New report shows how correctional control extends beyond prisons

A new report from the Prison Policy Initiative shows that incarceration is only one part of a much larger system of “correctional control,” with millions more people under probation and parole supervision than behind bars. It offers a clearer picture of how deeply the criminal legal system reaches into communities across the United States

The U.S. criminal legal system controls approximately 5.5 million people when incarceration, probation, and parole are counted together, but only about 1.9 million are confined in prisons, jails, and detention centers. The vast majority of people under correctional control, around 3 million on probation and roughly 536,000 on parole, are supervised in the community rather than behind bars. If probation and parole alone were considered a “state,” this supervision population would be larger than that of 21 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Across nearly every state, more than half of people under correctional control are in community supervision, and in 20 states, over two‑thirds are on probation or parole rather than incarcerated.

You can read the full report here.