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1980 Prisoners in 1 (1980)

handle is hein.death/prsin1980 and id is 1 raw text is: U.S. Department of Justice
Bureau of Justice Statistics

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Pnisoners in 1980

During 1980 more than 15,000 in-
mates were added to the rolls of the
Nation's correctional institutions,
continuing an upward trend stretching
back for more than a decade.1 As
correctional authorities coped with a
record yearend total of 329,122 in-
mates, 28 States and the District of
Columbia were under court orders to
reduce overcrowding, and 16 States had
a backlog of sentenced prisoners wait-
ing in local jails for space in State
facilities. The 1980 increase in the
prisoner population was 5 percent, more
than double the increases of the two
previous years. Since the uptrend
began in 1969, the number of prisoners
held in the United States has increased
by 61 percent, and the incarceration
rate for sentenced prisoners has gone
from 98 per 100,000 U.S. resident
population to 140 per 100,000.
I Data in this report are preliminary and subject to
revision.

May 1981

With this report the Bureau of Jus-
tice Statistics introduces Bulletin
readers to statistics from the
National Prisoner Statistics (N PS)
program. NPS series, which are
among the oldest in the criminal
justice field, contain annual data on
the prison populations, prison admis-
sions and releases, characteristics of
the death row population, and
executions.

The 1980 gain in prison population
was limited to State facilities. The
number of prisoners under the juris-
diction of Federal authorities fell by
almost 8 percent to 24,363, continuing a
decline begun in 1978 that has reduced
the Federal prison population by
one-fourth in 3 years. It results in

These data are collected annually for
the Bureau of Justice Statistics by
the U.S. Census Bureau from the
departments of corrections in the 50
States and the District of Columbia.
The cooperation of State officials,
whose generous assistance and
unfailing patience make the National
Prisoner Statistics program possible,
is gratefully acknowledged.
Benjamin H. Renshaw III
Acting Director

large part from a decision by Federal
law enforcement authorities to con-
centrate their resources on white-
collar crime, leaving the apprehension,
prosecution, and confinement of bank
robbers, interstate auto thieves, and
certain drug offenders to State and
local authorities.
Many factors in the speeding up of
prison population growth during 1980
are peculiar to individual States.
Sentencing legislation passed on a
widespread basis in recent years
appears, however, to be exerting
pressure on the capacities of State
prison systems. During the past
4 years, 37 States have passed man-
datory sentencing statutes and 15
States have passed determinate
sentencing laws. While determinate
sentencing allows for the possibility of
probation, restitution, or suspended
sentences, and mandatory sentencing
does not, each sends the offender to
prison for a fixed number of years that
cannot be shortened by parole.
In most States mandatory and deter-
minate sentencing has been aimed at
specific crimes or specific offenders.
Violent crime, armed offenses, drug
offenses, and repeat offenders or

Number of sentenced State and Federal prisoners
at yearend, 1925-80
(thousands)
360 -                                                                                    360
330 -                                                                Jurisdiction       - 330
300 -300
270 7                                                                                     270
240 -                                                                                     240
210 -                                                                                     210
180 -                                                                                    180
150 -                                                                                     150
120                                                                                   - 120
90                                                                                    --  90
60 -                                                                                      60
30                                                                                        30
1925    1930           1940            1950           1960           1970            1980
Note Prior to 1979, NPS reports were based on the  the jurisdiction population. Both figures are shown
custody population. Beginning in 1978, focus is on  for 1977 to facilitate year-to-year comparison.

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