March 11, 2008 - No. 38 -
Supplement
Incarceration Rates in Canada and U.S.
Canada's incarceration rate of 129 per 100,000 is among
the highest of
the so-called western democracies. Worldwide, the United States has the
highest rate of 769 per 100,000 (total population), while Scotland is
119, Germany is 96, France is 88, Austria is
86 and Norway is 57.
In Canada, a very large proportion of women in prison
are
incarcerated because of being criminalized for acts undertaken in
self-defence.
Approximately 48 per cent of Canada's federal detainees
and
83 per cent of provincial detainees are imprisoned for non-violent
crimes. One fifth of those in provincial prisons are incarcerated
because of non-payment of fines.
Both Canada and the U.S. detain hundreds of refugees and
immigrants, including minors, in prisons and detention centres simply
because they do not have proper identification. This situation has
gotten worse since September 11, 2001 because of increased racial
profiling by police and security agencies in the name of increased
security. In Canada, from 2002-2003, there was a
rise of close to 20 per cent of immigrants and refugees being
incarcerated.
Conditions in Canadian prisons are also deteriorating.
Placing
two inmates in one cell that was originally meant for one prisoner was
introduced as a temporary measure in 1984. Today, 25 per cent of
prisoners share these conditions, and this could soon reach 30 per cent.
TML is posting
below items concerning the rates of incarceration in Canada and the U.S.
***
Canada
Prison Facts and Statistics for 2004-2005
- www.prisonjustice.ca -
Stats are all 2004/5, unless stated otherwise. Updated
July 2007.
Incarceration Rates
* (Canada-wide) 129 per 100,000 adult population.
* (BC only) 66 per 100,000 adult population.
* While the incarceration rate is dropping, the number
of Aboriginal prisoners and women in prison continues to increase.
* The largest increase in the provincial prisoner
population has been adults on remand awaiting trial.
On any Given Day in Canada during 2004-2005...
* An average of 152 600 individuals were under the
supervision of Correctional Service Agencies in Canada, a slight
decline of 1% from 2003/2004.
* There were approximately 32 100 adults prisoners in
custody and 120,500 under supervision in the community. These totals
include both federal and provincial prisoners.
Deaths in the Criminal Justice System For 2004/05:
* 184 prisoners died while under the supervision of the
criminal justice system.
* Of the 132 federal prisoners who died, 49 of those
deaths were in custody and 83 were out of custody.
* 48 of the 52 provincial prisoner deaths were in
custody.
* While the suicide rate amongst the prisoner population
continues to be higher than what you would find in the community, more
prisoners are dying from health related causes.
For 2003/04:
* 181 prisoners died while under the supervision of the
criminal justice system.
* Of the 142 federal prisoners who died, 67 of those
deaths were in custody and 75 were out of custody.
* 36 of the 39 provincial prisoner deaths were in
custody.
'Out of custody deaths' are deaths attributed to
prisoners who are serving out the remainder of their sentence in the
community, whether it's on day parole, full parole, statutory release
or "compassionate release".
Number of Prisons in Canada
* In 2004/2005, there were 190 prisons and jails across
Canada, of which 76 were under federal jurisdiction and 114 were under
provincial/territorial jurisdiction (of these 114, only 16 are minimum
security).
Costs of Incarceration
* Correctional services expenditures totalled $2.8
billion in 2004/2005, up 2% in constant dollars from 2003/2004.
Custodial services (prisons) accounted for the largest proportion (71%)
of the expenditures, followed by community supervision services (14%),
headquarters
and central services (14%), and National Parole Board and provincial
parole boards (2%). This figure does not include policing or court
costs which bring the total expenditures up to more than $10 billion
for the year.
* Cost of incarcerating a Federal prisoner: $259.05 per
prisoner/per day
* Cost of incarcerating a Federal female prisoner:
$150,000-$250,000 per prisoner/per year
* Cost of incarcerating a
Federal male prisoner: $87,665 per prisoner/per year
* Cost of
incarcerating a provincial prisoner: $141.78: per
prisoner/per day
* The cost of alternatives such as probation, bail
supervision and community supervision range from $5-$25/day.
Prisoners' Wages
* In 1981, the daily wage rate for a federal prisoner
was $7.55 and a canteen basket cost $8.49.
* In 2007, the daily wage rate for a federal prisoner is
$6.90 and that same canteen basket now costs $61.59.
Conditional Sentencing
* Conditional sentencing was introduced in 1996 to
provide judges with the option of allowing eligible provincial and
territorial adults, sentenced to a jail term of less than two years, to
serve their sentence in the community with conditions.
Remand Rates (2004-5)
Includes persons awaiting trial, who have not been
convicted of a crime.
* Non-sentenced custody counts (e.g. remand and other
temporary detention) represented half of all provincial/territorial
custodial counts, equivalent to the proportion of prisoners in
sentenced custody.
* Approximately 9,600 adults were held in remand
awaiting trial or sentencing on any given day, an increase of 5% from
2003/2004.
* On any given day BC had 900 prisoners on remand.
* The use of remand has increased 83%, from 5,300 to
9,600 adults, over the last decade (since 1995/96).
Custody Rates (2004-5)
People who have been convicted of a crime and are
serving time in custody (i.e. in a prison or jail).
* The number of federal prisoners in sentenced custody
on any given day declined over the past decade (since 1995/96) by 13%,
from 14,100 to 12,300.
* The number of prisoners in provincial/territorial
sentenced custody has declined by 31% over the past decade, from 14,200
to 9,800.
* Provincial prisoners (Canada-wide) in non-sentenced
custody (remand) out number those prisoners sentenced to a term of
imprisonment.
Aboriginal Adults (2004-2005)
* 3% of the total canadian adult population - (2001
Census)
* 22% of admissions to provincial/territorial sentenced custody
* 17% of admissions to federal prisons
* 21% of male prisoner
population
* 30% of female prisoner population
* In Saskatchewan, Aboriginal adults are incarcerated at
35 times the rate of non-aboriginals, where they make up 77% of the
total prisoner population (10% of outside population)
* In the Yukon --
Aboriginal adults make up 74% of the total prisoner population (20% of
outside population)
* In Manitoba
-- Aboriginal adults make up 70% of the total prisoner population (11%
of outside population)
* In Alberta -- Aboriginal adults make up 38% of
the total prisoner population (4% of outside population)
* In Ontario
-- Aboriginal adults make up 9% of the total prisoner population (1% of
outside population)
* In British
Columbia -- Aboriginal adults make up 20% of the total prisoner
population (10% of outside population)
Aboriginal Women (2004-2005)
* Aboriginal women make up 30% of the female prisoner
population
* In Saskatchewan, Aboriginal women account for 87% of all
female admissions
* In Manitoba and the Yukon, Aboriginal women account
for 83% of all female admissions
* In Alberta, Aboriginal
women account for 54% of all female admissions
* In British Columbia,
Aboriginal women account for 29% of all female admissions
These high rates of imprisonment remain despite changes
made by parliament to the sentencing provisions of the criminal code.
These changes to the criminal code were designed to address the issue
of overrepresentation of First Nations within the sentenced prison
population. s.718.2(e) of the criminal
code provides that "all available sanctions other than imprisonment
that are reasonable in the circumstances should be considered for all
offenders, with particular attention to the circumstances of Aboriginal
offenders."
Aboriginal Youth (2001-2002)
* 5% of the total canadian adult population - (1996
Census).
* 25% of youth held on remand
* 22% of total youth prisoner population
* 17% of probation admissions
Female Aboriginal Youth
* 32% of remand prisoner population
* 25% of youth in prison
Male Aboriginal Youth
* 23% of remand prisoner population
* 21% of youth in prison
Women (2004-5)
* Provincial: 10% of all admissions to custody were
female.
* Federal: 5% of all admissions to custody were female.
* Remand: 11% of all admissions to custody were female.
Youth (12-17 Years of Age)
* There were about 39,000 admissions to youth custody
and community correctional services (2004/2005, not all provinces
reported).
* Youth make up 8% of Canada's total population. Youth
represented 21% of all persons charged by police in 1999 and 21% of
these charges were against females.
* In 2004/5, about 450 young people on average were on
deferred custody and supervision - Deferred custody and supervision
allows a young person to serve a custody sentence in the community
under a number of strict conditions and is comparable to conditional
sentence for adults. Any breach of
conditions may result in the young person being sent to custody.
* The average number of young people held on remand
while awaiting trial or sentencing about 800 on any given day in 2004/5.
* On any given day in 2004/5, there were about 800 youth
in remand (awaiting trial or sentencing), 700 in secure custody, and
600 in open custody (residential centres/group homes).
* On any given day in 2003/4, there were 470 youth in
remand, 750 in secure custody, and 620 in open custody (residential
centres/group homes).
* The incarceration rate in 2004-5 was 83 per 100 000
youth population, 2003-2004 was 82 per 100 000.
* In 2004/5 about 21,200 young people were on probation.
* in 2004/5 the probation rate was 837 per 100,000 youth
population.
* The YCJA (Youth Criminal Justice Act)
gives the courts the discretion to impose
adult sentences on youth and has extended the group of youth who can
receive adult sentences to include 14 and 15 year olds.
* Property crimes accounted for the largest portion of
charges against youth. 2/3 of these charges resulted in conviction.
* 23,215 youth were sentenced to a term of imprisonment
in 1999.
Prisoners' Age (2004-5)
* Since 1993 there has been a 60% increase in the number
of prisoners over 50 years of age and an 87% increase in the number of
prisoners over the age of 65.
* At any given time (2004/5) there were approximately
400 federal prisoners aged 20 or younger. 28% of these prisoners are
aboriginal.
***
United States
More than 1 in 100 Adults in Prison
According to a new report from the Pew Center on the
States, for the first time in the nation's history, more than one in
100 American adults are behind bars.
Nationwide, the U.S. prison population grew by 25,000
last year, bringing it to almost 1.6 million. Three decades of growth
has seen the prison population nearly triple. Yet another 723,000
people are detained in local jails.
The number of American adults is about 230 million,
meaning that one in every 99.1 adults is behind bars, or 1009 adults
per 100,000 adults.
Incarceration rates are even higher for some groups.
One in 36 adult Hispanic men is behind bars, based on Justice
Department figures for 2006. One in 15 adult black men is, too, as is
one in nine black men ages 20 to 34.
The report also found that one in 355 white women ages
35 to 39 is behind bars, compared with one in 100 black women.
The report's methodology differed from that used by the
Justice Department, which calculates the incarceration rate by using
the total population rather than the adult population as the
denominator. Using the department's methodology, about one in 130
Americans is behind bars.
The increase in the number of prisoners over the last
18 months, the Pew report says, pushed the national adult incarceration
rate to just over one in 100.
"We aren't really getting the return in public safety
from this level of incarceration," said Susan Urahn, the Center's
managing director.
One commentator, Paul Cassell, a law professor at the
University of Utah and a former federal judge, attempted to look at the
situation as the glass being half-full, saying the report overlooked
the "very tangible benefits" of the massive level of incarceration:
lower crime rates. Notably, Cassell does
not first establish what the actual crimes committed are and their
causes. According to circular logic, Cassell says criminals cause
crime, therefore more criminals in jail means fewer on the streets and
that means lower crime rates.
"While we certainly want to be smart about who we put
into prisons," Professor Cassell said, "it would be a mistake to think
that we can release any significant number of prisoners without
increasing crime rates. One out of every 100 adults is behind bars
because one out of every 100 adults has committed
a serious criminal offense."
In the past 20 years, according the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, rates of violent crimes fell by 25 percent, to 464 per
100,000 people in 2007 from 612.5 in 1987.
In terms of absolute numbers, the United States
imprisons more people than any other nation in the world. China is
second, with 1.5 million people behind bars, but its population is
nearly 4.5 times larger than the U.S., meaning its rate of
incarceration is much lower.
Urahn also pointed out the tremendous financial cost of
the massive U.S. prison population, saying the U.S. cannot afford the
incarceration rate documented in the report.
"We tend to be a country in which incarceration is an
easy response to crime," she said. "Being tough on crime is an easy
position to take, particularly if you have the money. And we did have
the money in the '80s and '90s."
Now, with fewer resources available, the report said,
"prison costs are blowing a hole in state budgets."
On average, states spend almost 7 percent of their
budgets on corrections, trailing only health care, education and
transportation.
In 2007, according to the National Association of State
Budget Officers, states spent $44 billion in tax dollars on
corrections. That is up from $10.6 billion in 1987, a 127 percent
increase when adjusted for inflation. With money from bonds and the
federal government included, total state spending
on corrections last year was $49 billion. By 2011, the Pew report said,
states are on track to spend an additional $25 billion.
It cost an average of $23,876 dollars to imprison
someone in 2005, the most recent year for which data were available.
But state spending varies widely, from $45,000 a year in Rhode Island
to $13,000 in Louisiana.
"Getting tough on crime has gotten tough on taxpayers,"
said Adam Gelb, the director of the public safety performance project
at the Pew center. "They don't want to spend $23,000 on a prison cell
for a minor violation any more than they want a bridge to nowhere."
The cost of medical care is growing by 10 percent
annually, the report said, and will accelerate as the prison population
ages.
About one in nine state government employees works in
corrections, and some states are finding it hard to fill those jobs.
California spent more than $500 million on overtime alone in 2006.
The number of prisoners in California dropped by 4,000
last year, making Texas' prison system the nation's largest, at about
172,000. But the Texas Legislature last year approved broad changes to
the state's corrections system, including expansions of drug treatment
programs and drug courts and revisions
to parole practices.
"Our violent offenders, we lock them up for a very long
time — rapists, murderers, child molesters," said State Senator John
Whitmire, Democrat of Houston and the chairman of the Senate's Criminal
Justice Committee. "The problem was that we weren't smart about
nonviolent offenders. The Legislature
finally caught up with the public."
Whitmire gave an example.
"We have 5,500 DWI [driving-while-intoxicated]
offenders in prison," he said,
including people caught driving under the influence who had not been in
an accident. "They're in the general population. As serious as drinking
and driving is, we should segregate them and give them treatment."
The Pew report recommended diverting nonviolent
offenders away from prison and using punishments short of
reincarceration for minor or technical violations of probation or
parole. It also urged states to consider earlier release of some
prisoners.
Before the recent changes in Texas, Whitmire said, "we
were recycling nonviolent offenders."
In related news, a U.S. delegation appeared before the
UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on February
21. The U.S. was making its first appearance before the committee since
2001. The 18-member panel of independent experts, who are volunteers,
periodically review the performance
of countries that have signed the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Greek lawyer Linos-Alexander Sicilianos, led the
questioning, pointing out the overwhelming evidence of police brutality
against African-Americans, Arabs and Muslims, Hispanics and other
minority groups.
"You need to intensify your efforts at all levels to
combat this very alarming phenomenon," Sicilianos told the U.S.
delegation.
Responding to a delegation member who said U.S. law
prohibits the use of excessive force by any law enforcement officer
against any individual in the U.S. Sicilianos said he was pleased that
the United States was committed to protect the rights of foreigners
regardless of their immigration status,
but there were numerous failures in living up to these commitments.
"Especially since 9/11, immigrants and refugee
communities in the United States have been subjected ... to a range of
systematic human rights violations directed by the federal government,
local county and state governments, law enforcement agents, employers
and private actors," Sicilianos said. His
comments reflected evidence submitted by a large coalition of American
human rights groups to the committee.
Several other experts on the panel said people of
colour suffer from racial profiling -- being stopped, searched and
arrested by police much more than whites are.
"Especially Muslims are suffering from this, and
measures are necessary to prevent this from continuing," said Kokou
Mawuena Ika Kana Ewomsan, a human rights expert from Togo.
On March 7, the UN committee filed its report reviewing
U.S. performance in meeting its committments to fulfill the
requirements of the convention. Amongst other things, the committee
called on the U.S. to impose a moratorium on the death penalty and stop
sentencing young offenders to life in
prison until it can root out racial bias from its justice system. The
committee expressed concern that racial minorities in the United States
were more likely to be sentenced to death, or to life without parole as
juveniles, than whites.
They recommended that the United States "discontinue the
use of life sentence without parole against persons under the age of 18
at the time the offence was committed, and review the situation of
persons already serving such sentences."
Their report also urged Washington to "adopt all
necessary measures, including a moratorium, to ensure that the death
penalty is not imposed as a result of racial bias on the part of
prosecutors, judges, juries and lawyers."
In regards to racial profiling, the committee said that
U.S. efforts to prevent terrorist attacks threatened to worsen
discrimination.
"Measures taken in the fight against terrorism must not
discriminate, in purpose or effect, on the grounds of race, color, or
national or ethnic origin," it said.
Detainees, many of whom are held at the Guantanamo Bay
U.S. military base in Cuba, must be accorded basic human rights and
legal protections, the body said.
"The committee further requests (the United States) to
ensure that non-citizens detained or arrested in the fight against
terrorism are effectively protected by domestic law, in compliance with
international human rights, refugee and humanitarian law," it said.
The UN body, whose findings are not legally binding,
also asked the United States to provide more information on issues such
as the status of refugees, asylum-seekers, undocumented migrant workers
and trafficking victims under U.S. law.
The committee has requested the U.S. report back in a
year on progress made in areas of concern including racial profiling
and the death penalty.
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