Test Your Knowledge About Crime And Imprisonment In The U.S.
The connection between imprisonment and crime rates in the United States is complex, and conventional wisdom often is at odds with the facts. Take our quiz to test your knowledge about key trends and developments across the nation and in the states. This quiz is not optimized for Safari. If you are having trouble, please try another browser.
- 1.Which state had the nation's highest incarceration rate in 2013?
- A.
California
- B.
Texas
- C.
Louisiana
- D.
Oklahoma
- E.
West Virginia
- 2.Which of the following is true about the overall U.S. incarceration rate?
- A.
The rate has been climbing steadily since the early 1970s.
- B.
The rate has been up and down over the past 40 years.
- C.
The rate peaked in 2008 and has been falling since.
- D.
The rate began to drop in the early 1990s, similar to the crime rate.
- 3.By what percentage did spending on the federal prison system increase from 1980 through 2013?
- A.
195 percent
- B.
295 percent
- C.
395 percent
- D.
495 percent
- E.
595 percent
- 4.Which state's legislature unanimously voted in 2012 to overhaul its sentencing and corrections policies?
- A.
Massachusetts
- B.
Indiana
- C.
Colorado
- D.
Georgia
- E.
New Mexico
- 5.Which state has not passed a comprehensive package of sentencing and corrections reforms in the past few years?
- A.
Kentucky
- B.
South Carolina
- C.
Florida
- D.
North Carolina
- E.
Mississippi
- 6.True or False: The decline in the crime rate from 2008 to 2013 was greater in states that reduced their imprisonment rates than in states that increased them.
- A.
True
- B.
False
- 7.Researchers estimate that the growth of the U.S. prison population is responsible for what percentage of the crime drop that has occurred since the early 1990s?
- A.
0-10 percent
- B.
20-30 percent
- C.
40-50 percent
- D.
60-70 percent
- 8.True or false: Inmates who serve out their full prison terms behind bars and are released without supervision in the community—known as "maxing out"—are less likely to reoffend that those who are released before the end of their terms and undergo supervision.
- A.
True
- B.
False
- 9.What percent of likely U.S. voters agreed with the following statement: “Juveniles should never be placed in juvenile corrections facilities for status offenses like skipping school or running away, which would not be a crime if they were an adult”?
- A.
25 percent
- B.
45 percent
- C.
65 percent
- D.
85 percent
- 10.In 1980, inmates released from federal prison had served an average of 16 months. What was the average time served by inmates released in 2013?
- A.
20 months
- B.
30 months
- C.
40 months
- D.
50 months
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