Prison Population

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Prison Populations

Year by year the prison population is growing. The increase in criminals is unbelievable. Prisons are becoming full and the cost of holding a criminal behind bars is getting expensive. The money that the state pays to keep a criminal behind bars could go to a charity such as relay for life or the breast cancer foundation. One of the problems that we are going to face in the future is that people are wondering if there is going to be enough room to hold all these prisoners. Robert Longley states, “During the 12-month period ending last June 30, the local jail population increased by 34,235 inmates, the largest increase (5.4 percent) since 1997. State prisons added 12,440 inmates (a 1 percent increase) and the federal prison system grew by 8,042 (5.7 percent).”