By FOX BUTTERFIELD
Published: May 12, 2004
Almost 10 percent of all inmates in state and federal prisons are serving life sentences, an increase of 83 percent from 1992, according to a report released yesterday by the Sentencing Project, a prison research and advocacy group.
In two states, New York and California, almost 20 percent of inmates are serving life sentences, the report found.
The increase is not the result of a growth in crime, which actually fell 35 percent from 1992 to 2002, the report pointed out. Instead, it is the result of more punitive laws adopted by Congress and state legislatures as part of the movement to get tough on crime, the report said. ...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/12/national/12prison.html?hp>
Carl
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