HELP US END MASS INCARCERATIONThe 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.
One out of every three people behind bars today is held in a county or city jail. The U.S. jail population has tripled over the last 30 years, driven by an increase in pretrial detention and money bail, policies that keep legally innocent people behind bars before trial and increase the likelihood that they will plead guilty.
We're putting the need for jail reform directly into the national conversation, helping both lawmakers and the public keep a close eye on jail growth and conditions. Below is some of our key research:
How many people are in jail nationwide? Our report and graphics break down where people in the U.S. are incarcerated and why, including how many people are in local jails and what percentage are still legally innocent.
190,600 women are locked up in the U.S., and more are held in local jails than in state prisons — in stark contrast to incarcerated men. Our report explains this trend and explores the impact of jail on women.
We gathered evidence from throughout the country to show how bail companies exploit loopholes in the money bail system and use aggressive tactics to escape consequences when their clients don’t show up for court hearings, and explain why this yet another reason to end the money bail system.
Diversion program" can refer to a wide variety of initiatives to keep people out of jail. We wrote one report that explains them all. Our report envisions the criminal justice process as a highway, with five major "exits" off the road to incarceration.
Our report shows that over half a million cases of COVID-19 in the summer of 2020 — or 13% of all cases — were attributable to the passage of the virus into, through, and out of crowded prisons and jails.
In partnership with Rev. Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition, we offer a concise guide to understanding which people in local jails are eligible to vote, and how to bring down barriers that these voters face to casting a ballot.
We worked with the ACLU to evaluate -- and score -- all 50 states' criminal justice responses to the pandemic. Most states have ignored both the obvious risks to incarcerated people and the warnings of public health experts.
In addition to our two major reports on COVID-19 in prisons and jails, we've published a list of policy recommendations, an explainer on social distancing behind bars, a powerful fact sheet, and much more. We're also tracking where pandemic-related policy changes are taking place.
Our national analysis finds that at least 4.9 million people go to county and city jails each year, over 25% go multiple times, and people who go to jail are disproportionately likely to be impoverished and face serious health problems.
We lay out 33 questions that local decision-makers should ask before green-lighting proposals for jail expansion. We also explain ways that counties can reduce jail crowding without building additional jail space.
What's behind the rapid jail growth of the last three decades? Our report exposes the key drivers — pretrial detention and the renting of jail beds to other authorities — with over 150 state-level graphs and state-by-state comparisons. (We updated data in this report in 2024.)
We explain how the pretrial detention and bail process works. We also show why paying money bail is so difficult: For a typical defendant, money bail represents about eight months' pay, and even more for women and people of color.
Understanding jail assessments — When counties discuss building or expanding their jails, they often commission “jail assessments” to analyze current operations and recommend new construction. These assessments are usually dense, but riddled with obvious flaws. This guide helps you understand these documents and push back on jail construction proposals.
Arguments against jail expansion — The reflexive response to jail overcrowding is often to build a larger jail, but it is rarely the best solution. We’ve collected the resources and data to help advocates empower their communities and educate local decision makers about why jail expansion is not the answer.
Briefings
Why jails and prisons can’t recruit their way out of the understaffing crisis, by Brian Nam-Sonenstein and Emmett Sanders, December 9, 2024 Jails and prisons across the country have record-high vacancies, creating bad working conditions for corrections staff and nightmarish living conditions for incarcerated people. Why haven’t pay raises, benefits, and new facilities turned recruitment around, and what does that tell us about the state of mass incarceration?
New, expanded data on Indian country jails show concerning trends extend to tribal lands, by Emily Widra, October 8, 2024 In this briefing, we look at data that shows in Indian country jails, populations have rebounded from pandemic lows, the detention of women and older adults is increasing, and new offense type data raise questions about why so many people are incarcerated on tribal lands.
New data and visualizations spotlight states' reliance on excessive jailing, by Emily Widra, April 15, 2024 We've updated the data tables and 150+ graphics from our 2017 report to show just how little has changed in our nation's overuse of jails: too many people are locked up in jails, most detained pretrial and many of them are not even under local jurisdiction.
Cautionary jails: Deconstructing the three “C”s of jail construction arguments, by Emmett Sanders, February 20, 2024 Communities across the country have been told that investing in new jail construction is the only way to solve old policy problems, but arguments for new jails can leave them with a billion-dollar case of buyer’s remorse.
Why did prison and jail populations grow in 2022 -- and what comes next?, by Wendy Sawyer, December 19, 2023 Recently published data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics show growing prison and jail populations, but this has little to do with crime. Instead, the trend reflects court systems' slow return to "business as usual" and lawmakers' resurrection of ineffective "tough on crime" strategies.
Not an alternative: The myths, harms, and expansion of pretrial electronic monitoring, by Emmett Sanders, October 30, 2023 Many cities and states are expanding their use of electronic ankle monitors to surveil people released from jail pretrial. But a growing body of research shows this technology is not an effective tool for reducing pretrial populations -- and, in fact, opens up new pathways to incarceration.
High stakes mistakes: How courts respond to “failure to appear”, by Brian Nam-Sonenstein, August 15, 2023 Research shows that while most people who miss court are not dangerous or evading justice, the way courts treat “failure to appear” may make our communities less safe.
Releasing people pretrial doesn't harm public safety, by Sarah Staudt, July 6, 2023 We found four states and nine municipalities that have implemented pretrial reforms and actually measured the results. All of these jurisdictions saw decreases or negligible increases in crime or re-arrest rates after implementing reforms.
Racial disparities in diversion: A research roundup, by Leah Wang, March 7, 2023 Research shows diversion "works," reducing harmful outcomes and increasing access to social services. However, studies also suggest diversion is routinely denied to people of color, sending them deeper into the criminal legal system. We review the research and remind practitioners that most diversion programs aren't designed around racial equity — but should be.
Rise in jail deaths is especially troubling as jail populations become more rural and more female, by Leah Wang, June 23, 2021 New data show record high deaths of people locked up in jail, as jail populations have shifted toward smaller, rural jails and growing numbers of women. A lack of accountability and acknowledgement of women's unique disadvantages all but ensures more deaths to come.
New data on jail populations: The good, the bad, and the ugly, by Alexi Jones and Wendy Sawyer, March 17, 2021 A new BJS report shows that U.S. jails reduced their populations by 25% in the first few months of the pandemic. But even then, the U.S. was still putting more people in local jails than most countries incarcerate in total.
New BJS data reveals a jail-building boom in Indian country, by Emily Widra, Wanda Bertram, and Wendy Sawyer, October 30, 2020 Across the country, local governments are building more jail space rather than working to reduce incarceration. New data shows that this trend is especially visible on tribal lands.
The "services" offered by jails don't make them safe places for vulnerable people, by Alexi Jones, March 19, 2020 In 2016, over 1,000 people died in local jails - many the tragic result of healthcare and jail systems that fail to address serious health problems among the jail population, and of the trauma of incarceration itself.
How race impacts who is detained pretrial, by Wendy Sawyer, October 9, 2019 The government hasn't collected national data on the race or ethnicity of people awaiting trial in jail since 2002. We review the academic literature published since then to offer a more current assessment of racial disparities in pretrial detention.
Jails matter. But who is listening? by Peter Wagner, August 14, 2015. Most of the people who go to prison or jail in a year go to jail, so why don't policymakers pay more attention to jails?
Some private prisons are, um, public by Peter Wagner, June 9, 2016. Private prisons get all the attention, but the hidden truth is that many county jails are profiting off incarceration too.
The life-threatening reality of short jail stays by Bernadette Rabuy, December 22, 2016. BJS data shows suicide is still the leading cause of death in local jails. And most suicides occur shortly after jail admission.
The downstream effect of 35 years of jail growth? A state prison boom by Joshua Aiken, June 14, 2017. Mass incarceration is not a question of prison or jail growth, but both: Putting more people behind bars for low-level crimes leads to entire justice systems bursting at the seams.
Findings from Harris County: Money bail undermines criminal justice goals by Wendy Sawyer and Emily Widra, August 24, 2017. A recent study confirms that money bail increases risks to public safety, affects case outcomes in ways that contribute to more incarceration, and infringes on constitutional rights.
Jail phone companies flood money into sheriff races by Aleks Kajstura, October 12, 2017. New research shows jail phone companies contributing significant sums to sheriff's campaigns, even funding a quarter of one candidate's campaign spending.
Suicide in jails is a national crisis by Bernadette Rabuy, August 4, 2015. BJS report shows that suicide in jails has been leading cause of death from 2000-2013.
Who is in jail? Deep dive by Peter Wagner, December 8, 2015. Jail churn and pre-trial detention are even more important than a quick look at the data suggests. Here, we correct for the fact that a sizable number of people are housed in jails for other agencies.
For people in jail, few services are more critical than visits and phone calls, which allow them to stay connected with their loved ones and lawyers. But jails make staying in touch expensive and difficult, particularly for poor families.
People in jail and their families are a captive market, one that private companies — in collusion with jail administrators — are all too eager to exploit. We are bringing these practices to light and fighting back.
Research Library
Didn't find what you were looking for? We also curate a database of virtually all the empirical criminal justice research available online. See the sections of our Research Library on jails and pretrial detention.
Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2024
Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2024
Women's Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2024
Women's Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2024
Building exits off the highway to mass incarceration: Diversion programs explained
Building exits off the highway to mass incarceration: Diversion programs explained
Mass Incarceration, COVID-19, and Community Spread
Mass Incarceration, COVID-19, and Community Spread
Eligible, but excluded: A guide to removing the barriers to jail voting
Failing Grades: States' Responses to COVID-19 in Jails & Prisons
Other COVID-19 resources
Other COVID-19 resources
Arrest, Release, Repeat: How police and jails are misused to respond to social problems
Arrest, Release, Repeat: How police and jails are misused to respond to social problems
Does our county really need a bigger jail? A guide to avoiding unnecessary jail expansion
Does our county really need a bigger jail? A guide to avoiding unnecessary jail expansion
Era of Mass Expansion: Why State Officials Should Fight Jail Growth
Era of Mass Expansion: Why State Officials Should Fight Jail Growth
Detaining the Poor: How money bail perpetuates an endless cycle of poverty and jail time
Detaining the Poor: How money bail perpetuates an endless cycle of poverty and jail time
Communication and contact
Communication and contact
Exploitation
Exploitation
