THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 10, 1995 TAG: 9508100491
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Already bulging, state and federal prisons squeezed in 83,000 more inmates last year, for the second-biggest increase ever and a record population of more than 1 million in such institutions.
The populations, up 8.6 percent overall, rose at least 10 percent in 16 states last year. The largest increases occurred in Texas, up 28.5 percent, and Georgia, up 20.3 percent, according to a Justice Department report released Wednesday.
Eight state prison systems were so crowded that they sent at least 10 percent of inmates to local jails last year, the study found, noting that Louisiana topped the list with 33.5 percent of its inmates in local jails. 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 over 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 crowding.
Almost 4.9 million people were under some correctional supervision, with 2.8 million on probation and 671,000 on parole.
A spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project said public safety hasn't increased despite tougher 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,'' said Jenni Gainsborough. ``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.
Violent offenders accounted for the largest growth in state and federal prisons from 1980 to 1993, increasing by 225,368 to a total of 405,240. The next-largest growth was for drug offenders, up 210,654 to 234,554. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
THE INMATE NUMBERS
In state prisons: 958,704
In federal prisons: 95,034
In jails nationwide: About 500,000
In Virginia prisons: 26,192
In North Carolina prisons: 23,639
On probation: 2.8 million
On parole: 671,000
KEYWORDS: PRISON POPULATION VIRGINIA by CNB