The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S14427-S14428 on Sept. 27, 1995.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
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PRISON, PROBATION ROLLS SOARING
Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, as we move toward consideration of the Senate Commerce, Justice, State appropriations bill, which increases funding for State prison construction by $250 million and allocates not one penny for crime prevention programs, it is important to take time to examine our current policies and consider our direction.
The Justice Department recently released a survey of our Nation's prisons, jails, parole, and probation services. According to the report, a record 5.1 million Americans--2.7 percent of all adults--were behind bars, on probation or on parole in 1994. Last year the Justice Department reported that we passed the mark of having 1 million people in prison. That puts the United States in the dubious position of having the second highest incarceration rate in the industrialized world. As our prison population has soared, our crime rate has been unaffected. Before we allocate scarce resources on more prisons, it makes sense to consider our alternatives and consult with experts.
Last December, I sponsored a survey of wardens and inmates in eight States in an effort to inform this debate. Rather than an all-or-
nothing distribution of funds, when asked how they would spend an extra
$10 million to fight crime in their communities, wardens split the money evenly: 43 percent on prevention and 57 percent on punishment. Even the 1994 crime bill fell far short of this equation, spending 75 percent of its funding on punishment and a mere 25 percent for prevention programs. This appropriations bill would further the imbalance by denying any funds for the crime bill's prevention programs.
Mr. President, I ask that a Chicago Sun-Times article on the Justice Department survey be included in the Record at this point.
The article follows: Prison, Probation Rolls Soaring: Total Hits 5.1 Million, 2.7 Percent of
All Adults
(By Alan C. Miller)
Washington.--A record 5.1 million Americans--2.7 percent of the nation's adult population--were behind bars, on probation or on parole last year, the Justice Department reported Sunday.
Since 1980, state and federal prison populations have increased by 213 percent, and probation rolls have jumped by 165 percent. The average annual rate of growth has been 7.6 percent; the figure for 1994 was 3.9 percent.
Nearly 3 million people were on probation as of last Dec. 31, a Bureau of Justice Statistics study found.
Half of those on probation were found guilty of committing a felony; one in seven had been convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol.
Another 690,000 people were on parole, or conditionally released under supervision, after serving a prison term. Parolees can be returned to prison for violating a set of rules or committing another offense. All but 5 percent had served time for felonies.
The Justice Department survey found that 82 percent of those on probation and parole had maintained regular contact with a supervising agency as required. Another 9 percent had failed to report or could not be located. The rest were not required to maintain regular contact.
Texas had the most people on probation and parole, 503,000--more than 3.8 percent of the state's adults. California followed with 370,000.
Illinois had about 103,000 people on probation and parole.
Twelve states and the federal probation system showed a decrease in the number of people on probation. The biggest decrease was in South Dakota, down 6.2 percent, followed by California, down 5.8 percent.
The figures show that a higher percentage of men and white people are on probation than are in the prison system. Women make up 21 percent of all probationers and only 6 percent of all prisoners. Blacks make up 32 percent of those on probation and 50 percent of the prison population.
Half of those in prison have committed a violent crime; 80 percent have previous convictions.
Prisons are running at 20 percent over capacity, and thus more than 4 percent of those sentenced to prison terms are being held in local jails despite considerable prison construction, forcing the early release of some inmates, said Lawrence A. Greenfeld, a deputy director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Criminal justice experts said the sharp increases reflect tougher sentencing on a range of crimes as well as a greater proportion of drug arrests involving longer prison terms.
At the same time, they said the consequent pressure to ease congestion in packed prisons and jails has led to expanded use of alternatives to incarceration or early release.
Alfred A. Blumstein, a criminologist at the Heinz School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa., said he believes the criminal justice system
``may be overextending itself'' and that increased emphasis on such programs as drug treatment and prevention may be more effective in the long run than meting out harsher sentences.
``Just by locking away more people, we do avert crimes, but at a cost,'' Blumstein said. ``We have no good estimates of how much benefit we get for . . . the cost of $25,000 per person per year in prison or jail.''
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