Citizens Against Recidivism, Inc.
Stopping the revolving door . . . .
Neither imprisonment or the life after should mean the loss of all the rights and attributes of citizenship.
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Citizens Against Recidivism, Inc. Stopping the revolving door . . . . Neither imprisonment or the life after should mean the loss of all the rights and attributes of citizenship.
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Nominations for the Citizens' Awards Order your Journal Ad for The Awards Program Here Photographs from:
Policy Recommendation to increase higher education Opportunities for people in prison Fact Sheet on Muslims in NYS prisons
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See our report on Strategies for release HERE
PROFILE OF POPULATION UNDER CUSTODY ON JANUARY 1, 2009*
In 1992, the New York State Department of Correctional Services reorganized the delivery of program services to its incarcerated population. One of the components of that plan included grouping the correctional facilities by geographical proximity into administrative regions. These regions include:
Profile of Inmate Population
Gender Distribution There were 60,081 people under custody on January 1, 2009. Of this total, 96% (57,502) were male and 4% (2,579) were female. Age Distribution The average age of people under DOGS custody on January 1, 2009 was 37 years old. People in prison under 21 years old constituted 5% of the total under custody population while people in prison 60 and over represented 3% of the population. Race/Ethnic Distribution Over half (51%) of those under custody were African-American, one-fourth were Hispanic (25%) and approximately one-fifth were White (21%). Region of Commitment Half (50%) of the people under custody on January 1, 2009 were committed from New York City and 12% were committed from suburban New York (Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester counties). Upstate counties with a population center containing 50,000 inhabitants or more (Albany, Broome, Erie, Monroe, Oneida, Onondaga, Niagara, Rensselaer, and Schenectady counties) committed 22% of the in prison population. The remaining 16% was sentenced from the other Upstate counties. Country of Birth Ninety percent (90%) of people under custody were born in the United States or a United States Territory. Approximately ten percent of the people under custody report birth in a foreign country. Most of the people in prison reporting birth in a foreign country were from one of the island nations in the Caribbean basin (5% of the people under custody). Marital Status Two thirds (66%) of the people in prison report never being married. Number of Living Children The majority of the people under custody (60%) report at least one living child Religious Affiliation Eighty-seven percent (87%) of the people under custody claimed affiliation with a recognized religion. Thirty percent (30%) were Protestant and twenty-six percent (26%) were Catholic. Twelve percent (12%) were affiliated with the Islamic faith. Veteran Status Of the 60,081 people under custody on January 1, 2009, 5% (3,122) report military service. Of this total, the largest number report military service in the Post Vietnam Era. Minimum Sentence The median minimum sentence of the people under custody was 5 years. However, the average minimum sentence length was over nine years, reflecting the influence of lengthy minimum sentences received by many inmates. As of January 1, 2009, there were 202 the people under custody who were serving sentences of "Life Without Parole". Commitment Crime Nearly 60% of the people under custody on January 1, 2009 had been convicted of a Violent Felony Offense (VFO). Another 20% of people in prison had been convicted of a drug crime. Forty percent (40%) of the women in prison had been committed for a violent felony crime compared to 60% for the men in prison. In contrast, 30% of the women in prison were committed for a drug offense compared to 19% percent of the men in prison. Second Felony Offender Status Over half (53%) of the people under custody on January 1, 2009 were sentenced as first felony offenders. New York State Penal Law establishes more severe sentences for people who have committed a second felony offense than for those convicted of their first felony offense. However, some of the people in prison included among those who have committed their first felony offense had been convicted of prior felony crimes and some had previous sentences to state prison. The majority of this group of people in prison were convicted of class A-1 violent felony crimes, which do not provide for sentencing as a person who has committed a second felony offense since the penalties for A-1 violent felony crimes are already the most severe. Prior Adult Criminal Record People in prison are placed in a prior adult criminal record category based on their most extensive penetration into the criminal justice system prior to their current incarceration. Thirty-five percent (35%) of the people under custody had served a prior prison term. For twenty-five percent (25%), prior jail was the most serious contact with the criminal justice system while fifteen percent (15%) had no prior arrest. Length of Time in Department Custody One quarter (25%) of the people in prison had spent 6 years or more under custody since latest admission to DOCS while nearly one third (32%) had spent less than one year under custody. The people under custody on January 1, 2009 had spent an average of 56.6 months in DOCS since their latest admission date. The median length of time served was 24.9 months. Time to Earliest Release Eligibility Time to earliest release date is a measure of the length of time until the earliest possible date at which a person in prison (including people returned for violating conditions of their parole) can be legally released. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of the people in prison have less than two years to their earliest release date. The "average time to earliest release" for the under custody population on January 1, 2009 was 47.7 months, and the "median time to earliest release" was 15.0 months (excluding Life Without Parole). Unlike reports in previous years, the NYS Department of Corrections did not report on reading proficiency, academic degree status, English language proficiency or substance abuse history in its 2009 profile of those held under custody. The information that follows is from its The Hub System: Profile Of Population Under Custody On January 1, 2008 which may be retrieved from its website at http://www.docs.state.ny.us/Research/Reports/2008/Hub_Report_2008.pdf Reading Proficiency The Department's education program objective is to encourage every person in prison to pass a high school equivalency General Education Diploma (GED) test while incarcerated. Testing and education programming are used by the Department to track the academic level of people under their custody in reading and mathematics. In order to take the GED examination, the Department requires people in prison to take tests demonstrating at least a ninth grade level in reading and mathematics. Of the 62,247 people under custody on January 12, 2008, 33,553 (53.9%) had a verified GED, high school diploma or higher degree, and 28,694 (46.1%) were without verified academic degrees. Not eligible to take a GED exam were 11,802 people (19.0%) whose reading ability was below the sixth grade level, and an additional 8,689 people (14.0%) whose reading ability was between the 6th grade and 8th grade level. These people required additional services to qualify to take a GED exam. Academic Degree Status Of the educational attainment of persons under custody on January 2, 2008, data reveal that 33,553 (53.9%) people had a high school diploma, General Education Diploma, or higher degree, out of 62,247 under custody people. The Department only recognizes academic degrees that can be verified from an outside source or which are awarded while a person is in custody. English Language Proficiency The vast majority (92.2%) of people under custody were English language dominant. There were also 3,878 (6.2%) people who were Spanish language dominant (which includes Spanish dominant only, Spanish and limited English, and Spanish and moderate English). Substance Abuse As part of the reception process, the Department of Correctional Services attempts to identify people who use drugs and have problems with alcohol. Drug use in the six months prior to incarceration is determined by self-report. Alcohol problems are assessed by use of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST). In 2002, the Department supplemented these indicators with the Simplified Screening Instrument (SSI). Scores of four or greater on the SSI indicate substance abuse. The specific type of substance is not identified by the SSI test. The Department also supplements this self-reported information with data from the Inmate Payroll System and the Guidance System. Data show that 82.6% of people in prison abuse drugs, alcohol, or both as measured by available data from tests and self-reporting.
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