slides: New England States With The Most Prisoners

Email to a friend Permalink

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

GoLocalWorcester News Team

While Massachusetts's prison population may have increased by 200% since 1980, the New England state of Connecticut tops the region for having the most men and women in prison, and by a margin of nearly 30 percent.

According to data from The Sentencing Project, a Washington, DC-based non-profit advocacy organization, Connecticut tops the New England states as of 2011, with 12,549 people in prison, or 350 for every 100,000 population. That's nearly 30 percent greater than New England's #2 state, Vermont, which claims 255 prisoners per 100,000.

Massachusetts ranked #3 with an overall prison population of 10,316, which equates to 206 prisoners per 100,000 population. The  New England state with the lowest incarceration rate was Maine, at 147 prisoners per 100,000.

For more on Massachusetts's prison population and to hear from experts, go here.

Largely resulting from sentencing legislation "passed by politicians who wanted to appear 'tough on crime,' there are now seven times as many people behind bars as in 1970" nationwide, according to the Project. "Prison in America has become the primary response to a host of social problems, including drug and alcohol addiction, mental illness and lack of economic opportunity."

For how every New England state ranked, as well as how their prison (and jail) populations break down by gender and juveniles, see below.  

Related Articles

• Overcoming the “School-to-Prison Pipeline”
• Protecting Your Rights in a Criminal Case
• Teaching Kids How to Avoid Wearing Prison Stripes
• When to Argue Self Defense in a Criminal Trial
• The Need for Multicultural Services to Overcome the School-to-Prison Pipeline
• GoLocalTV: Understanding the Differences Between Criminal and Civil Charges
• GoLocalTV: What to Do When Facing Criminal Charges
• Count Us In: NEADS Partners with Local Prisons to Train Assistance Dogs
• Leonardo Angiulo: Criminal Justice—What The TV Shows Leave Out
• Grace Ross: Time to Crack Down on Prison Costs
• Leonardo Angiulo: The Differences Between Criminal and Civil Cases
• NEW: Shrewsbury Food Pantry Receives Help from Prison Inmates
• Leonardo Angiulo: The Lifecycle of a Criminal Case in District Court

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

Email to a friend Permalink