WASHINGTON (AP) - Prisoners are spending more time behind bars as states enact laws to narrow the gap between sentences handed down and the time offenders actually serve, the government said yesterday
Violent offenders released in 1997 - people convicted of murder, rape, robbery or aggravated assault - spent an average of 49 months in prison, up from 43 months in 1993, a study by Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics showed.
On average, violent offenders freed in 1997 had served 54 percent of their sentences, In 1993, they had served 47 percent. For all types of offenders, the average time served by released prisoners increased from 22 months in prison and 6 months in jail in 1990 to 25 months in prison and 5 months in jail in 1996.
The report points to changes in state legislation, such as truth-in-sentencing laws, that restrict the early release of prisoners. Such laws require offenders to serve a substantial portion of minimum sentences, generally between 50 percent and 100 percent, before being eligible for release.
"The trend has been more restrictive to require offenders to serve more time," Doris James Wilson, the report's co-author; said in an interview. This shift is driven in part "by an overall view that criminals were not serving enough time, that there was too much of a gap between sentences set by a judge and the amount of time actually served."
Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia now require violent offenders to serve at least 85 percent of prison sentences, Federal legislation passed in 1994 authorize the government to reward with grants states that set the 85 percent minimum.
Another 13 states require violent offenders to serve substantial portions of minimum sentences before being eligible for release.
Some states also have reduced the discretion of parole boards in authorizing prisoner releases. Fourteen states have abolished parole board releases for all offenders with atleast six others abolishing parole board releases for certain violent or felony offenders.
"Looking at some of the research we saw a progression moving from the indeterminate model, where there is a lot of discretion by parole boards, to more restrictive models," Wilson said
Mandatory minimum sentences which require offenders to be sentenced for a specified prison term and state sentencing guidelines for given offenses also have contribute to offenders spending more time in prison, the study said.
Other findings of the report: