NY Times confused by that pesky inverse relationship between crime and imprisonment

According to the Times:

Almost 10 percent of all inmates in state and federal prisons are serving life sentences, an increase of 83 percent from 1992, according to a report released yesterday by the Sentencing Project, a prison research and advocacy group. … The increase is not the result of a growth in crime, which actually fell 35 percent from 1992 to 2002.

So let’s get this straight: starting in 1992, the number of inmates serving life sentences increased by 83 percent. Meanwhile, during that time period crime fell by 35 percent.

Why does crime decrease when more criminals are off the streets? Geez, that’s a real puzzler, there.