What’s New
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Updated data and charts: Women’s incarceration, national prison population counts, psychological distress behind bars, and more
Updated data visualizations illustrate the scale of — and disparities within — mass incarceration.
April 27: Briefings
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Guaranteed income helps people leaving jail and prison, and that helps everyone
Guaranteed income programs show reduced recidivism and improved self-sufficiency, quickly paying for themselves.
April 10: Briefings
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New 50-state report, Punishment Beyond Prisons 2026, shows that 5.5 million people are under the control of the criminal legal system
The U.S. keeps millions of people on probation and parole every day. Rather than serving as an alternative to incarceration, supervision is often a tripwire to harsher punishments.
April 7: Press releases
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. 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 2024-2025 annual report.
Recommended Reading:
Advocacy Toolkit
Resources, tips, and best practices to help advocates working to end mass incarceration.
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 nearly 2 million people. Where are they locked up and why? Read our report.
