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Printer-friendly
Louisiana Report
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Louisiana
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IMPRISONMENT
AT A GLANCE
Imprisonment
Rate 1977: 152 (9th) Female Imprisonment Rate 1977:
11 (16th)
Imprisonment Rate 2004: 816 (1st) Female Imprisonment
Rate 2004: 103 (3rd)
Total
Female Sentenced Prisoners 1977: 217
Total Female Sentenced Prisoners 2004: 2,386
Percent
Increase 1977-2004: 1,000%
Average Annual Percent Increase 1977-2004: 10%
Percent Increase 1999-2004: 5%
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IMPRISONMENT
IN LOUISIANA
At
year-end 2004, Louisiana prisons housed 36,939 inmates serving
sentences of more than one year. Of these inmates, 34,553
were male and 2,386 were female. With 103 female prisoners
per 100,000 female residents, Louisiana has the third highest
female imprisonment rate. Louisiana's 2004 overall imprisonment
rate of 816 prisoners per 100,000 residents is the highest
overall imprisonment rate in the country.
In
1977, Louisiana prisons housed 217 female inmates; by 2004,
the female prison population had reached 2,386. Louisiana's
female prison population was at its lowest with 208 female
prisoners in 1978 and peaked at 2,405 female inmates in 2003.
GROWTH
IN FEMALE IMPRISONMENT RATE
Between
1977 and 2004, Louisiana's female prison population grew by
1,000% with an average annual percent change of 9.6% per year.
While
Louisiana's female imprisonment rate has been above average
for the entire period between 1977 and 2004, its rate of increase
in female imprisonment picked up substantially in the 1990s.
By the late 1990s, Louisiana was almost twice as punitive
as the average state in its female imprisonment rate.
MALE
TO FEMALE IMPRISONMENT RATIO
The
male to female imprisonment ratio indicates the number of
male inmates for every female inmate. Although both female
and male imprisonment rates have increased over the period
of study, a shrinking ratio suggests that the number of female
prisoners has increased at a faster pace. In 1977, across
the states, there were an average of 26 male prisoners for
every female prisoner; by 2004, this ratio had fallen to 13
male prisoners for every female prisoner. Louisiana's 1977
ratio was higher than average with 30 male prisoners for every
female prisoner. By 2004, Louisiana's male to female imprisonment
ratio (14:1) was roughly equivalent to the average across
states.
CORRECTIONAL
FACILITIES
According
to the 2000 Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities,
Louisiana has 17 correctional facilities. Of Louisiana's 17
correctional facilities, 14 house male prisoners only and
three house female prisoners only. No facilities house both
male and female prisoners.
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