NCJ Number
57768
Journal
Corrections Magazine Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: (JUNE 1977) Pages: 20-25
Date Published
1979
Length
5 pages
Annotation
THE RESULTS OF A SURVEY OF THE U.S. PRISON POPULATION, UP ONLY 2 PERCENT IN 1978, ARE EXAMINED, WITH PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO FIGURES FOR THE FEDERAL PRISON SYSTEM AND TRENDS IN ALABAMA, LOUISIANA, TEXAS, AND ILLINOIS.
Abstract
EVIDENCING A SUDDEN SLOWING OF GROWTH IN PRISON POPULATIONS, CORRECTIONS MAGAZINE'S ANNUAL SURVEY OF STATE AND FEDERAL PRISON POPULATIONS SHOWS THAT THE NUMBER OF INCARCERATED FELONS AS OF JAN. 1, 1979, WAS 303,103, AS COMPARED WITH 295,665 A YEAR EARLIER. THESE FIGURES INCLUDE 8,366 FELONS BACKED UP IN COUNTY JAILS IN 1979, COMPARED WITH 8,784 IN 1978. DONE BY QUESTIONNAIRE AND PHONE, THE SURVEY INCLUDED ALL SENTENCED FEDERAL AND STATE PRISONERS SERVING TERMS OF MORE THAN A YEAR AND INDICATED THAT THE SLOWING OF GROWTH WAS MOST MARKED IN THOSE JURISDICTIONS THAT SAW THE MOST SPECTACULAR RISE BETWEEN 1973 AND 1977, SUCH AS FLORIDA, NORTH CAROLINA, AND THE FEDERAL SYSTEM. HOWEVER, DESPITE THE GROWTH SLOWDOWN, PRISON POPULATIONS NATIONWIDE ARE STILL 45 PERCENT HIGHER THAN THEY WERE IN 1973. IN ALABAMA, ALTHOUGH THE PRISON POPULATION DECLINED 4 PERCENT TO A LITTLE OVER 4,000, AFTER 5 CONSECUTIVE YEARS OF GROWTH, THE PRISON SYSTEM IS STILL STRUGGLING WITH OVERCROWDING AND STILL MUST MEET STANDARDS SET IN A LANDMARK COURT DECISION IN 1976 THAT PUT A CEILING ON FURTHER ADMISSIONS UNTIL OVERCROWDING IS ELIMINATED. LOUISIANA, TOO, HAS BEEN UNDER FEDERAL COURT ORDER SINCE 1975 TO KEEP THE PRISON POPULATION DOWN AT ANGOLA PENITENTIARY, BUT PRISON OFFICIALS SAY THAT THEY WILL HAVE ENOUGH PRISONS BY THE END OF 1979 TO HOUSE ALL STATE PRISONERS WITHOUT OVERCROWDING. IN TEXAS, THE PRISON POPULATION CONTINUES TO BOOM, AS IT HAS FOR YEARS. OVERCROWDING HAS REACHED CRISIS PROPORTIONS, WITH SOME STATE PRISONS TAKING IN OVER 7,700 NEW PRISONERS SINCE 1975, A 46 PERCENT INCREASE. HOWEVER, WHILE TEXAS HAS WEATHERED ITS OVERCROWDING PROBLEM WITHOUT INCIDENT, ILLINOIS HAS NOT BEEN SO LUCKY--A 50 PERCENT RISE THERE IN PRISON POPULATIONS BETWEEN 1975 AND 1978 IS SEEN AS A KEY FACTOR IN A SUMMER, 1978, RIOT THAT TOOK THE LIVES OF THREE GUARDS. THE U.S. BUREAU OF PRISONS RECORDED THE NATION'S LARGEST DROP IN POPULATION, DOWN 7 PERCENT TO 29,976 FROM A RECORD HIGH OF 31,813 AT THE START OF 1978. A COMPARATIVE TABLE OF STATE AND FEDERAL PRISON POPULATIONS IS PROVIDED. (KBL)