Pew Charitable Trusts Unveils National Prison Population Projection March 13, 2007
Posted by FairSentencing in : Current News , trackbackOn Wednesday, February 14, 2007, the Public Safety Performance Project, an operating project of the Pew Charitable Trusts, unveiled a new report, Public Safety, Public Spending: Forecasting America’s Prison Population 2007 – 2011. The report offers a national prison population projection with a state-by-state assessment of prison growth over a five year period as well as the financial implications of this growth.
According to the report, state and federal prisons will grow by 13 percent to more than 192,000 prisoners over the next five years at a cost of about $27.5 billion to build and operate new facilities to accommodate this growth. Stricter sex offender laws, mandatory minimum sentences, and declining parole grants rate are identified as factors driving the increase in the prison population.
In addition to releasing the “Public Safety” report, the Public Safety Performance Project held a panel discussion to identify correctional challenges facing states and highlight innovative approaches to managing prison growth and increasing public safety. U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and State Representative Jerry Madden (R-TX) were on hand to speak at the press conference and participate in the panel discussion, respectively.
The Public Safety Performance Project helps states advance fiscally sound, data-driven policies and practices in sentencing and corrections that protect public safety, hold offenders accountable and control corrections costs. The project works closely with the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, a national project of the Council of State Governments Justice Center, and other partners to provide nonpartisan research, analysis and expertise to states.
To view the full press release, click here (pdf). For more information about Justice Reinvestment, contact Crystal Garland.
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