The Nation - News from April 24, 1989

Federal and state prisons at the end of 1988 held a record 627,402 men and women, the Justice Department said. A report by Lawrence A. Greenfeld of the Bureau of Justice Statistics said the figures demonstrate “a nationwide need for more than 800 new prison bed spaces per week.” It said prison construction expanded overall capacity by just 5.5% in 1988, while the inmate population rose 7.4%. In 1987, the number of inmates rose 7.2% from 1986. “Since 1980, 18 states, the District of Columbia and the federal system have more than doubled the number of prisoners (serving more than one year), and Alaska, California, New Hampshire and New Jersey have . . . threefold increases,” the report said.