Incarceration in the United States is one of the primary means of punishment for crime in the United States. In 2023, over five million people are under supervision by the criminal justice system, with nearly two million people incarcerated in state or federal prisons and local jails. The United States has the largest known prison population in the world. Prison populations grew dramatically beginning in the 1970s, but began a decline around 2009, dropping 25% by year-end 2021.
Drug offenses account for the incarceration of about 1 in 5 people in U.S. prisons. Violent offenses account for over 3 in 5 people (62%) in state prisons. Property offenses account for the incarceration of about 1 in 7 people (14%) in state prisons.
The United States maintains a higher incarceration rate than most developed countries. According to the World Prison Brief on May 7, 2023, the United States has the sixth highest incarceration rate in the world, at 531 people per 100,000. Expenses related to prison, parole, and probation operations have an annual estimated cost of around $81 billion. Court costs, bail bond fees, and prison phone fees amounted to another $38 billion in costs annually.
Since reaching its peak level of imprisonment in 2009, the U.S. has averaged a rate of decarceration of 2.3% per year. This figure includes the anomalous 14.1% drop in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. There is significant variation among state prison population declines. Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York have reduced their prison populations by over 50% since reaching their peak levels. Twenty-five states have reduced their prison populations by 25% since reaching their peaks. The federal prison population downsized 27% relative to its peak in 2011.
Although debtor's prisons no longer exist in the United States, residents of some U.S. states can still be incarcerated for debt . The Vera Institute of Justice reported in 2015 that the majority of those incarcerated in local and county jails are there for minor violations and have been jailed for longer periods of time over the past 30 years because they are unable to pay court-imposed costs.
History
In the 18th century, English philanthropists began to focus on the reform of convicted criminals in prison, whom they believed needed a chance to become morally pure in order to stop or slow crime. Since at least 1740, some of these philosophers have thought of solitary confinement as a way to create and maintain spiritually clean people in prisons. As English people immigrated to North America, so did these theories of penology.
Spanish colonizers in Florida also brought their own ideas of confinement, and Spanish soldiers in St. Augustine, Florida, built the first substantial prison in North America in 1570.
Some of the first structures built in English-settled America were jails, and by the 18th century, every English-speaking North American county had a jail. These jails served a variety of functions, such as a holding place for debtors, prisoners-of-war, and political prisoners, those bound in the penal transportation and slavery systems; and those accused but not tried for crimes. Sentences for those convicted of crimes were rarely longer than three months and often lasted only a day. Poor citizens were often imprisoned for longer than their richer neighbors, as bail was rarely refused.
One of the first prisons in America was founded in 1790 by the Pennsylvanian Quakers, to make a system they viewed as less cruel than dungeon prisons. They created a space where imprisoned people could read scriptures and repent as a means of self-improvement.
In 1841, Dorothea Dix claimed that prison conditions in the US were, in her opinion, inhumane. Imprisoned people were chained naked and whipped with rods. Others, who were criminally insane, were caged, or placed in cellars or closets. She insisted on changes throughout the rest of her life. While focusing on the insane, her comments also resulted in changes for other inmates.
Following the Civil War and during the Progressive Era of America, new concepts of the prison system, such as parole, indeterminate sentencing, and probation, were introduced. These soon became mainstream practices in America. At this time, there was an increase in crime, causing officials to handle crime in a more retributive way. Many Sicilian Americans were harshly affected by this. However, as the crime rate declined, the prison system started to focus more on rehabilitation.