Corrections.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) released Suicide and Homicide in State Prisons and Local Jails, which describes historical trends in state prison and local jail inmate mortality rates based on inmate death records submitted by local jails (for 2000-2002) and state prisons (for 2001-2002). The report also compares current prison and jail mortality rates by demographic characteristics, offense types, and facility size and jurisdiction and compares the general population mortality rates with those in correctional facilities. Comparisons are made to both the raw mortality rates for the general population and those standardized to match the demographic makeup of the inmate populations. Highlights include the following: in 2002, the suicide rate in local jails (47 per 100,000 inmates) was over three times the rate in state prisons (14 per 100,000 inmates); homicide rates were similar in local jails (3 per 100,000) and state prisons (4 per 100,000); and violent offenders in both local jails (92 per 100,000) and state prisons (19 per 100,000) had suicide rates over twice as high as those of nonviolent offenders (31 and 9 per 100,000 respectively). This report is available online at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/shsplj.htm.