The prison population shot up, from 315,974 at the end of 1980 to more than 925,000 today.
The years following the second world war saw a large increase in the size of the prison population.
Since 1960, the nation's prison population has increased from 212,953 to 817,863 in 1992.
That is about 10 percent of the state's prison population.
California, the state with the largest prison population, had a 22.6 percent increase for women last year.
He would have to stay away from the main prison population.
But in other large states, the prison population is growing.
From 1980 to 1989, the prison population grew by 14.5 percent a year.
In the last year alone, the prison population went up 11 percent, to 619,000.
Since 1980 the prison population has increased 66 percent to a total last year of 546,659.
The nation's prison and jail population rose again last year, to 2,166,260, a record.
There he will be separated from the general jail population.
For his own protection, he was in an area apart from the rest of the jail population.
The plan, he said, is to try to stay ahead before the next surge in the jail population.
The current jail population is 310, down from 358 but more than twice what the structure was built for.
He noted that the city's average daily jail population now is about 22,000, double the number six years ago.
And the city's jail population has remained over capacity throughout the summer.
The city's jail population, which has nearly doubled in the last five years, is expected to continue growing.
How would he deal with a Federal court order limiting the jail population?
The city's jail population stands at more than 22,000, or 103 percent of capacity; the figure could reach 24,000 by fall.