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Please note!
This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

Are more people in prison in the US for violent crimes than for drug offenses?

By Jacqueline Agustin
YES

The Prison Policy Initiative, a nonprofit group advocating against excessive incarceration, calculates that more than twice as many people in the U.S. are incarcerated in connection with violent offenses compared to drug-related offenses. Its estimates include pretrial detention as well as convicted offenders, and span the U.S.'s multi-level justice system, providing a more complete and timely view than official federal and state statistics. The federal prison system, smaller overall, has a relatively larger share of drug-related offenders in its population than state systems.

Overall, "four out of five people in prison or jail are locked up for something other than a drug offense—either a more serious offense or an even less serious one," says the Policy Initiative's report.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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