What’s New
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Intra-City Differences in Federal Sentencing Practices Federal District Judges in 30 Cities, 2005 - 2017 by United States Sentencing Commission
January 16: Research Library: Sentencing Policy and Practices
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Red states, blue states: What do these mean for people on parole? Despite the states’ reputations, Texas actually appears more progressive than Massachusetts when it comes to parole.
January 2: Prison Policy Initiative Blog
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Our favorite data visualizations of 2018 2018 was another big year for powerful data visualizations from the Prison Policy Initiative. These are our 11 favorites.
December 28: Prison Policy Initiative Blog
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Voices that are pushing the envelope - best commentary of 2018 Our picks for writing that propels reform by offering a more complete understanding of mass incarceration.
December 27: Prison Policy Initiative Blog
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Our favorite investigative criminal justice reporting of 2018 Reporters are deepening our understanding of complex facets of the criminal justice system and illuminating paths to reform. We share some of our favorites.
December 27: Prison Policy Initiative Blog
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New York Should Re-examine Mandatory Court Fees Imposed on Individuals Convicted of Criminal Offenses and Violations by New York City Bar
December 20: Research Library: Economics of Incarceration
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Correctional Control 2018: Incarceration and supervision by state by Prison Policy Initiative
December 20: Research Library: Probation and parole
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21 Principles for the 21st Century Prosecutor by Brennan Center for Justice
December 20: Research Library: Trials
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Fact Check: A Survey of Available Data on Juvenile Crime in Baltimore City by Abell Foundation
December 20: Research Library: Youth
Featured report
Correctional Control: Incarceration and supervision by state
When it comes to ranking U.S. states on the harshness of their criminal justice systems, incarceration rates only tell half of the story. 4.5 million people nationwide are on probation and parole, and several of the seemingly "less punitive" states put vast numbers of their residents under these other, deeply flawed forms of supervision. Our report aggregates data on all forms of correctional control in one nationwide chart and 100 state-specific pie charts. We find tremendous variation between states, largely due to state differences in the leading form of correctional control: probation.
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:
$1/minute to talk to Dad?
The federal government must act to protect families from the predatory prison telephone industry.
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.
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