"The rate of growth of the State prison population slowed between 1995 and 2001 and then began to rise. During this time the percentage change in the first 6 months of each year steadily decreased, reaching a low of 0.6% in 2001, and then rose to 1.0% in 2005 (table 2). The percentage change in the second 6 months of each year showed a similar trend, resulting in an actual decrease in State prison populations for the second half of 2000 and 2001.
"Since 1995 the Federal system has grown at a much higher rate than the States, peaking at 6.0% growth in the first 6 months of 1999. In the first 6 months of 2005, the number of Federal inmates increased 2.3%, more than twice the rate of State growth."

Source

Harrison, Paige M. & Allen J. Beck, Allen J., PhD, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, "Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2005" (Washington DC: US Department of Justice, May 2006), p. 2.
http://www.bjs.gov/content/pu…