The Nation : Revoked Paroles Double

The number of federal inmates whose paroles were revoked because they committed new crimes doubled between 1979 and 1985, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported. The bureau, a Justice Department agency, also said in a report that inmates released from federal prisons from 1980 through 1984 served little more than half the average sentence received, about 32 months. The study said 49% of federal offenders convicted between July 1, 1984, and June 30, 1985, were sentenced to prison and 38% were given probation. The longer an offender’s sentence, the smaller proportion of that sentence was served, the study said.