By Frank Green
Published: April 1, 2009

A new study shows that the nation's rate of prison population growth slowed by half -- from 1.6 to 0.8 percent -- in the first six months of last year compared with the same period in 2007.

But in Virginia the growth in prison population dipped only slightly, from 3.1 percent to 3 percent, according to a report released yesterday by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Sixteen states actually saw a drop in prison population from the end of 2007 to last June 30.

Nationally, as of midyear 2008, there were more than 1.6 million state and federal prison inmates.

The report also found that the number of local jail inmates in the U.S. increased by 0.7 percent -- to more than 785,000 -- in the year that ended last June 30. That was the slowest growth in 27 years.

An analysis of the BJS figures by The Sentencing Project found wide variation in prison growth among states from 2000 through 2008, ranging from almost 60 percent in Minnesota to drops in two states -- 12 and 11 percent in New York and New Jersey, respectively.

Virginia's prison system grew by 32.3 percent during that period, according to The Sentencing Project, a national nonprofit that advocates for alternatives to incarceration when appropriate.

"It's an unsustainable trend," said Gordon Hickey, spokesman for Gov. Timothy M. Kaine. Hickey noted that Kaine tried to "stem the tide" during this year's General Assembly session with proposals to let some nonviolent offenders out slightly earlier and to curb the return to prison of some parole violators.

However, both proposals failed. Instead, the legislators directed the secretary of public safety's office, the Virginia Supreme Court and others to form a task force to look at alternative punishments for nonviolent, lower-risk offenders, Hickey said.

Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., last week introduced the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009, which would create a commission to study and recommend changes to the justice system where needed.

His press secretary, Kimberly Hunter, said that "while the data shows that U.S. prison populations are slowing, the bottom line is that the total number of people in prison is growing.

"With 5 percent of the world's population and 25 percent of the world's prison population, now is the time to examine all aspects of the system from drug and sentencing policies to re-entry programs in order to address this pressing national issue," she said.

Marc Mauer, executive director of The Sentencing Project, said one reason for the slowing down of inmate population growth is money.

"The rapid rise in prison populations over the past two decades has now collided with the fiscal crises," Mauer said. That has led to bipartisan support for changes in sentencing polices in many states, he added.

According to The Sentencing Project, state spending on corrections since 1990 has grown by an average of 7.5 percent a year, and in 2008, in an effort to better control spending, 17 states enacted changes in the areas of sentencing, drug policy and parole revocation.

But Mauer says efforts to curb spending are undercut as more people face prison for a broader range of offenses and that they are staying behind bars longer than at any point in history.

A recent study by The Pew Center on the States found that one in every 46 adult Virginians is in prison, jail or on probation or parole and that the state's corrections costs were $1.25 billion, or 7.6 percent of the state's general-fund spending for the year that ended last June.

However, even with the rapid growth since 2000, the Pew study found that Virginia ranks just 41st among states in the number of adults under correctional control -- the national average is one in 31.
 

Contact Frank Green at (804) 649-6340 or fgreen@timesdispatch.com
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