Pubdate: Tue, 08 Apr 2003
Source: Australian Financial Review (Australia)
Contact  http://www.afr.com.au/
Address: GPO Box 506, Sydney 2001
Fax: (61 2) 9282 3137
Copyright: 2003 Australian Financial Review
Author: Curt Anderson, Associated Press

OVER 2M IN AMERICAN JAILS

The number of people in US prisons and jails last year topped 2 million for 
the first time, driven by get-tough sentencing policies that mandate long 
terms for drug offenders and other criminals, the US government reported 
yesterday.

The federal government accounted for more inmates than any state, with 
almost 162,000, according to a report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 
part of the Justice Department. That number includes the transfer of about 
8900 District of Columbia prisoners to the federal system.

California, Texas, Florida and New York were the four biggest state prison 
systems, mirroring their status as the most populous states.

But in Texas, California, New York, Illinois and five other states the 
prisoner populations fell compared with the year before as prison releases 
outpaced admissions.

Some states modified their parole rules to deal with steep budget 
shortfalls, leading to an overall growth rate in state prison populations 
of just under 1 per cent from June 2001 to June 2002. The federal prison 
population grew by 5.7 per cent. The total inmate population on June 30, 
2002 was 2.1 million, an increase of 2.8 per cent from the year before. 
Two-thirds were in federal or state prisons, with the other third held in 
jails, the report said.

The report did not count all juvenile offenders, which if included in the 
past would have driven the US's inmate population over the 2 million mark 
years ago. The report did note that there were more than 10,000 inmates 
under 18 held in adult prisons and jails last year.

Malcolm Young, executive director of The Sentencing Project, said the 
increase continued a prison growth trend stemming from tough penalties 
meted out to drug abusers and traffickers as well as "three strikes" laws 
that can mandate life sentences for repeat offenders. "It's part of the 
get-tough scheme. It's been going on for 30 years," said Mr Young, whose 
non-profit organisation advocates alternatives to incarceration, such as 
drug courts and treatment programs.

This is especially true at the federal level, where efforts to reduce 
sentences for such crimes as crack cocaine trafficking have failed in 
Congress. The Supreme Court this month upheld California's "three strikes" 
law even though the defendant's final crime involved stealing golf clubs.

US Attorney-General John Ashcroft has pushed for tougher prison sentences, 
including a recent directive barring many people convicted of white-collar 
and non-violent crimes from doing their time in halfway houses.

"The prospect of prison, more than any other sanction, is feared by 
white-collar criminals and has a powerful deterrent effect," Deputy 
attorney-general Larry Thompson said in a memo announcing the change.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth