The Sentencing Project Releases New Prison Population Analysis

Following a nearly 700% increase between 1972 and 2009, the U.S. prison population declined just 11% since reaching its peak level in 2009. If we continue at this recent pace of decline, it will take 57 years—until 2078—to cut the prison population in half.

The Sentencing Project released a new report Can We Wait 60 Years to Cut the Prison Population in Half? which contains analysis that underscores the need to reduce unnecessarily high levels of imprisonment amidst a public health crisis and going forward. Meaningful decarceration, as explained in the report, requires reducing excessive prison terms for violent convictions.