Research Library
Our mission is to empower activists, journalists, and policymakers to shape effective criminal justice policy, so we go beyond our original reports and analyses to curate a database of virtually all the empirical criminal justice
research available online.
Tips: If you know what you are looking for, you may also search the database. We also have an email newsletter (at right)(at bottom) for new research library updates.
- COVID-19 (82) Research on the pandemic’s impact on prisons and jails
- Community impact (127) Research on the impact of the criminal legal system on housing, schools, employment, neighborhoods, and more
- Conditions of confinement (297) Research on prison and jail conditions such as solitary confinement, labor, discipline, food, and more
- Courts and trials (186) Research on prosecutors, judges, public defense, court caseloads, and more
- Crime (291) Curated research on crime, crime rates, and victimization
- Death penalty (156) Information and data on capital punishment and executions
- Disability (35) Research on the prevalence of, and challenges faced by, people with disabilities in the criminal legal system
- Drug policy and treatment (187) Research on punishing and treating drug use in the criminal legal system
- Economics of incarceration (191) Research on the economic drivers and consequences of mass incarceration
- Education (135) Curated research on education programs in prisons and the school-to-prison pipeline
- Families (163) Information and data on the criminal legal system’s impacts on families
- Felony disenfranchisement and voting rights (94) Information about laws barring people from the polls because of criminal convictions
- General (176) Broad-based research and information about the criminal legal system
- Gun control (47) Information and data about gun violence, firearms, and gun control policy
- Health and healthcare (264) Research on access to healthcare, chronic and infectious disease, mortality, and more
- Immigration (83) Research on the incarceration and detainment of immigrants
- Incarceration rates and trends (342) Research documenting the growth of prison and jail populations
- International incarceration (45) Curated research on incarceration trends worldwide, and how they compare to the U.S.
- Jails (305) Research on jail populations, jail conditions, jail construction, and more
- LGBTQ (27) Information and data on the mass criminalization and incarceration of LGBTQ+ people
- Mental health (100) Research on the prevalence and treatment of mental illness in the criminal legal system
- Policing (286) Information and data on arrests, traffic stops, law enforcement interactions, and more
- Poverty and wealth (175) Research on fines, fees, debt, and the criminalization of poor people
- Pretrial detention (150) Research on the costs and outcomes of detaining people before trial
- Prison gerrymandering (20) Research on prison-based gerrymandering (see also www.prisonersofthecensus.org)
- Privatization (105) Information and data on how private companies exploit incarcerated people and their families
- Probation and parole (144) Information about community supervision policies, conditions, violations, and more
- Public opinion (52) Research on public perceptions of crime, prison, reform, and more
- Racial and ethnic disparities (196) Research and statistics on racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal legal system
- Reentry and recidivism (269) Information and research on the challenges and outcomes for people released from incarceration, including collateral consequences
- Sentencing policy (157) Research on the rise and impact of excessive criminal sentences
- Sex-related convictions (18) Research about the unique punishment of sex-related crimes through registries, civil commitment, and other means
- Women and gender (163) Information and data on gender disparities in the criminal legal system
- Youth and juvenile justice (408) Research about youth in the criminal legal system
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Advanced search options or view entire database by the date added.
Some of the most recently added reports are:
Friday, May 15 2026:
- Gang Databases and Immigration Enforcement,
Center for Policing Equity.
February, 2026.
"Because of vague criteria, gang databases have not been shown to reduce crime, and may misallocate valuable public safety resources."
- Re-Punished For The Past: How Criminal Records Increase Prison Terms and Racial Injustice,
Sentencing Project.
February, 2025.
"Take, for example, someone with a criminal record who received a 20 year sentence in Maryland. On average, 12.6 of those years were added to an initial sentence because of their record."
- No Time to Wait: A Case for Releasing Elders from California's Women's Prisons,
California Coalition for Women Prisoners.
March, 2026.
"An average of just twelve people per year were granted elderly parole from a women's prison from 2014-2023."
- Prolonged Incarceration of Children Due to Mental Health Care Shortages,
Staff of Senator Jon Ossoff & Representative Jen Kiggans.
February, 2026.
"Seventy-five facilities across 25 states reported incarcerating children of various offenses statuses who could be eligible for release to external mental health care."
Thursday, May 14 2026:
- The Cost of Criminal Case Delays and State-Tested Solutions,
R Street Institute.
March, 2026.
"Beyond undermining deterrence, delays also harm the public in predictable ways. Victims wait longer for closure, witnesses lose track of details or disappear, and the justice system burns scarce resources managing cases that drag on."
- Building the Table: Advancing a Sustained Federal Commitment to Ensure Economic Justice for Systems-Impacted Individuals,
JustUS Coordinating Council.
October, 2023.
"Approximately $200 million was appropriated by Congress for ...people returning from incarceration in FY22...In comparison, the system of mass incarceration costs the government and families of justice-involved people at least $182 billion every year."
- Building the Table: A Right to Quality and Continuous Health Care for People Incarcerated and Returning from Incarceration,
JustUS Coordinating Council.
April, 2024.
"We believe that the federal government has the responsibility to advance sets of reforms and actions that uphold the human right to healthcare for people who are incarcerated and those returning from incarceration."
- Building the Table: The Cost of Conviction,
JustUS Coordinating Council.
November, 2025.
"Formerly incarcerated individuals are often framed as riskier than the average consumer...mainly due to how financial institutions define "risky.""
- Understanding the Impact of Racial and Ethnic Disparities from Arrest to Sentencing A Case Study of San Francisco, California; Pima County, Arizona; and New Orleans, Louisiana,
Safety and Justice Challenge.
April, 2026.
"[In San Francisco,] At the initial pretrial detention decision, as indicated by pretrial detention length, moderate disparities emerged in the likelihood of being detained among those with custodial bookings."
- 50 States, 1 Goal: Recidivism Rate Trends Over the Past Decade,
CSG Justice Center.
May, 2026.
"Nationally, reincarceration rates have dropped about 20% over the past decade, from approximately 35% to 28%."