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Fact check: Does Louisiana have twice as many people in jail as other states?

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June 12, 2017
By Sara Reynolds

Louisiana lawmakers have passed a package of bills to reduce criminal sentences, including removing mandatory minimums under some circumstances, expanding parole options, and providing alternatives to prison for nonviolent offenders.[1] According to Louisiana State Senator Danny Martiny, “We don’t have twice as many criminals as everybody else. We just have twice as many people in jail as everybody else.”[2]

Is Sen. Martiny correct? Does Louisiana have twice as many people in jail as everybody else?

Louisiana has the highest overall incarceration rate (779 per 100,000) based on the latest data available, but that rate isn’t twice as much as all other states. Louisiana also led the nation in the rate of inmates incarcerated for nonviolent crimes in 2012.[3][4][5]

Background

Ten bills proposing changes to Louisiana's criminal justice system were recently passed in the Louisiana State Legislature, where they received bipartisan support.[6] The bills reduce sentencing and probation periods, in some cases removing mandatory minimums; lessen the financial burden of offenders by suspending child care payments during incarceration and providing alternatives to restitution payments upon release; eliminate restrictions on food stamp eligibility for drug offenders and on occupational license issuance for all offenders; and allow crime victims to request conditions upon release or parole of an offender.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]

One bill, House Bill 489, requires the state Department of Public Safety and Corrections to allocate "savings realized as a result of criminal justice reforms" to victims services, grants to reduce the state prison population, rehabilitation programs, and more.[16] The bills are expected to save $262 million over the next 10 years.[17]

The reforms, if approved by the governor, would primarily affect nonviolent offenders, although one bill—SB 139—would increase the rate at which some first-time violent offenders accrue credit for good behavior and expand parole options for violent offenders.[18][8]

Louisiana led the nation in the incarceration rate of nonviolent offenders at 495 per 100,000 population in 2012, the latest year for such data. Massachusetts incarcerated nonviolent offenders at the lowest rate, 48 per 100,000 population.[19][20]


Five highest incarceration rates for nonviolent offenders by state, year-end 2012
State Rate per 100,000 population
Louisiana 495
Mississippi 418
Oklahoma 384
Delaware 376
Arizona 354

Sources: United States Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, "National Corrections Reporting Program, 1991-2014: Selected Variables," accessed May 31, 2017 United States Census Bureau State Population Totals Tables: 2010-2016, "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2016," accessed May 31, 2017


The bills are expected to reduce the state's prison population by 10 percent over the next decade.[18] As of March 2017, Louisiana's total prison population was 35,768, including those housed in state institutions, local jails, and transitional work program facilities. The population is 67 percent black and 33 percent white. 94.2 percent of the prison population is male and the average inmate age is 36.8 years old. The average sentence length of the current population of inmates is 16 years.[21]

Sen. Martiny (R-District 10) has served in the Louisiana State Senate since 2007 and, before that, in the Louisiana House of Representatives (1994 to 2007).[22] He is the author of Senate Bill 139. It passed 74 to 31 in the House and 20 to 13 in the Senate and was sent to the governor for signing.[23]

Louisiana incarceration rate

In 2015, the most recent year with available data, Louisiana's incarceration rate was 779 inmates per 100,000 population, the highest in the country. Massachusetts had the lowest rate, at 146 inmates per 100,000 population. Relative to the state’s population, Louisiana prisons held twice as many inmates as 24 other states.[3]


Five highest overall incarceration rates by state, year-end 2015
State Rate per 100,000 population
Louisiana 779
Oklahoma 730
Alaska 723
Delaware 703
Alabama 634

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, "Corrections Statistical Analysis Tool (CSAT) - Prisoners: Custom Tables, Imprisonment rates of total jurisdiction population," accessed May 24, 2017


Conclusion

Louisiana recently passed 10 bills to reduce criminal sentences, expand parole options, and provide alternatives to prison for nonviolent offenders. State Senator Danny Martiny claimed, “We don’t have twice as many criminals as everybody else. We just have twice as many people in jail as everybody else.”[2]

Louisiana's incarceration rate of 779 inmates per 100,000 population is the highest nationwide—although not “twice as many ... as everybody else,” as Martiny claimed.[2][3]

See also

Sources and Notes

  1. ↑ The Advocate, "Criminal justice bills advance, state Senate is next stop," June 3, 2017
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Gambit, "Getting smart on crime: Criminal justice reform bills in the legislature," April 28, 2017
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Bureau of Justice Statistics, "Corrections Statistical Analysis Tool (CSAT) - Prisoners: Custom Tables, Imprisonment rates of total jurisdiction population," accessed May 24, 2017
  4. ↑ United States Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, "National Corrections Reporting Program, 1991-2014: Selected Variables," accessed May 31, 2017
  5. ↑ United States Census Bureau State Population Totals Tables: 2010-2016, "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2016," accessed May 31, 2017
  6. ↑ House Bills 116, 519, 249, 489, 680 and 681 and Senate Bills 139, 220, and 221 have been sent to the governor for approval. Senate Bill 16 has passed the Louisiana State Legislature but has not yet been sent to the governor. Louisiana State Legislature, "Bill search for the 2017 regular session," accessed June 7, 2017
  7. ↑ Louisiana State Legislature, "Digest: SB 220 Reengrossed," accessed June 7, 2017
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Louisiana State Legislature, "Digest: SB 139 Reengrossed," accessed June 7, 2017
  9. ↑ Louisiana State Legislature, "Digest: SB 221 Reengrossed," accessed June 7, 2017
  10. ↑ Louisiana State Legislature, "Digest: HB 680 Reengrossed," accessed June 7, 2017
  11. ↑ Louisiana State Legislature, "Digest: HB 116 Reengrossed," accessed June 7, 2017
  12. ↑ Louisiana State Legislature, "Digest: HB 249 Reengrossed," accessed June 7, 2017
  13. ↑ Louisiana State Legislature, "Digest: HB 681 Reengrossed," accessed June 7, 2017
  14. ↑ Louisiana State Legislature, "Digest: HB 519 Reengrossed," accessed June 7, 2017
  15. ↑ Louisiana State Legislature, "SB16 by Senator Dan Claitor," accessed June 7, 2017
  16. ↑ Louisiana State Legislature, "Digest: HB 489 Engrossed," accessed June 7, 2017
  17. ↑ Louisiana Office of the Governor, "Gov. Edwards' Statement on Passage of Criminal Justice Reform Agenda Measures," May 31, 2017
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 The Wall Street Journal, "Change and Culture Collide in America’s Prison Capital," May 25, 2017
  19. ↑ The Bureau of Justice Statistics archives criminal justice statistics in the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, which provides data from 1991 to 2014. Statistics for Hawaii were not included in the National Corrections Reporting Program data for year-end 2012. Statistics are also estimated to overrate the prison population of states because they include individuals housed in one state, i.e. Louisiana, but under the authority of another state.
  20. ↑ Verbatim calculated the rate using statistics from the United States Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, "National Corrections Reporting Program, 1991-2014: Selected Variables," accessed May 31, 2017 and population estimates from the United States Census Bureau State Population Totals Tables: 2010-2016, "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2016," accessed May 31, 2017
  21. ↑ Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, "Briefing Book: Demographics," March 31, 2017
  22. ↑ Ballotpedia, "Daniel Martiny," accessed May 29, 2017
  23. ↑ Louisiana State Legislature, "SB139 by Senator Danny Martiny," accessed May 29, 2017
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