Sentencing

Survey of Inmate Characteristics

 
ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 5 P.M. EDT
WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 1990                         BJS                           

202-307-0784
 
     An estimated 16 percent of prison inmates were armed with
a gun when they committed the offense for which they were
serving time, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced
today.  About half of the armed inmates (or about 8 percent of
all prisoners) said they had fired...

State Courts Convicted Almost 900,000 Felons During 1992

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 5 P.M. EST                            BJS
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 1995                           202-307-0784

STATE COURTS CONVICTED ALMOST 900,000 FELONS DURING 1992

    WASHINGTON, D.C. -- State courts throughout the U.S. convicted
almost 900,000 felons during 1992, the Department of Justice announced
today.  One-third of the convictions were for drug offenses.

    The volume of felony...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EST         BJS
SUNDAY, JANUARY 12, 1997            202/633-3047

ALMOST A THIRD OF ALL CONVICTED STATE FELONS
    WERE SENTENCED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING 
               OR POSSESSION

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Drug offenders made up
almost a third of the 872,200 felons convicted in
state courts during 1994, the Justice Department
announced today.  Property crimes accounted for
another third and violent...

Truth in Sentencing in State Prisons

U.S.DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EST         BJS 
SUNDAY, JANUARY 10, 1999            202/307-0784
         
STATE SENTENCING LAW CHANGES LINKED TO
INCREASING TIME SERVED IN STATE PRISONS  

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--As the states continue to
enact restrictions on the possibility of
early release, prisoners, especially violent
offenders, are spending more time behind bars, the
Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics...

NUMBER OF DEATH ROW INMATES DECLINED FOR THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR DURING 2003

WASHINGTON - There were 3,374 state and federal death row inmates on December 31, 2003, which was 188 fewer than a year earlier, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics...