Incarceration Nation exhibit brochure

INCARCERATION NATION

All information courtesy of The Sentencing Project, Washington, D.C., sentencingproject.org

TRENDS IN U.S. CORRECTIONS

U.S. STATE AND FEDERAL PRISON POPULATION, 1925–2016 1,500,000

The United States is the world’s leader in incarceration with 2.2 million people currently in the nation’s prisons and jails — a 500% increase over the last forty years. Changes in sentencing law and policy, not changes in crime rates, explain most of this increase. These trends have resulted in prison overcrowding and fiscal burdens on states to accommodate a rapidly expanding penal system, despite increasing evidence that large-scale incarceration is not an effective means of achieving public safety.

STATE EXPENDITURES ON CORRECTIONS IN BILLIONS, 1985–2016

1,000,000

750,000

500,000 $51.4

$36.4

1,250,000

$57.7

$42.3

250,000

$26.1 2016

2012

2008

2004

2000

1996

1992

1988

1984

1980

1976

1972

1968

1964

1960

1956

1952

2016

1948

2010

1944

2005

1940

2000

1936

1995

1932

1990

Source: National Association of State Budget Officers (1985–2017). State Expenditure Report Series.

1928

$6.7 1985

1925

$16.9

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics Prisoners Series

DRUG POLICY Sentencing policies of the War on Drugs era resulted in dramatic growth in incarceration for drug offenses. Since its official beginning in the 1980s, the number of Americans incarcerated for drug offenses has skyrocketed from 40,900 in 1980 to 450,345 in 2016.

Furthermore, harsh sentencing laws such as mandatory minimums keep many people conviced of drug offenses in prison for longer periods of time: in 1986, people released after serving time for a federal drug offense had spent an average of 22 months in prison.

By 2004, people convicted on federal drug offenses were expected to serve almost three times that length: 62 months in prison.

At the federal level, people incarcerated on a drug conviction make up just under half of the prison population. At the state level, the number of people in prison for drug offenses has increased nine-fold since 1980, although it has begun declining in recent years. Most of these people are not high-level actors in the drug trade, and most have no prior criminal record for a violent offense.

186,545 172,554

160,524

NUMBER OF SENTENCED PEOPLE IN FEDERAL PRISONS FOR DRUG OFFENSES, 1980–2016

97,800

87,800

81,900

131,739

97,800

DRUG OFFENSES ALL OFFENSES

88,658

87,800

81,900

74,276 56,989 35,555

52,782

30,470

22,037 4,749

1980

9,491

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

2016

Source: Prisoners Series. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.

1079 1052 1039 970 946 900 891 877 869 859 855 853 842 833 829 779 763 756 754 734 726 725 723 698 698 691 690 679 676 641 639 635 614 596 585 583 582 581 577 568 564 510 487 483 480 468 443 439 434 413 407 390 374 373

OKLAHOMA LOUISIANA MISSISSIPPI GEORGIA ALABAMA ARKANSAS TEXAS ARIZONA KENTUCKY MISSOURI SOUTH DAKOTA TENNESSEE WYOMING FLORIDA NEW MEXICO VIRGINIA NEVADA DELAWARE SOUTH CAROLINA IDAHO MONTANA PENNSYLVANIA INDIANA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA KANSAS ALASKA WEST VIRGINIA OHIO WISCONSIN MICHIGAN NORTH CAROLINA COLORADO EL SALVADOR NORTH DAKOTA MARYLAND TURKMENISTAN OREGON CALIFORNIA NEBRASKA IOWA ILLINOIS CUBA HAWAII THAILAND WASHINGTON CONNECTICUT NEW YORK UTAH RWANDA RUSSIAN FEDERATION NEW JERSEY PANAMA COSTA RICA NEW HAMPSHIRE

GLOBAL INCARCERATION RATES This graph shows the number of people in state prisons, local jails, federal prisons, and other systems of confinement from each U.S. state per 100,000 people in that state, and the incarceration rate per 100,000 in all countries with a total population of at least 500,000.

If we view each state as an independent nation, every state appears extreme.

Twenty-three states would have the highest incarceration rate in the world — higher even than the United States.

Incarceration rate per 100,000

STATES

COUNTRIES

Source: Walmsley, R. (2018). World Prison Brief. London: Institute for Criminal Policy Research.

Massachusetts, the state with the lowest incarceration rate in the nation, would rank 11th in the world, just below Brazil and followed closely by countries like Belarus, Turkey, Iran, and South Africa.

Source: Carson, E.A. (2018).

Prisoners in 2016. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.

OTHER

13.2% HISPANIC

23.3%

WHITE

30.2% BLACK

33.4%

364 363 361 328 325 324 321 314 306 295 287 284 282 280 278 270 267 265 262 259 254 244 238 235 235 234 233 232 226 222 220 218 215 209 208 208 206 202 201 199 199 197 197 194 193 191 188 186 184 183 179 176 174 173 172

MINNESOTA MAINE RHODE ISLAND VERMONT BRAZIL MASSACHUSETTS URUGUAY BELARUS CAPE VERDE (CABO VERDE) NAMIBIA TURKEY IRAN SWAZILAND SOUTH AFRICA GUYANA TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO PERU ISRAEL MONGOLIA TAIWAN GEORGIA DOMINICAN REPUBLIC NICARAGUA AZERBAIJAN LITHUANIA BAHRAIN CHILE MOROCCO COLOMBIA ECUADOR NEW ZEALAND LATVIA MOLDOVA (REPUBLIC OF) CZECH REPUBLIC BOTSWANA HONDURAS TUNISIA ESTONIA SINGAPORE PARAGUAY POLAND JORDAN SAUDI ARABIA KAZAKHSTAN ALBANIA GABON SLOVAKIA ARGENTINA HUNGARY SURINAME MAURITIUS CAMBODIA MONTENEGRO VENEZUELA PHILIPPINES

In fact, many of the countries that rank alongside the least punitive U.S. states, such as Turkmenistan, Thailand, Rwanda, and Russia, have authoritarian governments or have recently experienced large-scale internal armed conflicts. Others struggle with violent crime on a scale far beyond that in the U.S.: El Salvador, Russia, Panama, Costa Rica, and Brazil all have murder rates more than double that of the U.S. Yet the U.S., “land of the free,” tops them all.

PEOPLE IN STATE AND FEDERAL PRISIONS,

BY RACE AND ETHNICITY IN 2016

RACIAL & GENDER DISPARITIES More than 60% of the people in prison today are people of color. Black men are six times as likely to be incarcerated as white men and Hispanic men are 2.7 times as likely. For black men in their thirties, about 1 in every 12 is in prison or jail on any given day.

Source: Bonczar, T. (2003). Prevalence of Imprisonment in the U.S. Population, 1974–2001. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.

171 167 167 167 165 158 157 156 156 155 152 150 146 145 145 141 138 138 136 131 129 129 127 126 126 126 125 122 121 121 120 119 118 117 116 115 114 114 111 106 104 102 99 96 96 94 94 94 93 93 92 90 88 88 83

KYRGYZSTAN AUSTRALIA MALAYSIA UKRAINE MEXICO FIJI KUWAIT BOLIVIA MACEDONIA ALGERIA SERBIA UZBEKISTAN ZAMBIA BHUTAN MYANMAR U.K.: ENGLAND & WALES JAMAICA U.K.: SCOTLAND GUATEMALA ARMENIA PORTUGAL UGANDA ETHIOPIA IRAQ LEBANON SPAIN BULGARIA VIETNAM CAMEROON TAJIKISTAN ZIMBABWE LAOS CHINA ROMANIA EGYPT LUXEMBOURG CANADA REPUBLIC OF SOUTH KOREA KENYA KOSOVO/KOSOVA UNITED ARAB EMIRATES FRANCE LIBYA HAITI ITALY AUSTRIA BELGIUM SRI LANKA ANGOLA GREECE LESOTHO INDONESIA AFGHANISTAN MADAGASCAR REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS

The number of women in prison has been increasing at twice the rate of growth for men since 1980. Women in prison often have significant histories of physical and sexual abuse, high rates of HIV, and substance abuse problems.

LIFETIME LIKELIHOOD OF IMPRISONMENT OF U.S. RESIDENTS BORN IN 2001

82 BURUNDI 82 SWITZERLAND 81 IRELAND 79 MALAWI 78 CROATIA 78 GERMANY 77 U.K.: NORTHERN IRELAND 76 SENEGAL 74 NORWAY 73 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: FEDERATION 73 SOLOMON ISLANDS 68 BENIN 66 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: REPUBLIKA SRPSKA 66 COTE D’IVOIRE 66 DJIBOUTI 65 MOZAMBIQUE 65 NEPAL 64 SIERRA LEONE 64 SLOVENIA 63 EQUATORIAL GUINEA 63 PAPUA NEW GUINEA 62 TOGO 60 SYRIA 59 CHAD 59 DENMARK 59 NETHERLANDS 58 GAMBIA 58 TANZANIA 57 FINLAND 57 SWEDEN 53 NIGER 53 QATAR 53 YEMEN 52 SOUTH SUDAN 51 TIMOR-LESTE 49 GHANA 48 BANGLADESH 46 MAURITANIA 46 SUDAN 45 JAPAN 44 LIBERIA 44 PAKISTAN 41 BURKINA FASO 36 NIGERIA 36 OMAN 33 INDIA 33 MALI 29 DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO 27 REPUBLIC OF CONGO 25 GUINEA 19 COMOROS 16 CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 10 GUINEA BISSAU

1 IN 9 ALL MEN

1 IN 17 WHITE MEN

1 IN 3

BLACK MEN

1 IN 6

LATINO MEN

1 IN 56

ALL WOMEN

1 IN 111

WHITE WOMEN

1 IN 18

BLACK WOMEN

1 IN 45

LATINO WOMEN

In conjunction with ReflectSpace exhibition Incarceration Nation: The US Prison Industrial Complex December 14, 2018–February 10, 2019 Curated by Ara and Anahid Oshagan

222 East Harvard Street, Glendale 91205