From The Sentencing Project:
By year end 2021, the U.S. prison population had declined 25% since reaching its peak in 2009.1 Still, the 1.2 million people imprisoned in 2021 were nearly six times the prison population 50 years ago, before the prison population began its dramatic growth.2 The United States remains a world leader in incarceration, locking up its citizens at a far higher rate than any other industrialized nation.3
At the current pace of decarceration, averaging 2.3% annually since 2009, it would take 75 years—until 2098—to return to 1972’s prison population.
It is unacceptable to wait more than seven decades to substantively alter a system that violates human rights and is out of step with the world, is racially biased, and diverts resources from effective public safety investments.4 To achieve meaningful decarceration, policymakers must reduce prison admissions and scale back sentence lengths—both for those entering prisons and those already there. The growing movement to take a “second look” at unjust and excessive prison terms is a necessary first step.5 As the country grapples with an uptick in certain crimes, ending mass incarceration requires accelerating recent reforms and making effective investments in public safety. Continue reading >>>
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