[AicapAifap] Sentencing Project

[Alliance of Incarcerated Canadians/Foreigners in American Prisons]

New Prison and Jail Population Figures Released by U.S. Department of
JusticeStatement of Marc Mauer, Executive Director of The Sentencing
Project

	WASHINGTON DC – “The declines in prison and jail populations
reported by the Department of Justice today are encouraging, but still
fall far short of what is necessary to end mass incarceration anytime
soon. The prison population decreases are heavily influenced by a
handful of states that have reduced their populations by 30% or more
in recent years. As of yearend 2017 more than half the states were
still experiencing increases in their populations or rates of decline
only in the single digits. In order to achieve significant reductions
policymakers will need to scale back excessive sentencing for all
offenses, a key factor which distinguishes the U.S. from other
nations.”

	The DOJ figures for yearend 2017 reveal the following:

	*The United States remains as the world leader in its rate of
incarceration, locking up its citizens at 5-10 times the rate of other
industrialized nations.
	*A 2018 analysis by The Sentencing Project revealed that at the
current rate of decline it would take 75 years to cut the prison
population by 50%.
	*By yearend 2017, the US prison population declined by 7.3% since
reaching its peak level in 2009. In the federal system, the decline
was 15.7% (since peak year 2011).
	*Six states have reduced their prison populations by at least 30%
over the past two decades – Alaska, Connecticut, California, New
Jersey, New York, and Vermont. This has come about through a mix of
changes in policy and practice within the states.
	*Eleven states, including Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin,
and Washington have yet to downsize their prison populations,
registering their greatest prison population counts in 2017.
	*Although the violent crime rate has plummeted to half of its
early-1990s level, the number of people imprisoned for a violent
offense grew until 2009, and has since declined by just 2%.
	*The population of people serving life sentences is now at a record
high. One of every seven individuals in prison – 206,000 – is
serving life. For purposes of comparison, the U.S. has five times the
population of the United Kingdom, but 1,000 times the number of people
serving life without parole.
	*The rate of women’s incarceration has been rising at a faster rate
than men’s since the 1980s, and declines in recent years have been
slower than among men. Women in state prisons are more likely to be
incarcerated for a drug offense than men – 25% vs. 14% – and less
likely to be incarcerated for a violent offense – 38% vs. 57%.
	*Racial disparities in women’s incarceration have changed
dramatically since the start of the century. Black women were
incarcerated at 6 times the rate of white women in 2000, while the
2016 figure is now 1.8 times that rate. These changes have been a
function of both a declining number of black women in prison and a
rising number of white women. For Hispanic women, the ratio has
changed from 1.6 times that of white women in 2000 to 1.4 times in
2016.
	###
	The Sentencing Project
1705 DeSales Street NW 8th Floor | Washington, District of Columbia
20036
202-628-0871 | staff at sentencingproject.org

	The Sentencing Project works for a fair and effective U.S. justice
system by promoting reforms in sentencing policy, addressing unjust
racial disparities and practices, and advocating for alternatives to
incarceration.
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