Federal prisons were operating at 39 percent over capacity at the end of 2003, after inmate populations grew by 5.8 percent.

     A new report by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics indicates significant growth in inmate populations at a time when the crime rate is leveling off or dropping.

     The report says that state, federal and local prisons held 1.47 million inmates as of December 31, 2003 – a 2.1 percent increase over the previous December 31. State prison populations grew by 1.6 percent in that time; federal prison populations by 5.8 percent.

     Prison overcrowding was a far greater problem for federal facilities. As of December 31, 2003, state prisons were operating at as much as 16 percent above capacity. Federal prisons were operating at 39 percent above capacity. Since the end of 2000, the number of federal inmates held in private facilities grew by more than 40 percent. The number of state inmates held in private facilities dropped by 1.8 percent in the same period.

     The published report can be accessed at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/p03.htm