Number of Inmates Spiked in 2006
By Associated Press | June 28, 2007
WASHINGTON — Prisons and jails added more than 42,000 inmates last year, the largest increase since 2000. The total number incarcerated by federal or state authorities in the year ending June 30, 2006, was roughly 1.6 million, the government said yesterday. That translated to a 2.8% increase from the previous year, due to people being put in prison at a faster rate than those released.
Overall, the number behind bars — including those held in local jails — was more than 2.2 million, according to the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Forty-two states had increases: Alaska (9.4%), Vermont (8.3%), and Georgia (8.1%). Eight had declines: Missouri (down 2.9%), and Louisiana and Maine (both 1.8%).
