Over the past decade, the number of adults in the US incarcerated by State or Federal authorities grew from 1,585,586 in 1995 to 2,135,901 in 2004, an average increase of 3.4% annually and a period increaseof one-third.1 In California, the prison population has grown over the last 10 years from 135,133 peoplein prison in 1995 to 163,939 by 2004 for an average of 2.75% annually and a period increase of over 21%.One of the realities of this massive increase in incarceration is that "they all come back." Over the last 10 years, the number of adults on parole from State or Federal prisons increased from 679,421 in 1995 to 765,355 in 2004, for an average annual rate of 2.7% and a period increase of 17%. Following the national pattern, the number of adults on parole in California increased by from 90,450 in 1995, to 110,130 in 2004, for an average annual rate of 2.3% and a period increase of over 21%. California leads the nation in the number of adults on parole; at the end of 2004 over 14% of people on parole in the US had been released from California prisons
