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| Prison Population in U.S. Is Leveling Off |
| By New York Times |
| Published: 06/15/2001 |
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After growing explosively for three decades, the nation's prison population has begun to stabilize, according to new government figures. For the first time in years, the overcrowding that has plagued state prisons and local jails alike is beginning to ease, as a result of falling crime rates and a decade of new construction. Through the middle of last year, the number of state prisoners grew by only 1.5 percent, the lowest annual increase in 29 years, according to figures recently compiled by the United States Department of Justice. In the three most populous states, the number of prisoners in California and New York actually fell last year, and the number in Texas grew by only half of 1 percent. Nine other states including New Jersey also reported a decline, the largest number of states to do so in two decades. Connecticut's prison population grew 1.4 percent. Government officials and other experts in the field say there are several reasons for the slowing growth, but the most important is that the prison system is finally experiencing the benefits of the decline in crime rates that began in the mid-1990's. Before the crime rates fell, many states had begun toughening their criminal justice systems, imposing longer minimum sentences for a wider spectrum of crimes and ending parole. The average sentence increased by 13 percent during the 90's, and with more prisoners staying behind bars longer, it took several years for the drop in crime to be reflected in the prison population numbers. 'The reason we saw those increasing numbers every year was because of the sentencing reforms undertaken by so many states,' said Allen J. Beck, the chief of corrections statistics for the Justice Department, who compiled the new figures. 'In the 90's, there was a much greater chance that violent offenders would be incarcerated, and would stay longer. But those reforms had their effect, and now we're finally starting to see the prison population stabilize.' The drop in crime was not directly related to the increased sentencing; a variety of studies have shown no relationship between the length of sentencing in a state and its crime rate. Rather, criminologists say, many of the tough sentences imposed earlier in the decade began to run their course at the same time as the crime rate continued to decline. During that same period, many states with corrections systems that became overwhelmed by the new prisoners also began experimenting with alternative sentencing special drug courts and diversionary programs for drug users that are starting to have an effect on reducing inmate populations. By more closely supervising convicts on parole, states have kept many of them from returning. In addition to California, New York and New Jersey, the other states that reported declines in prisoners were Alaska, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and South Carolina. |
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