5-9-17 wisconsin prison population on the rise

A new study by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance says the prison population is not only growing, but it is aging as well.  The study found Wisconsin’s prisons are on pace to have a record number of inmates by 2019 as violent crime rises.  The study’s author, David Callender,  told AM 1170 WFDL’s Between the Lines program that the state’s truth in sentencing law has also had an impact.    Callender says one of the interesting findings in the report is that the age of Wisconsin prison inmates is on the rise.  “The one thing we found in our report that we can’t quite figure out is that the 18-25 year olds have generally declined,”  Callender said.  “What we’re seeing now is the offenders that are coming into prison tend to be in their 30s, and that the prison population as a whole is also graying.”