“I think one of the most common myths about the Alabama prison system is the majority of people in the prison system are there for drug offenses,” said Bennet Wright, who heads the commission created in 2000 to recommend sentencing and policy changes to the Legislature.
“That is simply not the case," Wright said. "The overwhelming majority of people incarcerated are there for a violent offense. They’re there for murders, rapes, robberies, sodomies. That’s the majority of the prison population.”
What do the numbers say? Here are the top 10 offenses for state inmates as of Sept. 20, 2012, according to the Sentencing Commission’s 2013 annual report:
Robbery 1st: 3,812
Murder: 3,391
Rape 1st: 1,312
Burglary 3rd: 1,299
Distribution of controlled substance: 1,280
Theft of property 1st: 1,069
Possession of controlled substance: 1,065
Capital murder: 919
Manslaughter: 845
Burglary 1st: 774
More than 70 percent of state inmates are in prison for violent crimes, according to the report.
Source- AL.com