The most important fact to keep in mind, however, is that debates about prison statistics typically ignore a key fact: most people who are under state supervision and control are not in prison. Of the nearly 7.3 million people currently under correctional control, only 2.3 million are in prison or jail.26 The rest are on probation or parole. More than 4 million people are on probation in the United States (roughly twice the number in prison) and only 19 percent of them were convicted of a violent offense.
