NATION'S PENAL SYSTEM ENCOMPASSES 6.6 MILLION

Texas Has Highest Number of Adults Under Supervision

WASHINGTON -- One in every 32 adults in the United States was behind
bars or on probation or parole by the end of last year, according to a
government report Sunday that found a record 6.6 million people in the
nation's correctional system.

The number of adults under supervision by the criminal justice system
rose by 147,700, or 2.3 percent, from 2000 to 2001, the Justice
Department reported.

In 1990, almost 4.4 million adults were incarcerated or being
supervised.

Texas had more adults under correctional supervision than any other
state -- 755,100. California was second with 704,900.

"The overall figures suggest that we've come to rely on the criminal
justice system as a way of responding to social problems in a way
that's unprecedented," said Marc Mauer, assistant director of the
Sentencing Project, an advocacy and research group that favors
alternatives to incarceration. "We're setting a new record every day."

More than 4 million people were on probation, 2.8 percent more than in
2000, while the number of people in prison grew by 1.1 percent to 1.3
million, the smallest annual increase in nearly three decades.

More than half of those on probation -- 53 percent -- had been
convicted of felonies, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics
report.

Experts noted the recent trend of arrests declined for murder, rape
and other violent crimes. Many of those on probation were convicted of
using illegal drugs or driving while intoxicated, the report showed.

In addition, some states have eliminated mandatory minimum sentences
for certain crimes. California's Proposition 36, passed in 2000 with
61 percent of the vote, requires treatment rather than incarceration
for nonviolent drug offenders.

Most of those drug users wind up on probation.

"The collection of reforms, from drug courts to treatment in lieu of
incarceration to sentence reforms like getting rid of mandatory
minimums and expanding community correction options, have the effect
of redirecting people from prison to probation," said Nick Turner,
director of national programs for the Vera Institute of Justice.

The nonprofit research group works with governments on criminal
justice issues.

The government report found that 46 percent of those discharged from
parole in 2001 had met the conditions of supervision, while 40 percent
went back to jail or prison for violations.

Nationwide, whites accounted for 55 percent of those on probation,
while blacks made up 31 percent, statistics show.

On the other hand, 46 percent of those incarcerated were black and 36
percent were white.