Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : U.S. Prison System Bursting at Seams

The number of people incarcerated by the federal government exploded during the 1980s, a report to Congress said. The General Accounting Office survey counted more than 48,000 inmates crowded into a prison system built to house no more than 30,860. The report said that planned expansion will not be enough to accommodate a prison population that is expected to reach 147,000 by the year 2002. Noting that just 19% of all inmates had committed violent crimes, Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) said that the study demonstrated a need for “alternative programs for nonviolent offenders . . . to generate better citizens instead of more hardened criminals.”