-Caveat Lector- ~Amelia~ State prison population declines for first time since 1972 BY CHRISTOPHER NEWTON The Associated Press ------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------- WASHINGTON - The number of people behind bars in state prisons fell during the second half of 2000 in the first decrease since 1972, the Justice Department said Sunday. There were more prisoners in state prisons at the end of the year than at the beginning - 1,236,476 to 1,228,455 - and the total number of people in state and federal prisons was up 1.3 percent over 1999. However, that overall rate of growth compared to the average annual growth rate of 6 percent since 1990 and was the lowest percentage gain since 1972. Additionally, the absolute increase of inmates - 8,021 to state prisons and 10,170 to federal prisons - was the smallest since 1980. Nebraska is bucking the trend. Steve King, planning and research manager for the state Department of Corrections, said Sunday evening that the department set a record with more than 3,900 total inmates last month, far above the monthly high last year of nearly 3,600. Overall, Nebraska saw a 5.6 percent increase in federal and state prisoners from 1999 to 2000, the Justice Department figures show. Criminologists said the slowing growth in overall prison populations, coupled with a decline of 6,243 in the last six months of the year in state prisons, is significant because it may signal the end of America's prison boom. "There are young adults who have never drawn a breath in the United States during a period when the prison population wasn't growing," said Franklin E. Zimring, a criminal law professor and head of a research branch at the University of California at Berkeley. "Until now, the full-time business of prisons has been the growth of the prison population. Finally, this looks like real stabilization. If it continues, it is a new era in law enforcement." The decline comes after a few years of slowing growth at state prisons. During the first six months of last year, the state prison population grew by 14,264 inmates. During all of last year, 13 states had substantial decreases in their state and federal inmate populations, including Massachusetts (down 5.6 percent), New Jersey (down 5.4 percent), New York (down 3.7 percent) and Texas (down 3.2 percent). Allen J. Beck, a chief Justice Department researcher, said some of the declines may have been caused by states changing parole rules to make revocations less likely. "In New Jersey and Ohio, they are less likely to revoke parole than in prior years. New York has also become more lenient," he said. Dan Macallair, vice president of the San Francisco-based Justice Policy Institute, said attitudes about drug use contributed to the decline. He said communities and judges are getting tired of repeatedly sending drug offenders to prison and are looking for alternatives. "Several states, especially California, are beginning to find ways to send less people to prison and are looking at treatment as a viable option," said Macallair. Other experts said the prison population should be falling as fast as the crime rate. Violent crime in the United States fell by a record 15 percent last year, the government has said. "We have a prison infrastructure in place that supports itself regardless of what drops in the crime rate we see," said Justin Hansen, a criminologist who works for New York City. "Prisons keep lowering the bar to fill every bed." The study also found that both the state and federal prison systems grew more quickly than ever between 1990 and 2000, when more than 500,000 beds and 351 state facilities were added. Racial disparities in prisons are also holding steady, the report showed. About 10 percent of all black males between 25 and 29 years old were in federal and state prisons, compared with 2.9 percent of all Hispanic males and 1.1 percent of all white males in the same age group. Top ------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------- Copyright � 2001, Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved. This content may not be archived or used for commercial purposes without written permission from theLincoln Journal Star. 926 P Street Lincoln NE 68508 402 475-4200 [EMAIL PROTECTED] <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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