One in every 75 American men in jail as US prison population grows to 2.1m

AMERICA’S prison population grew by 2.9% last year to almost 2.1 million people, with one in every 75 men living in prison or jail.

Almost one in eight black men in their 20s were in jail compared with one in 60 white men of the same age.

The inmate population continued its rise despite a fall in the crime rate and many states’ efforts to reduce some sentences, especially for low-level drug offenders.

The report by the Justice Department attributes much of the increase to get-tough policies enacted during the 1980s and ‘90s, such as mandatory drug sentences, “three-strikes- and-you’re-out” laws for repeat offenders, and “truth-in-sentencing” laws that restrict early releases.

Whether that’s good or bad depends on who you ask.

“The prison system just grows like a weed in the yard,” said Vincent Schiraldi, executive director of the Justice Policy Institute.

Without reforms, he said, prison populations will continue to grow “almost as if they are on autopilot, regardless of their high costs and disappointing crime- control impact.”

But Attorney General John Ashcroft said the report shows the success of efforts to take hardcore criminals off the streets.

“It is no accident that violent crime is at a 30-year low while prison population is up,” Mr Ashcroft said.

“Violent and recidivist criminals are getting tough sentences while law-abiding Americans are enjoying unprecedented safety.”

There were 715 inmates for every 100,000 US residents at midyear in 2003, up from 703 a year earlier, the report found. The United States’ incarceration rate tops the world. It compares with a rate of 169 per 100,000 residents in Mexico, 116 in Canada and 143 for England and Wales.

The US inmate population in 2003 grew at its fastest pace in four years.

The number of inmates increased 1.8% in state prisons, 7.1% in federal prisons and 3.9% in local jails.

In 2003, 68% of prison and jail inmates were members of racial or ethnic minorities.

An estimated 12% of all black men in their 20s were in jails or prisons, as were 3.7% of Hispanic men and 1.6% of white men in that age group.