Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Sentencing Law and Policy

Criminal Law

: Sentencing Law and Policy

The latest (encouraging?) official data on incarceration nation

By Douglas A. Berman

As reported in this AP piece, the Bureau of Justice Statistics has released its official tally of incarceration numbers. Here is an effective summary of what the new data show: The U.S. prison population edged up slightly last year, though the number of total inmates dropped in 20 states, including New York, Georgia and Michigan. Justice Department figures released Tuesday show the overall state and federal prison population stands at a record 1.6 million and is still rising, but the rate of growth is slowing as state authorities look for cheaper ways to mete out justice. If you add in those people in jails ? where some are held while they await trial ? the total number of people behind bars comes to 2.3 million.... The statistics are the latest evidence that the rapid growth of prisons seen in the 1990s has cooled significantly in this decade...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on December 09, 2009 (boomark / email).