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The Nation - News from Aug. 3, 1987

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About one in four, or 26%, of convicted felons in a survey of 28 state court systems received probation instead of a prison or jail sentence, the Justice Department reported. The study issued by the Bureau of Justice Statistics said that a third of the offenders convicted of drug trafficking in 1985 were given probation. Of 2,600 offenders convicted of homicide in 1985, the report found that 8% were given probation, 84% were sentenced to prison, 1% were given jail terms of less than a year and 7% received combined jail and probation sentences.

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