By Erica Goode

Published in The New York Times on July 25, 2013

“The prison population in the United States dropped in 2012 for the third consecutive year, according to federal statistics released on Thursday, in what criminal justice experts said was the biggest decline in the nation’s recent history, signaling a shift away from an almost four-decade policy of mass imprisonment.”

Read More: U.S. Prison Populations Decline, Reflecting New Approach to Crime