HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.
![handle is hein.death/prsin2008 and id is 1 raw text is: U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Revised 6/30/2010
Bureau of Justice Statistics
December 2009, NCJ 228417
Prisoners in 2008
William J. Sabol, Ph.D., and
Heather C. West, Ph.D., BJS Statisticians
Matthew Cooper, BJS Intern
A yearend 2008, federal and state correc-
Ational authorities had jurisdiction over
11,610,446 prisoners (figure 1). Jurisdic-
tion refers to the legal authority over a prisoner,
regardless of where the prisoner is held.
The prison population increased by 12,201 pris-
oners from 2007 to 2008, the smallest annual
increase since 2000. The 0.8% growth during
2008 was the second year of decline in the rate of
growth and the slowest growth in eight years.
From 2000 to 2008 the growth of the prison pop-
ulation (1.8% per year on average) was less than
a third of the rate observed during the 1990s
(6.5% per year on average) (not shown in figure).
State correctional authorities had jurisdiction
over 1,409,166 prisoners at yearend 2008, an
increase of 10,539 state prisoners during the
year. Federal correctional authorities (or the fed-
eral prison system) had jurisdiction over 201,280
prisoners, up 1,662 federal prisoners from the
previous year. While the numbers of state and
federal prisoners reached all-time yearend highs
in 2008, the respective growth rates for each
slowed to 0.8% (figure 2). This was the second
smallest annual rate of growth in the state prison
population (0.1% growth occurred in 2001) and
the lowest rate for the federal prison population
since 2000.
Detailed information is included in the appendix tables,
following Methodology. Topics covered in the appendix tables
are shown on page 14.
- iue .
Prisoners under state or federal jurisdiction at yearend,
2000-2008
Number of prisoners
1,650,000
1,600,000 -
1,550,000 -
1,500,000 - Annual
percent
1,450,000- change
1,400,000-
1 1350000 -f
* The U.S. prison population grew at the slowest rate (0.8%)
since 2000, reaching 1,610,446 prisoners at yearend 2008.
* Growth of the prison population since 2000 (1.8% per year on
average) was less than a third of the average annual rate during
the 1990s (6.5% per year on average).
* Slower growth in the state prison population was associated
with fewer new court commitments during 2007 and 2008,
reversing the trend of steady growth of state prison admissions
witnessed from 2000 to 2006.
* An increase in the number of prison releases was led by
offenders released to the community without supervision.
Annual percent
change
6.0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
12 months ending December 31
* Between 2000 and 2008 the number of blacks in prison
declined by 18,400, lowering the imprisonment rate to 3,161
men and 149 women per 100,000 persons in the U.S. resident
black population.
* The U.S. imprisonment rate declined for the second time since
yearend 2000; about 1 in every 198 persons in the U.S. resident
population was incarcerated in state or federal prison at year-
end 2008.
Data in text and tables are the latest available at the time of publication. See <http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/pO8.pdf> for most recent data.
.1UU.UU -~~f . . . . . . . . i - U.U
I I
].](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.death/prsin2008&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)