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Notable prediction that prison population may decline in 2009

By Douglas A. Berman

This AP article speculates, perhaps accurately, that the total US prison population may decline in 2009 for the first time in decades.  Here are the details from the article: The United States may soon see its prison population drop for the first time in almost four decades, a milestone in a nation that locks up more people than any other. The inmate population has risen steadily since the early 1970s as states adopted get-tough policies that sent more people to prison and kept them there longer. But tight budgets now have states rethinking these policies and the costs that come with them.... The U.S. prison population dropped steadily during most of the 1960s, and there were a few small dips in 1970 and 1972. But it has risen every year since, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on December 20, 2009 (boomark / email).