Latest Stats Show America's Continued Love Affair with Mass Incarceration

Preliminary data released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) revealed a notable increase in the number of individuals held in local jails nationwide. As of midyear 2022, the incarcerated population stood at 663,100, marking a 4% surge compared to the previous year's 636,100. This surge is part of a more significant trend that has seen jail admissions rise by 6.6% from July 2021 to June 2022, totaling 7.3 million entries. However, the figure is still 37% lower than ten years prior, when admissions peaked at 11.6 million.

According to the new data, of the incarcerated population in mid-20...