MORE THAN 3 PERCENT OF U.S. ADULTS INCARCERATED OR ON PAROLE, REPORT SAYS

WASHINGTON -- The number of people in the U.S. correctional system hit a
record 6.6 million -- more than 3 in every 100 adults -- last year, the
Justice Department says. The adult population either behind bars, on
probation or on parole climbed by 147,700, or 2.3 percent, between 2000 and
2001, and compared with fewer than 4.4 million adults in 1990, the
department reported Sunday.

Nearly 4 million people were on probation, 2.8 percent more than in 2000,
while 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.

There was a 1.6 percent increase of people in jails, 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 a recent trend toward fewer arrests for murder, rape and
other violent crimes. Many of those on probation were convicted of using
illegal drugs or driving while intoxicated.

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.

However, Marc Mauer, assistant director of Sentencing Project, which favors
alternatives to incarceration, said: "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."

The report said 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.

Among states, Texas had the most adults under correctional supervision,
755,100. California was second with 704,900. Texas also had the most adults
on probation, 443,684, followed by California at 350,768.

Whites accounted for 55 percent of those on probation, while blacks made up
31 percent. Among those behind bars, however, 46 percent of those
incarcerated were black and 36 percent were white.