What’s New
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The Cost We No Longer Pay:
How Fines and Fees Reform Delivered Billions in Relief for Families by Fines and Fees Justice Center
May 22: Research Library: Policing
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New “Key Statistics” on our website put the most requested numbers about mass incarceration at your fingertips
We’ve made it easier to access the topline statistics about the criminal legal system.
May 18: Prison Policy Initiative Blog
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Updated data and charts: Women’s incarceration, national prison population counts, psychological distress behind bars, and more
Updated data visualizations illustrate the scale of — and disparities within — mass incarceration.
April 27: Briefings
Featured report
Building exits off the highway to mass incarceration: Diversion programs explained
"Diversion program" can refer to a wide variety of initiatives to keep people out of jail. We wrote one report that explains them all. Our report envisions the criminal justice process as a highway, with five major "exits" off the road to incarceration — that is, five basic types of diversion programs. We compare and contrast the different programs, showing how the best programs get people off the highway to incarceration as early as possible, long before jail time or arrest.
Mass incarceration, state by state
Learn about the national prison crisis and how we can begin to turn the tide on mass incarceration. Then, drill down to your state. Be sure to also check out our pages focused on D.C., and the incarceration of Native people.
If our work is new to you, you might want to check out our 2024-2025 annual report.
Recommended Reading:
The unmet health needs of people in prison
States fall far short of their duty to meet the health needs of incarcerated people.
All profit, no risk
The bail industry exploits cracks and loopholes in the legal system to avoid accountability, while growing its profits.
Compare your state's use of the prison to the world at large
Criminal justice policy in every region of the United States is out of step with the rest of the world.
Prison Gerrymandering Project
We are leading the movement to protect our democracy from the Census Bureau's prison miscount.