National Statistics:

Statistics obtained from U.S. Department of Justice / Bureau of Justice Statistics.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/jails.htm

• As of June 2008, over 2.3 million persons, one out of every 131 U.S. Residents were held in Federal Prisons, State Prisons, or Local Jails regardless of their sentence length or conviction status.
• Since yearend of 2000, the nation’s prison and jail custody populations have increased by 20%.
• As of June 2008 an estimated 13.6 million persons were admitted in to local jails during a 12-month period from June 2007 to June 2008.

• As of June 2008 reporting local jails were operating at 95% capacity.

• In 2008, 37 persons in nine states were executed, 5 fewer than in 2007:

• 18 in Texas
• 4 in Virginia
• 3 Georgia and South Carolina
• 2 Florida, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma
• 1 Kentucky
• All 37 inmates executed in 2008 were men.

• At yearend 2007, 35 States and the Federal Prison system held 3,220 prisoners under sentence of death, 13 fewer than at yearend 2006.