Prisons chock full of repeat offenders.

• Position: YOUR LIFE - Brief article

The U.S. prison population continues to rise--even though the crime rate began declining in the mid 1990s--because judges have been faced with more repeat offenders, suggests a study by Ryan King, professor of sociology at Ohio State University, Columbus.

"The issue is that the average offender who appears before a judge for sentencing today has a much more extensive criminal record than he or she did in the past. It is much harder for judges to not give prison sentences to repeat offenders, so we have more convicted people going to prison."

The study found that 15% of convicted offenders received a prison sentence in 1981, which increased to 20% by 1995, and reached nearly 30% by 2013. In 1981, fewer than 40% of sentenced offenders had criminal records, but almost 60% did in 2001. "Criminal activity can decrease, but the criminal record only goes up. Judges are dealing with more repeat offenders now."

It is not that judges are treating repeat offenders more harshly than in the past. In fact, once he controlled for criminal record over time, King found that judges appear to be...