U.S. Prison Population in Decline for First Time in Decades

Thanks to a falling crime rate and the tightening of law enforcement budgets, the number of people in U.S. prisons could decline in 2009 for the first time in almost four decades, the Associated Press reports. The American crime rate has risen steadily every year since 1972, but the 0.8 percent increase in inmate population in 2009 is the smallest annual increase of the decade. During the 1990s, inmate population grew by 6.5 percent each year.

The decline in prison population is largely the result of the harsh economic climate, which has states re-evaluating how many prisoners they're willing to hold and for how long. In Texas, parole rates have doubled from 15 to 30 percent. Mississippi reconsidered a law that forced inmates to serve 85 percent of their prison sentences, and they now are required to serve only 25 percent. California is under court order to release 40,000 inmates, as its prisons are so overcrowded they have become unconstitutional.