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| States sending fewer people to prison |
| By washingtonpost.com |
| Published: 12/09/2009 |
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The number of people in U.S. prisons has grown at the slowest pace in nearly a decade, according to figures released Tuesday by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The study also found that incarceration rates in 30 states declined last year. Across the country, states are sending fewer people to prison as they grapple with a severe economic recession. Last year, the number of people sent to prison was down 0.5 percent from the previous year, while the number of people released from prison increased by 2 percent. The steepest drop was in Georgia, where the prison population between 2007 and 2008 was down by 2,509 inmates, or 2.8 percent. In Maryland, there were 109 fewer people in jail, a decrease of 0.5 percent. The population in Virginia was up slightly at 207 more inmates, an increase of 0.5 percent. Data were not available for D.C. jails, which were transferred to federal authority after 2001. The numbers may reflect the decision by some state governments to cut the high cost of corrections systems. Many are reevaluating their sentencing, parole and drug policies to try to scale back the expense of housing criminals. This fall, lawmakers in Rhode Island passed a law eliminating mandatory minimum drug sentences, and legislators in Massachusetts and Ohio are considering sentencing reforms. Read More. |
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