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Peter Wagner, Executive Director Donate
What’s New
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34 criminal legal system reforms that can win in 2025
In a new report, we highlight reforms that are ripe for victory in the new year and provide tips for advocates to oppose lawmakers pushing for failed “tough-on-crime” lawmaking.
December 4: Press releases
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Advocacy Spotlight: The Humanization Project
Advocates in Virginia are leveraging their own lived experience and the voices of thousands of other systems-impacted people and their families to make sweeping changes to the state’s prisons. Here’s how they’re doing it.
December 2: Prison Policy Initiative Blog
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New rule means people on community supervision now qualify for Medicare
Under this new rule, more than 340,000 people over the age of 65 who are on probation or parole will have access to healthcare coverage.
December 2: Prison Policy Initiative Blog
Featured report
Arrest, Release, Repeat: How police and jails are used to respond to social problems
How many people go to county jails every year, and how many times do they go? These basic data points — essential to understanding whether counties are using police and jails properly — weren't available until now. In our report, we break down the number of people booked in jail every year, including how many return multiple times. We go on to analyze the demographic characteristics of people who go to jail, including rates of poverty, access to health care, and race. Lastly, we present policy recommendations for counties hoping to change how their jails are used.
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 2023-2024 annual report.
Recommended Reading:
50 state incarceration profiles
All of our recent reports about prison/jail growth, racial disparities, and more, re-organized by state.
The rapid & unregulated growth of e-messaging in prisons
It can strengthen connections, but instead has been used to sap money from incarcerated people.
Incarceration and supervision by states
Probation and parole are the leading forms of mass punishment in America.
Prison Gerrymandering Project
We are leading the movement to protect our democracy from the Census Bureau's prison miscount.