Inmates

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M., EST        BJS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1997         202/307-0784

STATE AND FEDERAL PRISONERS FILED 68,235 PETITIONS
IN UNITED STATES COURTS DURING 1996

     WASHINGTON -- The rate at which state and
federal prisoners filed petitions in United States
district courts seeking release from prison or
alleging civil rights violations fell 17 percent
between 1980 and 1996, the Department's Bureau of
Justice Statistics...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 10:00 A.M. EST         BJS
TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1999            202/307-0784
    

MORE THAN THREE-QUARTERS OF PRISONERS
HAD ABUSED DRUGS IN THE PAST

     WASHINGTON, D.C.   Fifty-seven percent of
state prisoners and  45 percent of federal
prisoners surveyed in 1997 said they had used
drugs in the month before their offense--up from
50 percent and  32 percent reported in a 1991...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EDT               BJS
SUNDAY, AUGUST 2, 1998                    202/307-0784
      

       NATION'S PRISON POPULATION INCREASED
         BY MORE THAN 5 PERCENT DURING 1997

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--The nation's adult prison population
grew by 5.2 percent last year--somewhat less than the
average annual growth rate of 7 percent recorded since 1990,
the Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
announced today. The additional 61,186...

Prior Abuse Reported by Inmates and Probationers

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EDT          BJS
SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 1999               202/307-0784
         
PRISON AND JAIL INMATES REPORT HIGH RATES
OF PHYSICAL AND SEXUAL ABUSE BEFORE THEIR
CONFINEMENT

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--Almost half of the women in
the nation's jails and prisons told interviewers
they had been physically or sexually abused before
their imprisonment, the Justice...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EDT          BJS
SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 1999                202/307-0784

         MORE THAN 500,000 DRUNK DRIVERS 
       ON PROBATION OR INCARCERATED IN 1997

     WASHINGTON, D.C.   An estimated 513,200
people were under correctional supervision as a
consequence of driving while intoxicated by
alcohol (DWI) in 1997 up from 270,100 in 1986, the
Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics
(BJS) announced today...

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EDT              BJS
SUNDAY, JULY 11, 1999                     202/307-0784 
                
         
MORE THAN A QUARTER MILLION PRISON AND JAIL INMATES
ARE IDENTIFIED AS MENTALLY ILL

   WASHINGTON, D.C.   An estimated 283,800 mentally
ill offenders were held in the nation's state and
federal prisons and local jails at midyear 1998,
according to a special report released today by the
Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics...

Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 1998

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EST            BJS
SUNDAY, MARCH 14, 1999                 202/307-0784   

INCARCERATION RATE MORE THAN DOUBLES IN DOZEN YEARS

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--At midyear 1998, one in
every 150 U.S. residents was incarcerated, with an
estimated 1,802,496 men and women held in the
country's prisons and jails, the Justice
Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics...

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EDT           BJS
SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 1999               202/307-0784 


THE NATION'S PRISON POPULATION GREW BY 60,000
INMATES LAST YEAR THE LARGEST INCREASE SINCE 1995  

     WASHINGTON, D.C.   The nation's state and
federal prison population grew by almost 60,000
inmates during 1998 the states and the District of
Columbia added 49,798 prisoners and the federal
system added 10,068, the Justice Department's
Bureau of...

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EST                       BJS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1999                      202/307-0784 
revised 11/19/99
                
RATES OF HIV INFECTION AND AIDS-RELATED
DEATHS DROP AMONG THE NATION'S PRISONERS

     WASHINGTON, D.C.   The rate of human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among state and federal
prisoners dropped from 2.2 percent in 1996 to 2.1 percent in 1997,
according to a new bulletin released today by the Justice
Department's Bureau...

                                   
ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EDT                     BJS
WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 2000                         202/307-0784 
                
         

MOST JAILS THAT TEST FOR DRUGS FIND AT LEAST ONE INMATE WHO TESTS POSITIVE


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- An estimated 10 percent of the
inmates tested for drugs in local jails during June 1998
tested positive for one or more illegal drugs, the Justice
Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics announced today. 
More than...

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EDT                  BJS                 
WEDNESDAY,  APRIL 19, 2000                   202/307-0784                            

NATION'S PRISON AND JAIL POPULATION REACHES 1,860,520
       COULD REACH TWO MILLION BY LATE 2001

     WASHINGTON, D.C.   The nation's prisons and jails held
1,860,520 inmates at midyear 1999, the Justice Department's
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today.  That
was an increase of  58,333 from a year earlier, or 1,122
more inmates each...

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9,  2000                                    202/307-0784  
               
THE NATION'S PRISON POPULATION GROWTH RATE SLOWS

     WASHINGTON, D.C.   During 1999, the nation's prison population
rose at the lowest rate since 1979 and recorded the smallest absolute
increase since 1988, according to a bulletin released today by the
Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). The prison
population growth slowed to 3.4 percent last...

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EST
SUNDAY, March 25, 2001      202/307-0784

NATION'S STATE PRISON POPULATION GROWTH SLOWS -- LOWEST ANNUAL RATE INCREASE SINCE 1971

WASHINGTON, D.C. - During the year ending June 30, 2000, the nation's state prison population grew by the smallest percentage in 29 years, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. The growth in the number of prisoners...

HIV RATES IN NATION'S PRISONS REMAIN STABLE
AIDS-RELATED DEATHS AMONG PRISONERS DROP SHARPLY

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Between 1995 and 1999 the percent of the nation's prison inmates known to be infected with the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) has fluctuated between 2.3 percent and 2.1 percent, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics...

EIGHTY-NINE PERCENT OF STATE ADULT CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES PROVIDE MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR PRISONERS

WASHINGTON, D.C. - On June 30, 2000, 1,394 of the nation's 1,558 adult state correctional facilities provided some type of mental health services to their inmates, according to a new report from the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics...

NATION'S STATE PRISON POPULATION FALLS IN SECOND HALF OF 2000 -- FIRST SUCH DECLINE SINCE 1972

WASHINGTON, D.C. - During the last six months of 2000, the nation's state prison population declined by more than 6,200 inmates - the first measured decline since 1972, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)...

EIGHTEEN PERCENT OF STATE PRISONERS COMMITTED THEIR CRIMES WHILE ARMED

Nine Percent of State Prisoners Fired Their Weapons During the Offense

WASHINGTON, D.C. - About 18 percent of state prisoners and 15 percent of federal prisoners reported in 1997 that they were armed when they committed the offense for which they were...

STATE PRISON POPULATION DROPS IN SECOND HALF OF 2001
FEDERAL INMATE GROWTH CONTINUES

WASHINGTON, D.C. - During 2001, the nation's prison population rose at the lowest rate since 1972 and had the smallest absolute increase since 1979, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. Overall, the number of prisoners...