Public Safety, Public Spending: Forecasting America's Prison Population 2007–2011

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Projects: Public Safety Performance
Public Safety, Public Spending: Forecasting America's Prison Population 2007–2011

This 2007 brief was the first known attempt to determine the future growth of the nation's state and federal prison systems as a whole, along with the projected cost of that growth.

Its findings show that America's prison population will continue its extraordinary growth in the coming years, with more than 192,000 prisoners added by 2011. This growth will carry a heavy fiscal burden, estimated at up to $12.5 billion in new prison construction and $15 billion in operations costs.

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