As did many major newspapers across the country, The New York Times and The Washington Times each reported the results of a study recently released by the Justice Policy Institute (JPI) about the prison population in the United States. The August 28,2002 headline in The New York Times reads: "Study Finds Big Increase in Black Men as Inmates since 1980." The August 27, 2002 headline from The Washington Times stated simply: "Population Increases in Corrections System."

The study confirms what we have been hearing over recent years: there are more black men behind bars than there are in colleges and universities across the nation. According to the conclusions of the JPI Study, there were 791,600 black men in jail or prison and 603,032 enrolled in colleges or universities.

The numbers from 1980 indicate that at that time there were 143,000 black men in either jail or prison, while there were 463,700 enrolled in higher education institutions. Overall, the number of men and women in U.S. prisons and jails was 2.1 million in the year 2000. It was just a quarter of that number (502,000) in 1980.

Some justice advocates attribute the increased numbers partially to the growth of the prison industry; a kind of 'if you build it, they will come' conclusion.

Others have said that it is due to the increase in drugs. But the figures from the Department of Justice show that only 20 percent of those incarcerated are there because of a drug crime. Additionally, 50 percent of the state prison population is incarcerated because of a violent crime.

The overall growth in the prison industry is seen as far out- pacing any further developments or enhancements in the education system. Often the jail or prison structure is in better physical shape than is the school facility. We are more likely to hear our elected officials debate in favor of increasing spending on institutions of incarceration than we are to hear a debate about increasing spending on education.

This is one of those issues where advocates for justice in sentencing may want to watch both their state level budgets as well as the federal budgets. Jails are generally pre-trial institutions and are usually funded out of county-designated funds. Prisons are state or federal institutions after sentencing, and are funded from state or federal funds.

Currently, there are approximately 6.6 million people in the U.S. correctional system. This means that one of every 32 adults are either behind bars or on probation. Of this number nearly four million people were on probation in the year 2000. Even though crime rates are down, incarceration rates are up.

The U.S. Department of Justice maintains a Bureau of Justice Statistics. By going to its web page, advocates will find statistical information that can be used in letter writing. (See http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs)

A sampling of such information follows:

• Serious violent crime levels continued to decline in 2000.
  
• Property crime rates continue to decline.
  
• Violent crime rates declined for both males and females since 1994. Rates for men and women are getting closer in recent years.
  
• The number of arrests for drug abuse violations increased from 1999 to 2000 for both juveniles and adults.

The number of adults in the correctional population has been increasing. In 2001, nearly 6.6 million people were under some form of correctional supervision, including:

• Probation - court ordered community supervision of convicted offenders by a probation agency.
  
• Prison - confinement in a State or Federal correctional facility to serve a sentence of more than one year.
  
• Jail - confinement in a local jail while pending trial, awaiting sentencing, serving a sentence that is usually less than one year, or awaiting transfer.
  
• Parole - community supervision after a period of incarceration. Only adults who are on parole supervision or other form of conditional release.

More than half of the increase in State prison population since 1990 is due to an increase in the prisoners convicted of violent offenses.

Violent offenses include murder, negligent and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, sexual assault, robbery, assault, extortion, intimidation, criminal endangerment, and other violent offenses.

Property offenses include burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, fraud, possession and selling of stolen property, destruction of property, trespassing, vandalism, criminal tampering, and other property offenses.
Drug offenses include possession, manufacturing, trafficking, and other drug offenses.

Public-order offenses include weapons, drunk driving, escape/flight to avoid prosecution, court offenses, obstruction, commercialized vice, morals and decency charges, liquor law violations, and other public-order offenses.

Trends in Federal Investigations/Prosecutions

• The proportion of those convicted in Federal court that is sentenced to prison has been increasing.
  
• Of cases concluded in Federal district court in every year since 1989, there have been more drug cases than other types of cases.

Trends in Felony Convictions in State Courts

• Almost 928,000 adults were convicted of a felony in State courts in 1998.
  
• Of the felons convicted in State court, more than two-thirds were sentenced to prison or jail in 1998.

Correctional Trends

• The number of adults in the correctional population has been increasing.
  
• More than half of the increase in the prison population since 1990 is due to an increase in the prisoners convicted of violent offenses.
  
• After dramatic increases in the 1980s and 1990s, the incarceration rate has recently leveled off.
  
• The number of prisoners on death row has been increasing.
  Since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, white inmates have made up the majority of those under sentence of death.
  
• In 2001, 66 inmates were executed, 19 fewer than in 2000.

Expenditure Trends

• Direct expenditure for each of the major criminal justice functions (police, corrections, judicial) has been increasing.
  
• The number of prisoners on death row has been increasing.
  States spend more on criminal justice than municipalities, counties, or the Federal government.

For more information, charts, and statistics, go to http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs. Also, you can view the yearly compendia.

Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2000, 8/02. Describes all aspects of processing in the Federal justice system, including numbers of persons prosecuted, convicted, incarcerated, sentenced to probation, released pretrial, and under parole or other supervision. NCJ 194067

• Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 1999, 4/01. NCJ 186179
  
• Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 1998, 5/00. NCJ 180258
  
• Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 1997, 10/99. NCJ 176328
  
• Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 1996, 1/99. NCJ 172849
  
• Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 1995, 3/98. NCJ 164259
  
• Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 1994, 3/98. NCJ 163063
  
• Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 1993, 10/96. NCJ 160089

General Assembly

The 200th General Assembly (1988) of the Presbyterian Church (USA) adopted a statement on "Prison Violence and Nonviolent Alternatives" that reaffirmed the theology of previous General Assemblies in urging that "individual Presbyterians and the entities of the General Assembly… advocate a social order where compassion and justice characterize efforts toward those in the criminal justice system." The statement went on to call for "changing a prison system that is based on the concept of punishment to one that encourages the restoration of the offender to the community and the development of alternatives to incarceration." The statement expressed concern regarding the violent nature of prisons as institutions and expressed "the need to develop a non-punitive philosophy that stresses the use of the least restrictive alternatives to imprisonment, including community-based corrections." (Minutes, 1988, Part I, p. 1028)

Building on the 1988 statement, the 214th General Assembly (2002) reaffirmed the concept of restorative justice and:

• Call[s] upon church sessions to promote the use of books, study guides, videos, and other resource materials that reflect a restorative justice perspective, including the "Justice Jottings" newsletter published by the Criminal Justice program, in their churches' educational programs, we further call upon church members to participate in such programs, and to seek out additional opportunities to gain experiential knowledge of the criminal justice system, e.g., by jail or prison visitation, attendance at court, volunteering at a local shelter for the domestically abused, etc.
• Urge[s] individuals, congregations, and governing bodies to support legislation that incorporates the principles of restorative justice at the state and federal levels, drawing upon the resources of the criminal Justice Program and the Presbyterian Washington Office.
• Call[s] upon the Presbyterian Washington Office to advocate for the incorporation of restorative justice principles and practices in all relevant federal and state legislation. (Minutes, 2002, Part I, p. 577-578)