[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 27, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14427-S14428]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                    PRISON, PROBATION ROLLS SOARING

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, as we move toward consideration of 
the Senate Commerce, Justice, State appropriations bill, which 
increases funding for State prison construction by $250 million and 
allocates not one penny for crime prevention programs, it is important 
to take time to examine our current policies and consider our 
direction.
  The Justice Department recently released a survey of our Nation's 
prisons, jails, parole, and probation services. According to the 
report, a record 5.1 million Americans--2.7 percent of all adults--were 
behind bars, on probation or on parole in 1994. Last year the Justice 
Department reported that we passed the mark of having 1 million people 
in prison. That puts the United States in the dubious position of 
having the second highest incarceration rate in the industrialized 
world. As our prison population has soared, our crime rate has been 
unaffected. Before we allocate scarce resources on more prisons, it 
makes sense to consider our alternatives and consult with experts.
  Last December, I sponsored a survey of wardens and inmates in eight 
States in an effort to inform this debate. Rather than an all-or-
nothing distribution of funds, when asked how they would spend an extra 
$10 million to fight crime in their communities, wardens split the 
money evenly: 43 percent on prevention and 57 percent on punishment. 
Even the 1994 crime bill fell far short of this equation, spending 75 
percent of its funding on punishment and a mere 25 percent for 
prevention programs. This appropriations bill would further the 
imbalance by denying any funds for the crime bill's prevention 
programs.
  Mr. President, I ask that a Chicago Sun-Times article on the Justice 
Department survey be included in the Record at this point.
  The article follows:

              [From the Chicago Sun-Times, Aug. 28, 1995]

Prison, Probation Rolls Soaring: Total Hits 5.1 Million, 2.7 Percent of 
                               All Adults

                          (By Alan C. Miller)

       Washington.--A record 5.1 million Americans--2.7 percent of 
     the nation's adult population--were behind bars, on probation 
     or on parole last year, the Justice Department reported 
     Sunday.
       Since 1980, state and federal prison populations have 
     increased by 213 percent, and probation rolls have jumped by 
     165 percent. The average annual rate of growth has been 7.6 
     percent; the figure for 1994 was 3.9 percent.
       Nearly 3 million people were on probation as of last Dec. 
     31, a Bureau of Justice Statistics study found.
       Half of those on probation were found guilty of committing 
     a felony; one in seven had been convicted of driving under 
     the influence of alcohol.
       Another 690,000 people were on parole, or conditionally 
     released under supervision, after serving a prison term. 
     Parolees can be returned to prison for violating a set of 
     rules or committing another offense. All but 5 percent had 
     served time for felonies.
       The Justice Department survey found that 82 percent of 
     those on probation and parole had maintained regular contact 
     with a supervising agency as required. Another 9 percent had 
     failed to report or could not be located. The rest were not 
     required to maintain regular contact.
       Texas had the most people on probation and parole, 
     503,000--more than 3.8 percent of the state's adults. 
     California followed with 370,000.
       Illinois had about 103,000 people on probation and parole.
       Twelve states and the federal probation system showed a 
     decrease in the number of people on probation. The biggest 
     decrease was in South Dakota, down 6.2 percent, followed by 
     California, down 5.8 percent.
       The figures show that a higher percentage of men and white 
     people are on probation than are in the prison system. Women 
     make up 21 percent of all probationers and only 6 percent of 
     all prisoners. Blacks make up 32 percent of those on 
     probation and 50 percent of the prison population.
       Half of those in prison have committed a violent crime; 80 
     percent have previous convictions.
       Prisons are running at 20 percent over capacity, and thus 
     more than 4 percent of those sentenced to prison terms are 
     being held in local jails despite considerable prison 
     construction, forcing the early release of some inmates, said 
     Lawrence A. Greenfeld, a deputy director of the Bureau of 
     Justice Statistics.
       Criminal justice experts said the sharp increases reflect 
     tougher sentencing on a range of crimes as well as a greater 
     proportion of drug arrests involving longer prison terms.
       At the same time, they said the consequent pressure to ease 
     congestion in packed prisons and jails has led to expanded 
     use of alternatives to incarceration or early release.

[[Page S 14428]]

       Alfred A. Blumstein, a criminologist at the Heinz School of 
     Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University in 
     Pittsburgh, Pa., said he believes the criminal justice system 
     ``may be overextending itself'' and that increased emphasis 
     on such programs as drug treatment and prevention may be more 
     effective in the long run than meting out harsher sentences.
       ``Just by locking away more people, we do avert crimes, but 
     at a cost,'' Blumstein said. ``We have no good estimates of 
     how much benefit we get for . . . the cost of $25,000 per 
     person per year in prison or jail.''

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