Prison Overcrowding

Prison Overcrowding

Introduction

Discussions of overcrowding frequently merge concerns about state and federal prisons together with municipal and county jails, which in states such as Pennsylvania, are confusingly referred to as county prisons. With the exception of Alaska, Hawaii, and a small number of north-eastern states that operate integrated jail/prison systems, state and federal prisons or penitentiaries house exclusively sentenced felons, usually committed for a minimum of one year. Jails typically hold varying proportions of felons and misdemeanants sentenced to less than one year. However, they also house pre-trial detainees who have not yet been convicted but are held pending prosecution and disposition of their cases, usually because they have not been able to secure pretrial release by posting bail. Because the extent of crowding, along with the reasons, consequences, and potential remedies can vary considerably depending upon whether the focus is on prisons versus jails, it is important to separate the two. In this discussion, focus will be primarily on the issue as it involves state and federal prisons.

Research and Discussion

Overcrowding Versus Over Imprisonment

Much of the literature on prison crowding focuses on the overall size and growth of inmate populations and correctional facilities as indicators that the United States builds prisons and incarcerates at far higher rates than most other countries. Data on prisons and prison populations to support such conclusions are usually drawn from two general sources. The most complete picture is found in the annual reports and on the Websites of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and many individual state departments of corrections (Hough,Solomon,2008). On a national level, data are provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), from two of its many criminal justice system survey programs. First, through its national prisoner statistics program, BJS produces annual and semiannual data on prisoners in state and federal prison facilities. Second, BJS conducts a census of state and federal correctional facilities approximately every five years, which collects more detailed information such as facility type, size, security level, capacity, court orders, and use of private contractors (Hough,Solomon,2008).

The most recent complete BJS census, in 2005, identified 1,821 correctional facilities operating primarily at state and federal levels. More facilities operated at the state (1,719) rather than federal (102) level, and 415, or almost 23 percent, were privately operated under contract to federal or state authorities. Institutions most typically counted as prisons or penitentiaries, including prison camps and farms, are classified as confinement facilities, and accounted for 1,292 (71 percent) of the total (Lattimore,Pamela, Danielle, 2010). The remaining 529 (29 percent) were community-based facilities such as halfway houses, residential treatment centers, restitution centers, and pre-release centers. As of the 2008 National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) annual survey, BJS reported that the number of prisoners under the jurisdiction of federal and state correctional authorities reached an all-time, year-end high of 1,610,446. Excluding prisoners housed in local jails and places such as privately contracted and community corrections facilities, 162,252 inmates were in custody in federal prisons, and 1,320,145 in state prisons ...