NCJ Number
153418
Date Published
1993
Length
105 pages
Annotation
Information contained in this compilation of statistics can be used to further understand how sentencing patterns in Illinois over the past 16 years have brought the Illinois Department of Corrections to the point where the adult inmate population is at 150 percent of capacity and 78 percent of inmates are double or multicelled.
Abstract
In 1992, the adult inmate population grew by 9 percent. During the first 4 months of 1993, another 1,100 inmates were added to the prison population. The increasing number of inmates is a direct result of public policy decisions on what type of criminal offender should be sent to prison and for how long. In addition to the implementation of determinate sentencing and Class X felonies, new Illinois laws have included mandatory prison sentences, longer and consecutive sentences for certain crimes, habitual offender sentences, and the creation and enhancement of many drug offenses. The escalation in the number and length of prison sentences has overcrowded the Illinois prison system. Only the enactment of supplemental meritorious good conduct credit, educational good time, electronic detention, and the Impact Incarceration Program have prevented prison overcrowding of crisis proportions. Detailed statistical data are provided on sentences, time served, and offenses for the years 1978 through 1992. Appendixes compare determinate and indeterminate sentencing practices in Illinois and contain definitions and data interpretation guidelines. 56 tables and 18 figures