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The federal prison system has existed for nearly 40 years under the Three Prisons Act (1891), which authorized the first three federal prisons: USP Leavenworth, USP Atlanta, and USP McNeill Island, and has since grown to 11 federal prison. -
Congress created the Bureau of Prisons within the Justice Department and charged the agency "to administer and supervise all federal criminal and correctional facilities." -
The bureau has grown to 24 facilities with 24,360 inmates. Apart from some fluctuations, this number of prisoners did not change between 1940 and 1980, -
The Penal Reform Act of 1984, which introduced specific sentences, abolished probation and reduced good time, led to prison overcrowding to 95 federal prisons. -
For the first time in 34 years, the population declined. A variety of legislative changes contribute to this decline .
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