1 in 75 men were in prison or jail in 2003 Reaction is mixed to 2.9 percent rise

By Connie Cass, Associated Press

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/05/28/1_in_75_men_were_in_prison_or_jail_in_2003/

WASHINGTON — 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 efforts by many states to reduce
some sentences, especially for low-level drug offenders.

The report issued yesterday 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."

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 US 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 one
in the United States, has dropped to 584 per 100,000
because of prisoner amnesties in recent years, the group
said.

The US 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:

Only nine states logged a decrease in prison population,
led by Rhode Island with a 3.4 percent drop; and
Massachusetts, 1.0 percent.

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;
and Maine, 9.1 percent.

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.