What’s New
-
Can’t Pay, Can’t Vote: A National Survey on the Modern Poll Tax by Campaign Legal Center and the Civil Rights Clinic at Georgetown Law
August 12: Research Library: Felon Disenfranchisement
-
John Oliver exposes the high fees and low wages in prisons, citing our work In case you missed it, John Oliver exposed the high fees and low wages pervasive in prisons and jails on last Sunday’s….
August 9: Prison Policy Initiative Blog
-
Momentum is building to end medical co-pays in prisons and jails Three states have taken action in 2019 to change one of the most harmful policies in prison healthcare.
August 8: Prison Policy Initiative Blog
-
Cumulative Sexual Victimization and Mental Health Outcomes Among Incarcerated Women by Jennifer Hartsfield, Susan F. Sharp, and Sonya Conner
August 7: Research Library: Women
-
Network exposure and excessive use of force: Investigating the social transmission of police misconduct by Marie Ouellet, Sadaf Hashimi, Jason Gravel, and Andrew V. Papachristos
August 7: Research Library: Police and Policing
-
Examining Judicial Pretrial Release Decisions: The Influence of Risk Assessments and Race by Brian P. Schaefer and Tom Hughes,
August 7: Research Library: Pretrial Detention
-
As Wall Street Banks Sever Ties, Private Prison Companies Stand to Lose Over $1.9B in Future Financing by Center for Popular Democracy, In the Public Interest, and Public Accountability Initiative
August 7: Research Library: Privatization
-
Managing Mental Illness in Jails: Sheriffs Are Finding Promising New Approaches by Police Executive Research Forum
August 7: Research Library: Mental Health
-
LGBTQ Youth of Color Impacted by the Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Systems: A Research Agenda by UCLA Williams Institute
August 7: Research Library: LGBT
Featured campaign
Protecting family visits from the predatory video visitation industry
For-profit video visitation has been quietly sweeping the nation's state prisons and county jails. But instead of using the technology to keep families connected, county jails and private companies are creating and profiting off of misery. All too often, county jails and private companies work together to supplant traditional human contact with video chats, which are sold at a price tag of up to $1.50/minute. For our report on this problem and more on communities that have fought back, visit the issue page.
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 2017-2018 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.
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.
Exploitation in the criminal justice system
Companies and correctional facilities exploit captive markets. We expose them.
Prison Gerrymandering Project
We are leading the movement to protect our democracy from the Census Bureau's prison miscount.