AG Holder Announces U.S. Now Has Smallest Corrections Population Since 2003

Attorney General Holder Announces U.S. Now Has Smallest Corrections Population Since 2003; Details Drop in U.S. Crime and Incarceration

Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that the number of persons supervised by U.S. adult correctional systems – in prison or jail, or on probation or parole – fell below 6.9 million individuals at the end of 2013.  This drop leaves the United States with the smallest population under the authority of adult correctional supervision in nearly a decade.  Attorney General Holder also noted that, during the Obama Administration, overall crime has decreased by over 15 percent, while overall incarceration has decreased by nearly 9 percent – the first time these two critical markers have declined together in more than 40 years.  And he reaffirmed that the Justice Department will remain committed to justice reform efforts—like the Smart on Crime initiative—that strengthen our criminal justice system; live up to our founding ideals; and help to build the safer, more just society that all Americans deserve.