WASHINGTON (AP) -- 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, between 2000 and 2001, the Justice Department
reported. In 1990, almost 4.4 million adults were incarcerated or being
supervised. "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."

Nearly 4 million people were on probation, 2.8 percent more than in 2000,
and there was a 1 percent increase of those on parole, to 731,147.

The number of people in prison grew by 1.1 percent to 1.3 million, the
smallest annual increase in nearly three decades. The number of people in
jails increased 1.6 percent, to 631,240. 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.

The Associated Press found that Arkansas had about 36,300 incarcerated,
about 52,800 on probation.