IS STATE PRISON BOOM COMING TO AN END?

Inmate Population Drops For First Time Since 1972

WASHINGTON -- The population of state prisons dropped for the first time in
nearly three decades during the second half of 2000, and criminologists say
it may foretell a new trend.

The downturn, reported Sunday by the Justice Department, came even though
over the course of the entire year, the number of state inmates grew, to
1,236,476 from 1,228,455, and the combined population of state and federal
prisons edged up 1.3 percent from 1999.

That contrasted, however, with the average annual growth rate of 6 percent
since 1990 and was the lowest percentage gain since 1972.

In Utah, the total number of state and federal inmates grew to 5,630 from
5,322, a 5.8 percent of growth. The number of people sentenced to more than
one year in either state or federal prison grew 7 percent to 5,526 from 5,164.

Utah had the 10th lowest rate of incarceration in 2000 with 254 inmates per
100,000 residents receiving a prison sentence of more than one year. But
Utah's prison population jumped 123.4 percent between 1990 and 2000, the
sixth highest in the nation.

The number of female inmates in Utah jumped 8.2 percent from 1999 to 2000.

The absolute increase of inmates nationwide -- 8,021 in state prisons and
10,170 in federal prisons -- was the smallest since 1980.

About 18 percent of Utah's prison population, or 1,050 inmates, was held in
local jails. Private facilities held 208 of the state's inmates while 119
inmates were held in facilities outside of Utah.

Criminologists said the slowing growth of prison populations, coupled with
the decline of 6,243 in the past six months in state prisons, could signal
the end of America's prison boom.

"Until now, the full-time business of prisons has been the growth of the
prison population," said Franklin E. Zimring, a criminal law professor at
the University of California at Berkeley. "Finally, this looks like real
stabilization. If it continues, it is a new era in law enforcement."

The decline comes after a few years of slowing growth at state prisons.
During the first six months of last year, the state prison population grew
by 14,264 inmates.

During all of last year, 13 states had substantial decreases in their state
and federal inmate populations, including Massachusetts (down 5.6 percent),
New Jersey (down 5.4 percent), New York (down 3.7 percent) and Texas (down
3.2 percent).

Allen J. Beck, a chief researcher with the Bureau of Justice Statistics in
the Justice Department, said some of the declines may have been caused by
states easing rules for parolees.

"In New Jersey and Ohio, they are less likely to revoke parole than in
prior years. New York has also become more lenient," he said.

Dan Macallair, vice president of the San Francisco-based Justice Policy
Institute, said attitudes about drug use contributed to the decline.
Communities and judges are getting tired of repeatedly sending drug
offenders to prison and are looking for alternatives, he suggested.

Racial disparities in prisons held steady, the report said.

About 10 percent of all black men between ages 25 and 29 were held in
federal or state prisons, compared with 2.9 percent of Hispanic men and 1.1
percent of white men in the same age group.