- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The
number of Americans in jail or under supervision by authorities as a result
of crimes grew by 2.3 percent by year-end 2001 to almost 6.6 million Americans,
or one in every 32 adults, the government said on Sunday.
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- The rise in the number of people in the U.S. correctional
system was slower than the 3.6 percent average annual increase between
1995 and 2001, but the total number is a new high.
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- In all, about 3 percent of the U.S. adult population
is in the U.S. correctional system.
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- Of these, 1.3 million were in prison, while 631,240 were
in jail, the Department of Justice said. There were 3.9 million on probation
and 731,147 people on parole, according to government data.
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- Probationers are criminal offenders who have been sentenced
to a period of conditional supervision. At the end of 2001, at least one
in ten of these had absconded, the government said.
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- Parole is a period of conditional supervised release
following a prison term.
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- In the state of Idaho, one person in thirty is on probation.
New Hampshire had the lowest proportion of probationers to its general
population, at a rate of 385 per 100,000.
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- At year end 2001, one in five probationers were women,
while one in three were black, Justice said.
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