by Rhode 
Island with a 3.4 percent drop; Arkansas, 2.2 percent; and Montana, 2.1 
percent.

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On the Net:

Bureau of Justice Statistics: www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs




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