Number of Inmates in Jails and Prisons Rises

A newly released government report indicates that more than 1,000 people have been incarcerated each week for the last year, placing almost 2.2 million people behind bars by last June.

The total number of people in jails or prisons in the United States last summer was 56,428, a 2.6 percent increase from 2004 to 2005.

According to researcher and the Bureau of Justice Statistics chief of corrections, Allen J. Beck, there was a noteworthy increase of 33,539 inmates in jail, the greatest increase since 1997. About two-thirds or 1.4 million inmates were in prison, and almost 750,000 were placed in local jails.

Beck believes the significant increase of inmates in local jails is partly due to their changing function. Jails now hold people who have not begun serving their sentence as well as those who are awaiting trial.

According to the report by the Justice Department agency, 62 percent of inmates in jails haven’t been convicted of crimes yet and are waiting for their court dates.

The report also revealed that men were 10 to 11 times more likely to be incarcerated than women. However, the number of women placed behind bars is quickly increasing, said Paige M. Harrison, co-author of the report.

The racial demographics of inmates did not change much in the last few years, Beck said. Approximately 11.9 percent of inmates were black compared to 3.9 percent Hispanics and 1.7 percent whites in the 25 to 29 age group.

Marc Mauer, executive director of The Sentencing Project, a group that supports alternative penalties to prison, finds the imprisonment rates for black men disturbing.

“It’s not a sign of a healthy community when we’ve come to use incarceration at such rates,” Mauer said.

He also disapproves of sentencing regulations, which eliminate a judge’s discretion. According to Mauer, increasing arrests for drug charges and parole violations have contributed to the prison inflation.

“If we want to see the prison population reduced, we need a much more comprehensive approach to sentencing and drug policy,” he said.

If you or a loved one faces the perils of our overcrowded penial system,  contact an experienced criminal law attorney today.