What’s New
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Data update: As the Delta variant ravages the country, correctional systems are dropping the ball (again) While some prison systems and local jails have maintained historically low populations, others have returned to pre-pandemic levels, despite the ongoing dangers of COVID-19.
October 21: Briefings
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Federal Sentencing of Child Pornography: Non-Production Offenses by United States Sentencing Commission
October 18: Research Library: Youth
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The U.S. criminal justice system disproportionately hurts Native people: the data, visualized We’re lucky when criminal justice data is broken down by race and ethnicity enough to see how Native populations are criminalized and incarcerated. Here’s a roundup of what we know.
October 8: Briefings
Featured report
Does our county really need a bigger jail?
A guide to avoiding unnecessary jail expansion
Our report gives cities and counties a long-needed tool for fighting mass incarceration: a guide to preventing needless jail expansion. With jail populations having tripled in the last three decades, overcrowding in local jails is common — but there are simpler, cheaper, and more just solutions to jail crowding than building a new or bigger jail. We lay out 33 questions, and a list of best practices, to help local decision-makers understand the true costs of — and alternatives to — jail expansion.
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 2020-2021 annual report.
Recommended Reading:
Five ways the criminal justice system could slow the pandemic
Quick action could slow the spread of the viral pandemic in prisons and jails and in society as a whole
The "services" offered by jails don't make them safe places for vulnerable people
Even in the best of times, jails are not good at providing health and social services.
The most important statistics from our work on policing
Racial disparities, bloated budgets, the criminalization of homelessness, and more.
Is social distancing possible behind bars?
No. It's even harder than on cruise ships or in nursing homes.