What’s New
-
New data on pregnancy prevalence, outcomes, and programs in prisons are welcome additions, but raise new questions
The Bureau of Justice Statistics published 2023 data on pregnancy prevalence and outcomes in prisons, as well as the prison systems that offer relevant prenatal and postnatal accommodations, supports, and programming.
May 7: Briefings
-
The Rikers Island Longitudinal Study:
Research Report by Samantha Plummer and Jaclyn Davis, Columbia Justice Lab
May 6: Research Library: Jails
-
100 days of the Trump administration rolling back progress in the criminal legal system
Today, we released a new tracking tool that shows the full scale of the crisis unfolding in communities and behind bars, and a new resource page for folks looking to learn more about the repression and detention of undocumented immigrants.
April 30: Prison Policy Initiative Blog
Featured resource
Tracking how the Trump administration is making the criminal legal system worse
The American criminal legal system has always been terrible, but what has happened in recent months is different. It is in a new kind of crisis. The Trump administration is making the criminal legal system larger, harsher, and less effective
With this new resource, we're connecting the dots of the actions of the Trump administration to show they aren't individual policy choices, but a larger strategy that doubles down on the failed policies that created the nation's mass incarceration crisis in the first place.
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.