NATION IN BRIEF : NATIONWIDE : 2.8% of Americans in Penal System in 1995

Almost three out of every 100 American adults were in prison or on probation or parole in 1995, according to a Justice Department study. The Bureau of Justice Statistics said 3 million people were on probation at the end of the year, up 4%; 700,000 on parole, up 1%; and nearly 1.6 million in federal, state and local lockups, up 6%. That total of 5.3 million people was 2.8% of U.S. adults. The department said that since 1980 the total number under correctional supervision had almost tripled, from 1.84 million to 5.36 million, with an average annual growth rate of 7.4%.