Giving Compass' Take:

• Alexi Jones analyses the disparities between states' correctional control, comparing imprisonment and parole rates. 

• How does your state rank? How can funders help to improve states' use of parole? 

• Learn about opportunities for philanthropists to impact criminal justice reform. 

The U.S. has a staggering 2.3 million people behind bars, but even this number doesn’t capture the true scale of our correctional system. For a complete picture of our criminal justice system, it’s more accurate to look at the 6.7 million people under correctional control, which includes not only incarceration but also probation and parole.

The most alarming finding when we look at the broader picture of correctional control is that nationally, over 6.7 million adults — or 1 in 37 — are under some form of correctional control. For perspective, if the population under correctional control were its own state, it would be the 16thlargest in the nation, comparable to the size of Massachusetts or Tennessee. The majority of people under correctional control are on community supervision. 55% of people under correctional control, or 3.6 million, are on probation, and 11%, or 870,000 people, are on parole. While the massive scale of probation dwarfs the parole population, there are still more people on parole than in federal prisons and local jails combined.

Just as focusing only on incarceration leads to a distorted view of American punishment, focusing only on the national picture obscures important state variations. Notably, some of the states with the lowest incarceration rates, such as Rhode Island and Minnesota, are among the most punitive when probation is taken into account. Other states that rank in the bottom half of incarceration rates nationwide, such as Ohio and Idaho, end up surpassing Oklahoma — the global leader in incarceration — in rates of overall correctional control. Georgia is punitive from any angle, as the only state that is both a top jailer and leader in probation.

Read the full article about disparities in states' use of parole by Alexi Jones at Prison Policy Initiative.