The United States has become increasingly punitive, according to a Pew Charitable Trusts 2016 study.
“As measured by the punishment rate, the U.S. became 165 percent more punitive from 1983 to 2013,” reported the Pew study, “The Punishment Rate.”
The increase in imprisonment over a 30-year period was the result of an increase in criminal penalties, measures that sent more offenders to prison with lengthier sentences, the study indicated.
The National Research Council’s 2014 report concluded that “statutes mandating lengthy prison sentences cannot be justified on the basis of their effectiveness in preventing crime,” the study cited.
“Many experts also argue that the increase in imprisonment has reached a point of diminishing or even negative public safety returns,” the study pointed out. “At the same time, research shows that policy choices – not crime rates – drive increased imprisonment.”
The punishment rate accounts for the state’s prison population by factoring the imprisonment and crime rates to assess the relationship between crime and punishment. The punishment rate is calculated by the number of inmates sentenced to a year or more for felony offenses per 100,000 residents of a jurisdiction, the study explained.
“Analysis of punishment rates over time across jurisdictions make clear that the nation has become more punitive,” the study concluded.