HELP US END MASS INCARCERATION The Prison Policy Initiative uses research, advocacy, and organizing to dismantle mass incarceration. We’ve been in this movement for 23 years, thanks to individual donors like you.

Can you help us sustain this work?

Thank you,
Peter Wagner, Executive Director Donate
graph showing the how the United States and 15 countries punish adults found guilty in their courts. The United States typically uses prison. Other countries are more likely to use a range of other sanctions

Data Source: "Table 5.8. Sentencing, mean 1995-2000 percentages of total adults sentenced; life imprisonment per 100,000" in Kauko Aromaa and Markku Heiskanen (eds.) Crime and Criminal Justice Systems in Europe and North America 1995-2004. (Graph: Peter Wagner, 2018)

This graph originally appeared in Incremental declines can’t erase mass incarceration.

Stay Informed

Get the latest updates:


And our other newsletters:







Stay Informed


Get the latest updates:



Share on 𝕏 Donate