Aug 25, 9:55 PM (ET)

By JONATHAN D. SALANT

WASHINGTON (AP) - One in every 32 adults in the United States was behind bars or on probation or parole by the end of last year, according to a government report Sunday that found a record 6.6 million people in the nation's correctional system.

The number of adults under supervision by the criminal justice system rose by 147,700, or 2.3 percent, between 2000 and 2001, the Justice Department reported. In 1990, almost 4.4 million adults were incarcerated or being supervised.

"The overall figures suggest that we've come to rely on the criminal justice system as a way of responding to social problems in a way that's unprecedented," said Marc Mauer, assistant director of the Sentencing Project, an advocacy and research group that favors alternatives to incarceration. "We're setting a new record every day."

Nearly 4 million people were on probation, 2.8 percent more than in 2000, while there was a 1 percent increase of those on parole, to 731,147. The number of people in prison grew by 1.1 percent to 1.3 million, the smallest annual increase in nearly three decades. There was a 1.6 percent increase of people in jails, to 631,240. More than half of those on probation - 53 percent - had been convicted of felonies, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics report.


Experts noted the recent trend of arrests declined for murder, rape and other violent crimes. Many of those on probation were convicted of using illegal drugs or driving while intoxicated, the report showed.

In addition, some states have eliminated mandatory minimum sentences for certain crimes. California's Proposition 36, passed in 2000 with 61 percent of the vote, requires treatment rather than incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders. Most of those drug users wind up on probation.

"The collection of reforms, from drug courts to treatment in lieu of incarceration to sentence reforms like getting rid of mandatory minimums and expanding community correction options, have the effect of redirecting people from prison to probation," said Nick Turner, director of national programs for the Vera Institute of Justice. The nonprofit research group works with governments on criminal justice issues.

The government report found that 46 percent of those discharged from parole in 2001 had met the conditions of supervision, while 40 percent went back to jail or prison for violations.

Texas had more adults under correctional supervision than any other state, 755,100. California was second with 704,900. Texas also had the most adults on probation, 443,684, followed by California at 350,768.

Whites accounted for 55 percent of those on probation, while blacks made up 31 percent, statistics show. On the other hand, 46 percent of those incarcerated were black and 36 percent were white.

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On the Net: The Sentencing Project:http://www.sentencingproject.org

Vera Institute of Justice:http://www.vera.org

Bureau of Justice Statistics:http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs

And we worry about threads getting locked.

SkletonKee said:

This is the most imprtant piece of info in the whole article.

But hard to say if this is good or bad.

What a depressing story! If I could be president of this great land, I'd push for the following changes:

• End the misinterpretation of the 2nd Amendment - we'd all benefit from a handgun-free America.
  
• Rebuild our system of mental hospitals, then watch the prison population fall.
  
• Create the best public school system in the world - we've got the $$$ to do it.
  
• Devise a national health insurance program that is based on the Medicare model already in place.
  
• Create a 2 year service-to-country obligation upon high school graduation - you choose: public service, military, teaching, infrastructure development, etc.
  

Now, for the glass is half-full perspective: 97% of Americans are sufficiently law-abiding that they are not incarcerated, not on probation, and not on parole. In a country with 300 million citizens, 1/32 turns out to be a big number.

___

TheMax said:

How about 97% just haven't been caught yet?

TheMax said:

I agree. The pleasure Americans gain from tools which are made to kill is frightening. The use of guns should be a privilige to law enforcement only. civilians have been proven to be uncapable of such responsibility, and that counts for ALL nations.

I second that. About 95% of all people comiiting crimes do so because of their lack of understanding of morals. lets take murder as an example. anybody, and I mean anybody, who kills another human being definetely has something going wrong in his head. no healthy mind can sommit such a crime. I do believe that many ill minds can be healed.

Of course education is the answer. however, america has a completey wrong understanding of the topic. public schooling is bad, and its not objective. I do have the feeling that the government has a high interest in keeping a majority of the population ignorant. the US does have some major private universities. however, the high tuition will exclude the ones from lower social structures. education should be the most important task in any system, and it should be FREE!

We do have that in my country (germany), its the best health insurance program in the world. however, I do not understand what that has to do with this topic. explain.

Interesting approach. again, my country is doing that since 1956. you choose between military or civil service. I do see the point you are trying to make: young people of any social status are being disciplined and they contribute something to society (which might inspire them more). however, over the past few years this issue has been quite controversial in my country. this one year social/military service ruins career plans for many, sometimes even an achieved social status.



the main problem is very typically american (mind my criticizm, Max): you deal with the offspring of the problem, but you dont dig for the root. that counts for pretty much everything your country does (mine as well, but I think we have progressed to the better).

soulpower said:

Some crime is the result of anger, desperation, and socioeconomic disenfranchisement. Improved access to quality healthcare, in my opinion, creates healthier people. Healthier people make better life choices. If every citizen has equal access to quality education and quality healthcare, then it's harder to "lash out" against society.

"I AM NOT A CROOK"

TheMax said:

you have got a point there. I agree.

TheMax said:

Concise, well put, and dead on.