What’s New
-
Police stops are still marred by racial discrimination, new data shows. So why does Trump continue to endorse stop-and-frisk?
October 12: Prison Policy Initiative Blog
-
State Attorneys General can end prison gerrymandering, most recent Census Director explains AGs should take an active role in ensuring an accurate 2020 Census. Part of that is tackling prison gerrymandering.
October 11: Prisoners of the Census Blog
-
Philadelphia Inquirer exposes Pennsylvania’s complicity in cutting off incarcerated people’s access to books The Pennsylvania DOC introduces a telecom company to a large, captive market for e-books.
September 21: Prison Policy Initiative Blog
-
Welcome Alexi Jones! Welcome Alexi Jones, our new Policy Analyst!
September 4: Prison Policy Initiative Blog
-
Progress: With reforms in Iowa and Utah, 12,000 fewer people will be denied driver’s licenses every year Two more states have opted to help safe drivers get their lives back on track after drug convictions.
August 29: Prison Policy Initiative Blog
-
Breaking open the “black box”: How risk assessments undermine judges’ perceptions of young people It’s complicated enough for judges to weigh the influence of youth in their decisions. A new paper argues that algorithmic risk assessments may further muddy the waters.
August 22: Prison Policy Initiative Blog
-
How does unaffordable money bail affect families? Using a national data set, we find that over half of the people held in jail pretrial because they can’t afford bail are parents of minor children.
August 15: Prison Policy Initiative Blog
-
New report, Nowhere to Go, breaks down the housing crisis among formerly incarcerated people A stable home is all but required for successful reentry. How many formerly incarcerated people are locked out of housing?
August 14: Prison Policy Initiative Blog
-
Victoria Law on Marketplace: How email services in prison exploit incarcerated people As our research as shown, companies like JPay gouge people who are already overcharged and underpaid.
August 8: Prison Policy Initiative Blog
Featured report
Nowhere to Go: Homelessness among formerly incarcerated people
In a first-of-its-kind report, we find that formerly incarcerated people are 10 times more likely to be homeless than the general public. People returning from prison are widely excluded from housing, despite needing stable homes to overcome the difficulties of reentry.
This report is the second in a series about the struggles of formerly incarcerated people to access basic needs. In the first report, we calculated the first national unemployment rate for formerly incarcerated people.
Unpacking mass incarceration
Learn about the national prison crisis and how we can begin to turn the tide on mass incarceration. Then, drill down to your state.
If our work is new to you, you might want to check out our 2016-2017 annual report.
Recommended Reading:
Prison Gerrymandering Project
We are leading the movement to protect our democracy from the Census Bureau's prison miscount.
Legal Resources for Incarcerated People
The internet's first always-up-to-date list of organizations that provide legal services and resources for incarcerated people, organized by state.
Tracking State Prison Growth in 50 States
State-by-state briefing on prison growth (and occasional contraction) from 1978 to 2012
Events
Nothing scheduled right now. Invite us to to your city, college or organization.