Inmates

50 Percent of Prison Inmate Deaths in Northeast 
Caused by Aids 28 Percent Caused By Aids 
Nationwide During 1991

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 5 P.M. EDT
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1993
 
50 PERCENT OF PRISON INMATE DEATHS IN NORTHEAST 
CAUSED BY AIDS 28 PERCENT CAUSED BY AIDS NATIONWIDE 
DURING 1991
 
     More than half of the prison inmate deaths...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

     THE NATION'S PRISON POPULATION GREW
                ALMOST 9 PERCENT LAST YEAR

                      ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 5 P.M. EDT BJS 
                        WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9, 1995 202/307-0784

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The nation's state and federal prisons had to 
find room for 83,294 more inmates last year--the
second largest annual increase in history and just 1,470 fewer than 
the 84,764 increase recorded in 1989. The total...

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...

Comparing Federal and State Prisoners

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 5 P.M. EST                           
BJS  SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1994                            
202-307-0784

            COMPARING FEDERAL AND STATE PRISONERS

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Most federal prisoners are drug
offenders, but almost half of state prisoners are serving
time for violent crimes.  Offenders in federal prisons are
almost three times as likely as state prisoners to be
incarcerated for a drug offense, according...

THE NATION'S JAILS HOLD RECORD 490,442 INMATES

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 5 P.M. EDT                             BJS 
SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 1995                               202-307-0784

         THE NATION'S JAILS HOLD RECORD 490,442 INMATES

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The nation's local jails held a record
490,442 men and women as of last June 30, the Department of Justice
announced today.  During the 12 months preceding June 30, 1994, the...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 5 P.M. EDT           BJS
SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 1996            202/633-3047


         Almost 1.6 milllion men and women
        in the Nation's Prisons and Jails

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- There were almost 1.6 million
men and women in the nation's jails and prisons
last year, an increase of 66,843 in state prisons
and 5,216 in federal prisons from 1994, the
Department of...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EST          BJS
SUNDAY, JANUARY 19, 1997             202/633-3047

    NATION'S JAIL AND PRISON INCARCERATION RATE
         ALMOST DOUBLED DURING LAST DECADE

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The incarceration rate in
the nation's federal and state prisons and local
jails almost doubled during the last decade, the
Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics
(BJS) announced today.  However, this growth
recently slowed...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EDT           BJS
THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 1997              202/633-3047
       
       PRISON CONSTRUCTION KEEPING PACE 
           WITH POPULATION GROWTH


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- State and federal officials
built 213 new prisons--168 state and 45 federal
facilities--with more than 280,000 beds between 1990
and 1995 to keep pace with the growing prison
population, the Justice Department announced today. 
As of mid-year 1995...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


ADVANCE FOR RELEASE 
AT 4:30 P.M., EDT  BJS
SUNDAY, JUNE 22, 1997       202/633-3047


NATION'S PRISON POPULATION INCREASED 5 PERCENT LAST
YEAR


     WASHINGTON -- The nation's adult prison
population grew by 55,876 inmates last year, bringing
the total to a new record of 1,182,169 federal and
state prisoners as of last December 31, the Justice
Department reported today.  Overall, the number of...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EST         BJS
SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 1998            202/307-0784
         
NATION'S PRISONS AND JAILS HOLD MORE THAN 1.7
MILLION     Up Almost 100,000 in a Year

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As of last June 30 the
nation's prisons and jails held 1,725,842 men
and women, an increase of more than 96,100
inmates over the prior year, the Justice
Department's Bureau...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EDT     BJS
SUNDAY APRIL 26, 1998           202/307-0784
         
  HIGH LEVELS OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG DEPENDENCE
      COMMON AMONG NATION'S JAIL INMATES

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- There are high
levels of drug and alcohol dependence among
the nation's jail inmates,  according to a
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) survey of
men and women in local jails between October
1995...

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...