BJS report: U.S. prison population declined in 2020

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A recent BJS report presents statistics on prisoners being held in state and federal prisons in the United States. The key points are as follows:

A total of 1,215,800 people were imprisoned in state and federal prisons in 2020

  • Majority (97%) were sentenced to more than one year
  • The majority (93%) of offenders were male

The majority of state prisoners were serving time for violent offenses

  • 58% of prisoners had been sentenced for violent offenses
    • 14% each for rape/sexual assault, aggravated assault, and simple assault
    • 13% for murder or negligent manslaughters
  • In 35 states, at least half of prisoners were serving time for a violent offense
    • In four states (Alaska, California, Maryland, and Massachusetts) at least two-thirds of state prisoners were sentenced for a violent crime

Federal prisoners were more likely to be serving time for drug offenses relative to state prisoners

  • Federal offenders had much smaller percentages of violent offenders (8%) than state prisoners (58%)
  • Federal prisoners had higher percentages of drug offenders (47%) when compared with state prisoners (approximately 10% or less)

The number of people held in state and federal prisons is declining

  • The number of people in prison declined 15% from 2019 to 2020 (from 1,430,200 to 1,215,800)
  • Jurisdictions found declines ranging from -7% to -31%
  • Only Alaska showed an increase (+2%) in the prison population

Prison populations of California, Texas, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons accounted for a third of the total decrease (a total of about 67,000 prisoners)

  • Largest declines occurred in California (-24 prisoners) and Pennsylvania (-14 prisoners)
  • Decrease in California is likely due to the large population size
  • Nine states had declines of at least 20%, including New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, North Dakota, Maine, New York, Hawaii, California, and Vermont

Factors possibly influencing the decline from 2019 to 2020

Takeaways

  • The use of prisons in the United States declined from 2019 to 2020
  • While California led this decline, it is likely due to their large population size relative to other states
  • State prisoners were more likely to be serving time for a violent offense while federal offenders were more likely to be serving time for drug-related offense
  • The decrease in incarceration from 2019 to 2020 also coincides with increases in violent crime rates, which makes one wonder whether the decline in the prison population is having a negative impact on public safety

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