More People in Jail & Prison. A Librarian at the Kitchen Table. No. 358.

Overall, 738 people were locked up for every 100,000 residents, compared with a rate of 725 at mid-2004. The states with the highest rates were Louisiana and Georgia, with more than 1 percent of their populations in prison or jail. Rounding out the top five were Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma.

U.S. Bureau of Justics
Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2005

Highlights include the following:

* From midyear 2004 to midyear 2005, the number of inmates in custody in local jails rose by 33,539; in State prison by 15,858; and Federal prison by 6,584.
* On June 30, 2005, a total of 2,266 State prisoners were under age 18. Adult jails held a total of 6,759 persons under age 18.
* An estimated 12% of black males, 3.7% of Hispanic males, and 1.7% of white males in their late twenties were in prison or jail.

See Also:
War and the Family and the Cost of Prisons: A Librarian at Every Table. No. 319.

I Thought I was Seeing Convicts/ Ich glaubte Gefangene zu sehen