CRIMINAL LAW

SECTION 1 - COLQUITT

FALL, 2002

Prison and Jail Populations - 1996

At the end of 1996, there were 1.1 million adults in prison - up 4.7 percent from 1995. That number, of course, does not include juvenile offenders. An additional 1/2 million were in jail. In all, over 5.5 million adults were in jail, in prison, on probation or on parole.

How do these figures compare with an earlier time? The number of adults in prison has jumped 131 percent since 1985. The number of adults incarcerated in jails rose by 100 percent. Parolees climbed by 134 percent. Probationers rose a "mere" 61 percent.

Women composed only 21 percent of probationers and 11 percent of parolees in 1996. These figures are up 18 percent and 8 percent respectively compared to 1990. Two of every three probationers and half of all parolees were white; the remainder were minorities, primarily African-Americans.

Return to Top of Document

OTHER PAGES