Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 10, 1995 TAG: 9508100081
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The prison populations, up 8.6 percent overall, rose by at least 10 percent in 16 states last year, according to a Justice Department report released Wednesday.
Eight state prison systems were so crowded that they sent at least 10 percent of their inmates to local jails last year, the study found. On average, the states operated their prisons at least 17 percent above intended capacity, using the states' largest capacity measurements. Federal prisons were at 25 percent over listed capacity.
The 958,704 inmates in state prisons and 95,034 in federal prisons last year, up 83,294 from the previous year, accounted for about two-thirds of the nearly 1.5 million people incarcerated in the United States, the study said.
The remaining one-third were in local jails, which generally hold people awaiting trial or serving sentences of less than a year. The state figure includes state inmates held in jails because of prison overcrowding.
Almost 4.9 million people were under some correctional supervision, with 2.8 million on probation and 671,000 on parole.
The largest-ever one-year increase in state and federal prison populations occurred in 1989, when the number grew by 84,764, said the study, performed by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
A spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project said public safety hasn't increased despite tougher state and federal sentencing and imprisonment of more drug offenders.
``We keep putting more and more people in prison, and it's not doing any good at all,'' Jenni Gainsborough said. ``We're the only country in the world that does this kind of thing. What we're doing is creating a breeding ground. It's madness.''
While the average sentence length and time served have remained stable for state prisoners, tighter federal sentencing guidelines increased the median time served in federal prisons from 15 months in 1986 to 24 months in 1992, the study found.
by CNB