I ' M. * ®Jj¥ Jßorttanii ©beeruer ..’-«--f. August 18, 1999 Focus Page 5 M O R IE P A R O L E E S G O B A C K T O P R IS O N By Richard Willing Ex-convicts are being sent back to prison in record numbers for violating parole or for committing new crimes, according to a new Department of Justice study of the nation's state and federal prisons. Other findings: • The nation’s state and federal prisons held 1,302,019 adult in­ mates in December 1998, an all- time high. • Total prison population grew 4.8% last year, the slowest rate of growth since 1979. • An increasing percentage of prisoners are African American or "So c Check us out on the o\ world wide faffc 288-6530 web Hispanic. Blacks in prison in ­ creased from 360,000 in 1990 to 584,000 in 1997. Hispanic, who are of any race, numbered 213,300in 1997, up from 130,000 in 1990. • The average state inm ate served 27 months in 1990. Prisoners are granted reductions in their sentences - parole - in return for making restitution to vic­ tims, taking drug tests and meeting other requirements. If those terms are violated, or if a new crime is committed, parolees can be re­ turned to prison to finish their sen tences. States grant parole to some in­ mates. There is no parole in the federal prison system. Parole officers, who number about 18,000 nationwide, tradition ally have performed a function akin to social workers. The following statistical infor­ mation was taken from an article in USA Today published on Au­ gust 16, 1999. p r Í & V cu> a5 CO /I Complete Service Salon With A ... co V V, B Join Portland Trail Blazer DAMON STOUDAMIRE at his third annual tportfar^. Oi». 97: K W ' a K / SAVE A LIFE SUMMER A Blood Drive & C elebration ^V7 \ on Saturday, August 21, r X » * '-' ,