A new study of the Arizona prison population concludes that nearly all inmates have had prior convictions or committed violent felonies, reports The Explorer in Tucson. The Arizona Prosecuting Attorney’s Advisory Council commissioned the study. Pima County prosecutor Barbara LaWall said that at least 94 percent of state inmates are repeat or violent offenders. Of the total, 52 percent have been convicted of violent offenses, and 83 percent have one or more felony convictions on their records.
“A very small minority of folks can be classified as non-violent or first-time offenders,” LaWall said. Study author Daryl Fischer said, “The myth that we’re filling our prisons with first-time drug offenders is not true.” Fischer is a mathematician and retired research manager with the Arizona Department of Corrections. The study said Arizona locks up about 567 of every 100,000 people; only Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas incarcerate at a higher rate.