What’s New
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Virginia poised to become 8th state to end prison gerrymandering, as House votes on SJ18 The Virginia House of Delegates is expected to vote within the next two weeks on SJ18, a constitutional amendment to….
February 19: Prisoners of the Census Blog
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Prison Policy Initiative releases detailed data on the “geography of incarceration” in New York state, opening doors for future research The new resource uses data generated by New York’s law ending prison gerrymandering.
February 19: Press releases
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Ending the War on Drugs in Travis County, Texas: How Low-Level Drug Possession Arrests are Harmful and Ineffective by TCJC, Grassroots Leadership, Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, and the Civil Rights Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law
February 18: Research Library: Drug Policy
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Laying the Groundwork: How States Can Improve Access to Continued Education for People in the Criminal Justice System by Council of State Governments Justice Center
February 18: Research Library: Education
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Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001-2016 by Bureau of Justice Statistics
February 18: Research Library: General
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Mortality in Local Jails, 2000-2016 by Bureau of Justice Statistics
February 18: Research Library: Jails
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County Jail Incarceration Rates and County Mortality Rates in the United States, 1987-2016 by Sandhya Kajeepeta, Caroline G. Rutherford, Katherine M. Keyes, Abdulrahman M. El-Sayed, and Seth J. Prins
February 18: Research Library: Health impact
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Reconciling Police and Communities with Apologies, Acknowledgements, or Both: A Controlled Experiment by Thomas C. O’Brien, Tracey L. Meares, Tom R. Tyler
February 18: Research Library: Police and Policing
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Successful Reentry: A Community-Level Analysis by The Harvard University Institute of Politics Criminal Justice Policy Group
February 18: Research Library: Recidivism and Reentry
Featured research
Exposing exploitative "prison tablet" contracts
Private companies are offering electronic tablets and kiosks to prisons and jails — then overcharging incarcerated people and their loved ones to use them.
Worse, these low-quality digital products are becoming an excuse for some prisons and jails to eliminate essential services, like libraries and paralegals, and to charge people by the minute to read books.
Our research is bringing these abusive practices to light. Read our primer on programs that claim to deliver tablets at "no cost" to taxpayers, and our short report showing which states have implemented tablet programs.
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.
If our work is new to you, you might want to check out our 2018-2019 annual report.
Recommended Reading:
For-profit video visits in prisons & jails
This predatory industry wants to literally stand in between the incarcerated and their families by replacing human contact with computer chats.
50 state incarceration profiles
All of our recent reports about prison/jail growth, racial disparities, and more, re-organized by state.
Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie
The U.S. incarcerates 2.3 million people, more than any other country. Where are they locked up and why? Read our report.
Exploitation in the criminal justice system
Companies and correctional facilities exploit captive markets. We expose them.