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November 18-21, 2026:
Members of our Research team, will be attending the American Society of Criminology annual meeting in Chicago from November 18th through the 21st. Please reach out if you’d like to set up a meeting.

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Short, timely investigations and issue explainers

Wendy Sawyer | January 11, 2022

New data: The changes in prisons, jails, probation, and parole in the first year of the pandemic

Newly released data from 2020 show the impact of early-pandemic correctional policy choices and what kind of change is possible under pressure. But the data also show how inadequate, uneven, and unsustained policy changes have been: most have already been reversed.

Leah Wang | December 21, 2021

Research roundup: The positive impacts of family contact for incarcerated people and their families

The research is clear: visitation, mail, phone, and other forms of contact between incarcerated people and their families have positive impacts for everyone — including better health, reduced recidivism, and improvement in school. Here’s a roundup of over 50 years of empirical study, and a reminder that prisons and jails often pay little more than lip service to the benefits of family contact.

Emily Widra | December 16, 2021

Since you asked: What information is available about COVID-19 and vaccinations in prison now?

Despite the new variants of COVID-19, prison systems are failing to publish up-to-date and necessary data and we don’t know much about booster shot access.

Katie Rose Quandt and Leah Wang | December 8, 2021

Recent studies shed light on what reproductive “choice” looks like in prisons and jails

States that are otherwise hostile to abortion rights are especially likely to make it difficult for incarcerated people.

Tiana Herring | November 18, 2021

For the poorest people in prison, it’s a struggle to access even basic necessities

Our survey of all 50 states and the BOP reveals that prisons make it hard for people to qualify as indigent—and even those who do qualify receive limited resources.

Stephen Raher and Tiana Herring | November 9, 2021

Show me the money: Tracking the companies that have a lock on sending funds to incarcerated people

We looked at all fifty state departments of corrections to figure out which companies hold the contracts to provide money-transfer services and what the fees are to use these services.

Wanda Bertram | October 28, 2021

The CFPB’s enforcement order against prison profiteer JPay, explained

The company was fined $6 million for exploiting people leaving prison.

Tommaso Bardelli, Zach Gillespie and Thuy Linh Tu | October 27, 2021

Blood from a stone: How New York prisons force people to pay for their own incarceration

A study by members of the New York University Prison Education Program Research Collective gives important first-hand accounts of the damage done when prisons shift financial costs to incarcerated people.

Emily Widra | October 21, 2021

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.

Leah Wang | October 8, 2021

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.

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Short, timely investigations and issue explainers

New data: The changes in prisons, jails, probation, and parole in the first year of the pandemic

Newly released data from 2020 show the impact of early-pandemic correctional policy choices and what kind of change is possible under pressure. But the data also show how inadequate, uneven, and unsustained policy changes have been: most have already been reversed.

Research roundup: The positive impacts of family contact for incarcerated people and their families

Since you asked: What information is available about COVID-19 and vaccinations in prison now?

Despite the new variants of COVID-19, prison systems are failing to publish up-to-date and necessary data and we don’t know much about booster shot access.

Recent studies shed light on what reproductive “choice” looks like in prisons and jails

States that are otherwise hostile to abortion rights are especially likely to make it difficult for incarcerated people.

For the poorest people in prison, it’s a struggle to access even basic necessities

Our survey of all 50 states and the BOP reveals that prisons make it hard for people to qualify as indigent—and even those who do qualify receive limited resources.

Show me the money: Tracking the companies that have a lock on sending funds to incarcerated people

We looked at all fifty state departments of corrections to figure out which companies hold the contracts to provide money-transfer services and what the fees are to use these services.

The CFPB’s enforcement order against prison profiteer JPay, explained

The company was fined $6 million for exploiting people leaving prison.

Blood from a stone: How New York prisons force people to pay for their own incarceration

A study by members of the New York University Prison Education Program Research Collective gives important first-hand accounts of the damage done when prisons shift financial costs to incarcerated people.

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.

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.

Stay Informed

Recommended Reading:

50 state incarceration profiles

Research Library

Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie

Bad Behavior

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