Just a drop in a bucket?

2005 calendar distribution: 19,435



Is Our Prison System Working?

“Without a moral and spiritual change of heart—transformation—released inmates will likely return to temptations, associations, and activities that stimulate more criminal actions.”
—Charles W. Colson, Founder and Chairman of Prison Fellowship, an Operation Starting Line partner

The Facts:

6.9 million men and women were living under correctional supervision (incarceration, probation, or parole) in the United States as of year-end 2003, compared to 3.2 million in 1990.

Some 3.2 percent of the adult U.S. population, or 1 in 32 adults, were incarcerated or on probation or parole at the end of 2003.

More than 60 percent of prisoners are re-arrested within three years of their release (Offenders Returning to Federal Prison, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1986-97).

If recent incarceration rates remain unchanged, an estimated 1 out of every 20 persons (5.1 percent) will serve time in prison during his/her life.

Roughly 14 million Americans face the likelihood of going to prison (Newsweek, Nov. 13, 2000).

As of Dec. 31, 2000 (the latest data available), state prisons were operating between full capacity and 15 percent over capacity, while federal prisons were 31 percent over capacity.


The Taxpayer Cost:

$19,800 per year to incarcerate one prisoner (does not include welfare costs frequently associated with the inmates’ dependents)

$80,000 to build one prison cell

Estimated $450,000 to arrest, convict, and imprison one drug dealer for five years
Note: Drug treatment or education can be provided for 200 people for this same cost, according to the Drug Reform Coordination.

Estimated $40 billion to incarcerate America’s more than two million inmates each year (Diminishing Returns: Crime and Incarceration in the 1990s, The Sentencing Project, September 2000).


The Faith-Based Solution

Of the inmates who completed a faith-based program, the likelihood of their return to incarceration was reduced by two-thirds—The Criminal Justice Policy Council in Texas

A study of two prison rehabilitation programs (faith-based and vocation-based) conducted in two Brazilian prisons shows that although rates of recidivism (rate of re-arrest) for both prison programs were lower than the national estimated average (60-70 percent), the faith-based program showed a significantly lower recidivism rate (16 percent versus 36 percent for the vocation-based program). (Texas Journal of Corrections, February 2002)

A 2003 University of Pennsylvania study shows that graduates of a faith-based prison program in Texas were 50 percent less likely to be re-arrested and 60 percent less likely to be
re-incarcerated, when compared to the matched comparison group. (July, 2003)

Participation by prisoners in multiple in-prison Bible studies conducted by Prison Fellowship (an Operation Starting Line leader) reduced their recidivism by 66 percent. —Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences’ Justice Quarterly

New York Theological Seminary’s 12-year study of an in-prison seminary program at Sing Sing showed a similar 60 percent reduction in recidivism.


NOTE: All statistics were compiled from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics unless otherwise noted.

Source: Operation Starting Line http://www.demossnewspond.com/osl/presskit/2005/2005statistics.htm