PRISON POPULATION RISES AGAIN, BUT AT A SLOWER RATE

• NCJ Number: 47688
• Journal: Corrections Magazine Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Dated: (JUNE 1978) Pages: 20-24
• Author(s): J POTTER; R WILSON; M S SERRILL
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 5 pages
• Corporate Author: Criminal Justice Publications, Inc
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

THE RESULTS OF A 1978 SURVEY OF THE INMATE POPULATIONS OF STATE AND FEDERAL PRISONS ARE PRESENTED.

Abstract

THE SURVEY, CONDUCTED BY CORRECTIONS MAGAZINE, SHOWED THAT THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THE CUSTODY OF STATE AND FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL SYSTEMS INCREASED BY 5 PERCENT (12,987 PERSONS) FROM JANUARY 1, 1977 TO JANUARY 1, 1978. AUTHORITIES STUDYING THE PROBLEM OF OVERCROWDING PRISONS HAD PREDICTED THAT THE POPULATION WOULD CONTINUE TO GROW AT A RAPID RATE AND WOULD EASILY TOP 300,000 BY THE BEGINNING OF 1978. A SUDDEN STABILIZATION DURING THE LAST 3 YEARS IN THE PRISON POPULATIONS OF SEVERAL STATES WITH PREVIOUS RAPID GROWTH RATES PREVENTED THIS. STATES SHOWING A DECLINE IN PRISON POPULATION WERE ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA, CONNECTICUT, NEBRASKA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, OKLAHOMA, UTAH, WISCONSIN, AND WEST VIRGINIA. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DECLINE OCCURRED IN CALIFORNIA, WHERE THE NUMBER OF MEN AND WOMEN IN STATE PRISONS DROPPED 6 PERCENT, FROM ALMOST 21,000 TO 19,600. ACCORDING TO STATE OFFICIALS, THIS WAS LARGELY DUE TO THE RELEASE OF MANY INMATES AFTER THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CALIFORNIA'S NEW DETERMINATE SENTENCING LAW. IN FACT, ADMISSIONS TO THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS WERE AT A RECORD HIGH LAST YEAR, AND THE POPULATION HAS ALREADY BEGUN TO RISE AGAIN. AMONG THE OTHER STATES THAT SHOWED A DECLINE WERE ARIZONA, WHERE THE POPULATION HAD INCREASED BY MORE THAN ONE-THIRD FROM 1975 TO 1977, AND OKLAHOMA, WHICH HAD SHOWN A SIMILAR INCREASE. IN 10 STATES, THE PRISON POPULATIONS STABILIZED, INCLUDING ARKANSAS, GEORGIA, KENTUCKY, MARYLAND, VIRGINIA, MASSACHUSETTS, NEW JERSEY, OHIO, OREGON, AND PENNSYLVANIA. SOME STATES REPORTED NO ABATEMENT AT ALL IN POPULATION GROWTH. THE LARGEST PERCENTAGE INCREASES OCCURED IN SPARSELY POPULATED STATES THAT HAVE LITTLE IMPACT ON THE NATIONAL STATISTICS: ALASKA (27 PERCENT), HAWAII (19 PERCENT), NEVADA (19 PERCENT), NEW MEXICO (19 PERCENT), AND WYOMING (23 PERCENT). THE LARGEST NUMERICAL INCREASE WAS IN NEW YORK, WHICH EXPERIENCED A NET INCREASE OF ALMOST 2,000 PRISONERS. A TABLE PROVIDING A BREAKDOWN OF INMATE POPULATIONS BY STATE FOR 1977 AND 1978 IS INCLUDED, AND SPECIAL ATTENTION IS GIVEN TO THE INMATE POPULATION CHANGES THAT OCCURED IN ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA, FLORIDA, MICHIGAN AND NEW YORK.