Indiana sees post-pandemic rise in prison population
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Indiana's prison population grew by nearly 1.5% between 2021 and 2022, according to a report from the latest Justice Department data.
The big picture: The U.S. prison population rose 2.1% between 2021 and 2022, marking "the first increase in the combined state and federal prison population in almost a decade," per the DOJ.
- It's especially notable that the nationwide prison population increased in the late pandemic era, given that many prisons suffered significant and often deadly COVID-19 outbreaks.
By the numbers: Despite the recent rise, Indiana's prison population shrank by 12.3% between 2012 and 2022.
- About 25,000 people were in state prison in Indiana in 2022, compared to more than 28,000 in 2012.
- Indiana is home to federal correctional facilities in Terre Haute.
Zoom in: Black, Latino and Indigenous Hoosiers are disproportionately represented in the state's prisons and jails compared to their share of the population, according to data from the Prison Policy Initiative.
- In 2021, Black Hoosiers accounted for about 9% of the state population but made up 31% of the state's prison population.
Zoom out: As of Dec. 31, 2022, about 32% of the nationwide prison population was Black — more than double Black Americans' 13.6% share of the overall U.S. population.
Reality check: The U.S. prison population remains extremely high compared to the years before the Nixon-era "war on drugs" and "tough on crime" politics.
How it works: The data is based on the National Prisoner Statistics program, an annual DOJ census of nationwide prison populations, capacity and more.