Criminal Justice Fact Sheets:

This page lists ready-to-distribute-to-the-public fact sheets on prison issues. Each fact sheet is listed in a single category, and factsheets are listed chronologically within each category by date of first publication.

As of May 2013, this page is no longer being updated. It may come back in the future when we have the resources to produce more original and timely content. Until then, we think that you will find our book The Prison Index to be more useful.

Crime

Crime, incarceration down in 2010 States are safely reducing prison populations, [PDF]
Justice Policy Institute, September, 2011
“Crime is falling as states are putting fewer people in prison.”
Concerns Over Rising Crime in Context [PDF]
Justice Policy Institute, March, 2007
“This factsheet is intended to put the 24-month trend of rising crime in 56 jurisdictions in context for people concerned about juvenile justice policy.”
Close to Home: Developing Innovative, Community-Based Responses to Anti-LGBT Violence, [PDF]
American Friends Service Committee, 2005
Corrupting Justice: A Primer for LGBT Communities on Racism, Violence, Human Degradation & the Prison Industrial Complex, [PDF]
American Friends Service Committee, 2005
“Applying the principles of nonviolence, healing justice & human rights to the struggle for LGBT liberation”
Crime Facts [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative and American Friends Service Committee, Arizona, April, 2004
(7 quick factoids)
Who is at the greatest risk of crime victimization? Who has confidence in the criminal justice system?,
Prison Policy Initiative and Western Prison Project, July, 2003

Death Penalty

Facts about the Death Penalty [PDF]
Death Penalty Information Center, November, 2009
(4 pages, updated frequently)
Why Abolition of The Death Penalty is a Queer issue, [PDF]
American Friends Service Committee, 2005
Most Capital Defendants Do Not Receive Adequate Legal Representation [PDF]
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 2002
(Factual evidence of inadequate representation in death penalty cases and attempts to correct this deadly problem.)
Racially Discriminatory Application of Death Penalty [PDF]
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 2002
(Factual evidence of racial bias in death penalty cases and reasons why patterns of discrimination in capital sentencing persist.)
Police and Prosecutorial Misconduct Are Common in Death Cases [PDF]
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 2002
(how fundamental flaws in the criminal justice system can lead to wrongful convictions)
The National Death Penalty System is Seriously Flawed Resulting in Wrongful Convictions and Death Sentences, [PDF]
American Civil Liberties Union, 2002
MCC Washington Office Guide to the Death Penalty [PDF]
Mennonite Central Committee, December, 2001

Drugs

Potential Savings in New York State's 2007-08 Budget Comes to Over $210 Million, [PDF]
The Correctional Association of New York, February, 2007
“Potential annual savings from repealing the Rockefeller drug laws would amount to $217,400,000.”
Trends in New York State Prison Commitments [PDF]
The Correctional Association of New York, February, 2006
(Comparison of violent and non-violent offender incarceration in New York State since 1980.)
Drug Users and the Structure of the Criminal Justice System [PDF]
Department of Health and Human Services, August, 2001
Substance Abuse Treatment in the Criminal Justice System [PDF]
Department of Health and Human Services, August, 2001
“About 80 percent of inmates in correctional facilities have substance abuse problems.”
Substance Abuse Treatment for Drug Users in the Criminal Justice System [PDF]
Department of Health and Human Services, August, 2001
“The number of inmates has surged in recent years, largely because of drug-related arrests and prosecutions.”
Drug Use, HIV, and the Criminal Justice System [PDF]
Department of Health and Human Services, August, 2001
Drug Treatment in the Criminal Justice System [PDF]
Office of National Drug Control Policy, March, 2001

Families

Imprisonment and Families Fact Sheet [PDF]
The Correctional Association of New York, March, 2007
“88% of fathers in New York State prisons report that their children live with their mothers, while only 20% of incarcerated mothers in New York report that their children live with their fathers.”
Prisoners with Children: Facts and Figures at a Glance, [PDF]
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, September, 2002
Resources for Dads Behind Bars and Those Working with Them
Family and Corrections Network, 2002
(This Incarcerated Fathers Library page contains 10 factsheets, and then links to other resources on incarcerated fathers.)

Felon Disenfranchisement

Should the states that bar the most people from the polls be allowed to pick the next president?, [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, November, 2012
Felon Disenfranchisement: Jim Crow Redux [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative and Western Prison Project, December, 2005
Disenfranchised Veterans in the United States [PDF]
Sentencing Project, June, 2003
Tools for Democracy Restoring Voting Rights to Citizens with Felony Convictions, [PDF]
Demos USA, 2002
(4 page)

General

Truths About Sexual Abuse in U.S. Detention Facilities [PDF]
Just Detention International, February, 2009
“Prisoner rape victims are typically non-violent with clear traits of vulnerability.”
Immigration and the Criminal Justice System Fact Sheet [PDF]
The Correctional Association of New York, August, 2006
(Figures on non-citizens in US and NY prisons.)
Facts About Prisons and Prisoners [PDF]
Sentencing Project, 2003
“Black males have a 32% chance of serving time in prison at some point in their lives; Hispanic males have a 17% chance; white males have a 6% chance.”
Facts about prison and prisoners [PDF]
Sentencing Project, August, 2002
Viral Hepatitis and the Criminal Justice System [PDF]
Department of Health and Human Services, January, 2002
Providing Services to Inmates Living with HIV [PDF]
Department of Health and Human Services, August, 2001

International Comparisons

The United States stands alone on high incarceration
Prison Policy Initiative and Western Prison Project, July, 2003

Juveniles

Juvenile Detention in New York City [PDF]
The Correctional Association of New York, November, 2007
“African American and Latino youth comprise 95% of the youth entering detention, while they comprise less than two-thirds of all youth in New York City.”
Youth Confined in OCFS Facilities [PDF]
The Correctional Association of New York, November, 2007
“Over half the youth in state custody were convicted of misdemeanors.”
LGBT Youth in Detention: Myth and Reality, [PDF]
The Correctional Association of New York, January, 2006
(List of concerns and answers to the problems facing LGBT youth in detention.)
MCC Washington Office Guide to Juvenile Justice [PDF]
Mennonite Central Committee, June, 2003

Mandatory Minimums

Three Strikes Myths & Facts, [PDF]
Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, 2003
Primer on mandatory sentences [PDF]
Families Against Mandatory Minimums, 2002
“Mandatory sentencing was once America's law-and-order panacea. Here's why it's not working.”
(12 pages, 6 statements and facts, quotes from judges and sympathetic profiles of prisoners serving long sentences)

Media

Off Balance: Youth, Race & Crime in the News [PDF]
Building Blocks for Youth, 2002
(Perceptions versus reality on youth crime.)
Recommendations For The News Media for Fair Youth Crime Coverage [PDF]
Building Blocks for Youth, 2002
(Suggestions to News Media on Reporting on Youth, Race & Crime)

Organizing

Prison-Based Gerrymandering

Prison-based gerrymandering in Kentucky Counties [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, November, 2012
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in City of Cranston, RI [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2012
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Erie County [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, April, 2011
“Erie County's most signiﬁcant case of using prison populations to pad out a district is County District 13, where the Collins and Gowanda Correctional Facilities provide 6% of the district's population.”
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Crawford County, WI? [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, April, 2011
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Pine County, MN [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, April, 2011
“District 5 derives 15% of its population from the federal prison; effectively giving each group of 85 real residents in District 5 as much political clout as 100 people in the other districts.”
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in the City of New Lisbon, WI? [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, March, 2011
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in the City of Portage, WI? [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, March, 2011
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Columbia County, WI [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, March, 2011
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in the City of Waukesha, WI? [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, March, 2011
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in the City of Appleton, WI? [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, March, 2011
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in the City of Kenosha, WI? [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, March, 2011
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in the City of Stanley, WI? [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, March, 2011
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in the City of Prairie du Chien, WI? [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, March, 2011
Majority of Illinois Counties and Cities With Large Prison Reject Prison-Based Gerrymandering, [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, February, 2011
About the Census Prison Inmates, Redistricting and the 2010 Census, [PDF]
Nonprofit Voter Engagement network, 2011
(National, calls for Census to publish group quarters counts)
10 Calif. Counties Reject Prison-Based Gerrymandering [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, December, 2010
“Ten California counties [remove] the prison population before redistricting to avoid diluting the votes of county residents who do not live near a prison: Amador, Del Norte, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Lassen, Madera, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, and Tuolumne.”
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Florida Counties [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, December, 2010
“Gulf County, however, was not willing to create a district where the prison would make up 80% of the population. In such a district, each voter would have 5 times the influence of voters in other county districts.”
Prison-based Gerrymandering in Iowa [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, December, 2010
“The city of Clarinda has a district that is 58% incarcerated, giving a district with fewer than half as many actual residents the same vote on the city council as other districts.”
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Georgia Counties [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, December, 2010
“[R]esidents of Butts County District 3 are given twice as much influence over county affairs as residents of other districts because 49% of District 3 is incarcerated at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center.”
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Texas Counties [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, December, 2010
“Willacy County has a Commissioners Court precinct where 20% of the Census population is behind bars, giving 8 residents of that precinct the same electoral power as 10 residents in other precincts.”
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Ohio Cities [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, December, 2010
“[I]n the city of Mansfield, Ward 5 derives 60% of its population from two large prisons. This effectively gives every 4 residents of Ward 5 the same political clout as 10 residents elsewhere in the city.”
Ending prison-based gerrymandering would aid the African-American and Latino vote in Connecticut, [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, November, 2010
(Prison-based gerrymandering especially reduces the voting strength of Black and Latino communities because of both racially disparate rates of incarceration, and the state's tendency to build prisons in disproportionately white areas.)
Ending prison-based gerrymandering would aid the American Indian vote in Minnesota, [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, November, 2010
Ending prison-based gerrymandering would aid the American Indian vote in Montana, [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, November, 2010
Ending prison-based gerrymandering would aid the American Indian vote in New Mexico, [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, November, 2010
Ending prison-based gerrymandering would aid the American Indian vote in Oregon, [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, November, 2010
Prison-based gerrymandering in Arizona [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, November, 2010
End prison-based gerrymandering in your state [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, October, 2010
(National supplemental fact sheet for the movie 'Gerrymandering')
End prison-based gerrymandering in your state: It's not just a problem in Iowa, [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, October, 2010
(Supplemental fact sheet for the movie 'Gerrymandering', prepared for Oregon residents.)
States are authorized to adjust census data to end prison-based gerrymandering, and many already do (Delaware version), [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, June, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Rhode Island [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, June, 2010
House Bill 384: Ending Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Delaware [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, June, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Indiana [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, May, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Oklahoma Counties [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, May, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Connecticut [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, May, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Racine County, Wisconsin [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, May, 2010
End Prison-Based Gerrymandering [PDF]
Public Policy and Education Fund of New York, March, 2010
“Thirteen upstate counties have already taken the initiative to correct the Census data, removing the prison population before redistricting to avoid dilution in their districts.”
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Waseca County, Minnesota [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, March, 2010
(Waseca County, MN)
States are Authorized to Adjust Census Data To End Prison-Based Gerrymandering, and Many Already Do, [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, March, 2010
(Maryland)
States are Authorized to Adjust Census Data to End Prison-Based Gerrymandering and Many Already Do, [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative and Demos, March, 2010
(national version)
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in the Waushara County Wisconsin [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, March, 2010
Why our opponents should support ending prison-based gerrymandering in New York, [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, March, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in the City of Waseca, MN [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, March, 2010
States are Authorized to Adjust Census Data To End Prison-Based Gerrymandering, and Many Already Do, [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, March, 2010
(Rhode Island)
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Minnesota [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, March, 2010
Incarcerated people are transported to rural prisons, but remain residents of their home communities, [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, February, 2010
The Census Bureau's prison miscount: It's about political power, not funding, [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, February, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in the City of Elmira, NY [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, February, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in the City of Rome, NY [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, February, 2010
A Dilution of Democracy: Prison-Based Gerrymandering, [PDF]
Demos, February, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in the City of Waupun, Wisconsin [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in the City of Fitchburg, Wisconsin [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Wisconsin [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
A Prison Is Not a Home: The Lesson of People v. Cady [PDF]
Demos, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Fond-Du-Lac County, Wisconsin [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Jefferson County NY [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison Inmates, Redistricting and the 2010 Census [PDF]
Non Profit Voter Engagement Network, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Jackson County, Wisconsin [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Livingston County, New York [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in the City of Franklin, Wisconsin [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Illinois [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Oneida County, New York [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Will County, Illinois [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Madison County, New York [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Dodge County, Wisconsin [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Wayne County NY [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Select counties and cities that adjust Census data to correct for the prison miscount, [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Winnebago County, Wisconsin [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Dane County, Wisconsin [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Juneau County, Wisconsin [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Rock Island County, Illinois [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison district profile: New York Senate District 45: Betty Little [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Ending Prison-Based Gerrymandering Would Aid the African American Vote in Maryland, [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
(Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Maryland)
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Chippewa County, Wisconsin [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Adams County, Wisconsin [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Vermilion County, Illinois [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Brown County, Wisconsin [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
New York's Census Adjustment Act [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
13 New York Counties Reject Prison-Based Gerrymandering [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Chautauqua County, New York [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in St. Lawrence County, New York [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Lee County, Illinois [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Wisconsin's Census Adjustment Amendment [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Fact Sheet About the Bill (Illinois) [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in New York State [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2010
Prison-Based Gerrymandering in Clinton County, Illinois [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, 2010
Three trends in New York that require a changed Census [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, March, 2007
(Discusses changes in New York State's demographics and prison policies that require a change in how the Census Bureau counts people in prison.)
Redistricting Matters: Small changes in the boundary lines mean huge electoral effects, [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, March, 2007
(Uses some simple illustrations to demonstrate why redistricting matters.)
How prisons alter the one-person one-vote principle [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, March, 2007
(Uses a New York district to show how including prison populations changes the shape of prison districts.)
Diluting democracy: Census quirk fuels prison expansion, [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, April, 2004
Prisoners distort democracy in St. Lawrence County, NY
Prison Policy Initiative, February, 2004
(the impact of counting prisoners as residents on redistricting in rural county legislatures)

Prison and The Economy

The High Cost of Solitary Confinement [PDF]
Solitary Watch, January, 2012
“With over 1,100 inmates in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) and 400 more in the Administrative Segregation Unit (ASU), Pelican Bay State Prison has an yearly budget of $180 million.”
Federal Folly FY2012 U.S. Department of Justice budget gorges on prisons, gouges juvenile justice, [PDF]
Justice Policy Institute, November, 2011
“Adding two new prisons and a thousand contract beds will lead to higher prison populations and expenses, without significantly improving public safety.”
Why does prison building continue as crime drops? [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative and Western Prison Project, April, 2003
Real Cost of Prisons timeline
Real Cost of Prisons Project, 2003
The CCPOA and California State Politics [PDF]
Prison Activist Resource Center, 2002
(2 pages)
MCC Washington Office Guide to the Prison Industrial Complex [PDF]
Mennonite Central Committee, May, 2001

Racial Disparities

Incarceration is not an equal opportunity punishment [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, April, 2003
(1 page PDF, the same facts as the first page of prisonsucks.com)
People of Color and the Prison Industrial Complex [PDF]
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, September, 2002
Fair Reporting on Youth Crime: Community Involvement, [PDF]
Building Blocks for Youth, 2002
(Fighting For Fair Media Coverage of Youth Crime: Recommendations For Child Advocates, Youth Groups And Civil Rights Organizations)
Racism and the Criminal Justice System [PDF]
Prison Activist Resource Center, 2002
(3 double sided factsheets on African Americans, Latino and Native Americans and the criminal justice system)

Reentry

(New) Jail Postcard-only Mail Policies [PDF]
Prison Policy Initiative, February, 2013
“Postcard-only jail mail policies constitute a major shift in how mail is handled, stifling the most economically feasible method of communication to and from jails.”
Obstacles to Re-Entry Flowcharts
Real Cost of Prisons Project, 2004
(3 pages)
Prisoners Re-Entering the Community [PDF]
Sentencing Project, 2002
Helping Inmates Return to the Community [PDF]
Department of Health and Human Services, August, 2001

Rural Issues

Rural Prisons: The Development of Last Resort, [PDF]
National Resource Center on Prisons and Communities, August, 2003
Prisons and Rural Economic Development: Jobs [PDF]
Tracy Huling, February, 2003

State Specific

Basic Prison and Jail Fact Sheet [PDF]
The Correctional Association of New York, March, 2006
(Provides basif facts about the New York State and City prison systems.)
Prisoner Profile [PDF]
The Correctional Association of New York, March, 2006
(Demographic data on prisoners in New York State and City.)
Disciplinary Confinement in New York State Prisons [PDF]
The Correctional Association of New York, March, 2004
“Prisoners with mental illness are disproportionately represented in disciplinary segregation.”
Colorado Prison Facts [PDF]
Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, 2002

Women

Women in Prison Fact Sheet [PDF]
The Correctional Association of New York, March, 2007
“As of January 2007, more than 42% of women in New York�s prisons have been diagnosed with a serious mental illness, compared to nearly 12% of male inmates.”
Breaking the Barriers For Women on Parole, [PDF]
Milton Marks, December, 2004
(Statistics by gender for the California corrections system.)
Women in Prison [PDF]
Sentencing Project, May, 2003
"Cadillac Health Care" for Women Prisoners?: Case Studies from the Inside, [PDF]
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, September, 2002
Access to Medical Care in California's Women's Prisons: An Overview, [PDF]
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, September, 2002
Women and the Drug War: Facts and Figures at a Glance, [PDF]
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, September, 2002
Women Prisoners: Facts and Figures at a Glance, [PDF]
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, September, 2002
Women in Prison in the U.S. & N.Y. [PDF]
Correctional Association, 2002
Women, Injection Drug Use, and the Criminal Justice System [PDF]
Department of Health and Human Services, August, 2001
“Women inmates have consistently higher rates of drug use and HIV infection than do male inmates.”
Women in Prison Sexual Assault and Misconduct Against Women in Prison, [PDF]
Amnesty International, 2001

Factsheets Page Updated On: 11-Feb-2013 - 12:00:02
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Some fact sheets are updated frequently by the authors. The date above reflects the most current date when we added the fact sheet to the database.

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