Data Supplement

Downloadable versions of all figures are posted here.

Underlying data, replication code, and data notes for casebook figures are posted here.

Updated data on prison/jail population and litigation are posted here.

Figure 1.1: U.S. Adult Jail and Prison Annual Admissions, 2017

Note: Each circle represents 100,000 individuals. Data source: Jail data: Wanda Bertram & Alexi Jones, Prison Policy Institute, How Many People in Your State Go to Local Jails Every Year? (Sept. 18, 2019); State and federal prison data, U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Prisoners in 2017 (Apr. 2019)

Figure 1.2. U.S. Jail and Prison Population and Incarceration Rate by Decade, 1880–2017

Data source: 1880–1960 data: U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Historical Corrections Statistics in the United States, 1850–1984 (1986); 1970–2017 data: varied Bureau of Justice Statistic Reports.

Figure 1.3. U.S. Jail and Prison Population and Incarceration Rate, 1970–2017

Data source: varied U.S. Dep’t of Justice reports.

Figure 1.4: U.S. Local Jail Population by Conviction Status, 1982–2017

Data source: U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear series (1983–2019).

Figure 1.5: Local Jail Incarceration Rates by Urbanicity, 1970–2019

Data source: Vera Institute of Justice, People in Jail in 2019 (2019), and private communication

Figure 1.6: Immigration Detention, Average Daily Population, 1979–2020

Data source: INS/ICE data; publication source varies.

Figure 1.7: International Incarceration Rates

Note: China data from 2015; U.S. data from 2016; India and Sweden data from 2017; Denmark, Norway, and Turkey data from 2018; Australia, Brazil, El Salvador, France, Germany, Indonesia, Russia, Rwanda, Spain, Thailand, and United Kingdom data from 2019. Data source: World Prison Brief.

Figure 1.8: U.S. Incarcerated Population, 2019

Source: Prison Policy Initiative, Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2019. Reformatted with permission.

Figure 1.9: State and Federal Prison Population by Criminal Offense, 2016/2017

Note: State data from 2016, federal data from 2017. Data source: Sentencing Project, Trends in U.S. Corrections (2019); U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Prisoners in 2017 (2019).

Figure 1.10: U.S. Prison Incarceration Rates by Gender and Race/Ethnicity, 2017

Note: “White” means non-Hispanic white. “Other” includes Asian, Native American, and anyone who is not Hispanic or white or Black. Data source: Sentencing Project, Incarcerated Women and Girls (2019). Original data from U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Prisoners in 2017 (2019).

Figure 1.11: U.S. Female Prison Incarceration Rate by Race/Ethnicity, 2000–2017

Figure 1.12: U.S. Male Prison Incarceration Rate by Race/Ethnicity, 2000–2017

Figures 1.11 & 1.12 note: Percentages on the right indicate the percent change from 2000–2017. “White” means non-Hispanic white. “Other” includes Asian, Native American, and anyone who is not Hispanic or white or Black. Data source: Sentencing Project, Incarcerated Women and Girls (2019). Original data from U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Prisoners series (2000–2019).

Figure 1.13: U.S. Corrections Systems Populations, 1980 & 2016

Data source: Sentencing Project, Trends in U.S. Corrections (2019)

Figure 1.14: Correctional Control Rate by State, 2018

Data source: Prison Policy Initiative, Correctional Control 2018: Incarceration and Supervision by State (2018).

Figure 1.15: Litigation Rate for Prisoner Civil Rights Lawsuits, 1970–2017

Data source: Lawsuits filed: Federal Judicial Center, Civil Integrated Database (IDB); incarceration data, U.S. Dep’t of Justice.

Figure 14.1: State Expenditures on Corrections, 1985–2018

Data sources: Nominal corrections expenditures data from National Association of State Budget Officers, “State Expenditure Report” Series (1985–2018). State prison population from U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. 

Table 16.1: Pro Se Rate, Prisoner Civil Rights Cases in Federal Court

Fiscal Year of Termination

Terminations

% Pro Se

1996

42,522

83.3

2000

25,176

95.6

2005

23,712

96.3

2010

24,702

94.8

2015

26,365

93.2

2018

27,499

92.7

Data source: Federal Judicial Center Integrated Database (IDB).

Table 16.2: Federal Court Outcome Statistics

 

Prisoner civil rights

(c)

 

(a)

(b)

All,

 

FY 1996

FY 2012

FY 2012

Terminations

42,522

24,673

271,572

Judgments (as % of terminations)

95.0%

90.9%

87.9%

Outcomes (as % of judgments)

 

 

 

Pretrial decisions for defendant

84.5%

84.9%

41.7%

Pretrial decisions for plaintiff

0.6%

0.5%

6.8%

Settlements

5.5%

5.0%

32.6%

Voluntary dismissals

6.3%

5.4%

14.5%

Trials

2.5%

1.3%

1.1%

Plaintiffs’ trial victories (as % of trials)

9.5%

11.9%

43.4%

All plaintiff successes
(as % of judgments)

12.7%

11.1%

54.4%

 

Data source: Federal Judicial Center Integrated Database (IDB), https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb. The table is reprinted (edited) from Margo Schlanger, Trends in Prisoner Litigation, as the PLRA Enters Adulthood, 5 U.C. Irvine L. Rev. 153, 164–65 (2015); full explanations are set out there and in the accompanying data appendix.