New England States With The Most Prisoners

New England States With The Most Prisoners

While Rhode Island's prison population may have increased by 250% since 1980, the New England state of Connecticut tops the region for having the most men and women in prison, and by a margin of nearly 30 percent.

According to data from The Sentencing Project, a Washington, DC-based non-profit advocacy organization, Connecticut tops the New England states as of 2011, with 12,549 people in prison, or 350 for every 100,000 population. That's nearly 30 percent greater than New England's #2 state, Vermont, which claims 255 prisoners per 100,000.

Rhode Island ranked #5 with an overall prison population of 2,065, which equates to 196 prisoners per 100,000 population. The only New England state with a lower incarceration rate was Maine, at 147 prisoners per 100,000.

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For more on Rhode Island's prison population and to hear from experts, go here.

Largely resulting from sentencing legislation "passed by politicians who wanted to appear 'tough on crime,' there are now seven times as many people behind bars as in 1970" nationwide, according to the Project. "Prison in America has become the primary response to a host of social problems, including drug and alcohol addiction, mental illness and lack of economic opportunity."

For how every New England state ranked, as well as how their prison (and jail) populations break down by gender and juveniles, see below.