Q: In a recent AJC, there was an editorial called, “A teaching moment for our society,” by Julie Stewart and Will Ruger. It stated: “No wonder one out of every five U.S. citizens has a criminal record.” I can’t believe this is accurate. Can you check this statement? It seems way over exaggerated.
—Juanita Bishop, Atlanta
A: The statistic cited in the article was from a 2011 National Employment Law Project, or NELP, report titled "65 Million Need Not Apply," which was based on numbers from the U.S. Department of Justice's "Survey of State Criminal History Information Systems" in 2008.
That report stated there were 92.3 million people with criminal records in the U.S., a number that was adjusted by 30 percent “to account for individuals who may have records in multiple states and other factors,” NELP stated.
That resulted in an estimate of 64.6 million people in the U.S. who have criminal records.
The U.S. population was 308.7 million in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, resulting in the claim.
“NELP fights for policies to create good jobs, expand access to work, and strengthen protections and support for low-wage workers and the unemployed,” it states at nelp.org.
Rick Jones, the executive director of Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, said “68 million people in this country are living with a criminal record. That’s one in every four adults,” when he testified before the House Committee on the Judiciary Over-Criminalization Task Force last July.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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