Research Library

Our mission is to empower activists, journalists, and policymakers to shape effective criminal justice policy, so we go beyond our original reports and analyses to curate a database of virtually all the empirical criminal justice research available online.

Tips: If you know what you are looking for, you may also search the database. We also have an email newsletter (at right)(at bottom) for new research library updates.

  • COVID-19 (80) Research on the pandemic’s impact on prisons and jails
  • Community impact (106) Research on the impact of the criminal legal system on housing, schools, employment, neighborhoods, and more
  • Conditions of confinement (271) Research on prison and jail conditions such as solitary confinement, labor, discipline, food, and more
  • Courts and trials (164) Research on prosecutors, judges, public defense, court caseloads, and more
  • Crime (284) Curated research on crime, crime rates, and victimization
  • Death penalty (154) Information and data on capital punishment and executions
  • Disability (31) Research on the prevalence of, and challenges faced by, people with disabilities in the criminal legal system
  • Drug policy and treatment (177) Research on punishing and treating drug use in the criminal legal system
  • Economics of incarceration (179) Research on the economic drivers and consequences of mass incarceration
  • Education (134) Curated research on education programs in prisons and the school-to-prison pipeline
  • Families (156) Information and data on the criminal legal system’s impacts on families
  • Felony disenfranchisement and voting rights (93) Information about laws barring people from the polls because of criminal convictions
  • General (165) Broad-based research and information about the criminal legal system
  • Gun control (45) Information and data about gun violence, firearms, and gun control policy
  • Health and healthcare (210) Research on access to healthcare, chronic and infectious disease, mortality, and more
  • Immigration (72) Research on the incarceration and detainment of immigrants
  • Incarceration rates and trends (337) Research documenting the growth of prison and jail populations
  • International incarceration (45) Curated research on incarceration trends worldwide, and how they compare to the U.S.
  • Jails (289) Research on jail populations, jail conditions, jail construction, and more
  • LGBTQ (26) Information and data on the mass criminalization and incarceration of LGBTQ+ people
  • Mental health (88) Research on the prevalence and treatment of mental illness in the criminal legal system
  • Policing (272) Information and data on arrests, traffic stops, law enforcement interactions, and more
  • Poverty and wealth (158) Research on fines, fees, debt, and the criminalization of poor people
  • Pretrial detention (128) Research on the costs and outcomes of detaining people before trial
  • Prison gerrymandering (20) Research on prison-based gerrymandering (see also www.prisonersofthecensus.org)
  • Privatization (104) Information and data on how private companies exploit incarcerated people and their families
  • Probation and parole (127) Information about community supervision policies, conditions, violations, and more
  • Public opinion (50) Research on public perceptions of crime, prison, reform, and more
  • Racial and ethnic disparities (183) Research and statistics on racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal legal system
  • Reentry and recidivism (249) Information and research on the challenges and outcomes for people released from incarceration, including collateral consequences
  • Sentencing policy (142) Research on the rise and impact of excessive criminal sentences
  • Sex-related convictions (17) Research about the unique punishment of sex-related crimes through registries, civil commitment, and other means
  • Women and gender (142) Information and data on gender disparities in the criminal legal system
  • Youth and juvenile justice (399) Research about youth in the criminal legal system

Enter one word from the title, author or topic to search the library:

Advanced search options or view entire database by the date added.


Some of the most recently added reports are:

Tuesday, April 22 2025:

  • Investigation of the Fulton County Jail, U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. November, 2024. "The Jail's failure to provide adequate medical care inside the Jail includes failure to provide confidential healthcare screening, failure to provide sick call slips and respond to sick call requests promptly..."
  • Toward Effectuating the Right to Vote from Jail, Jackie O'Neil. August, 2024. "State legislatures should take AB 286 (Nevada) as a starting point and impose comprehensive, strong obligations on jails to eliminate the barriers to voting in jail and encourage detained Americans to exercise their legal right to vote."
  • Who is jailed, how often, and why: Our Jail Data Initiative collaboration offers a fresh look at the misuse of local jails, Prison Policy Initiative. November, 2024. "While unique jail admissions (the number of individual people admitted to jail) account for three-quarters of jail bookings, more than 1 in 5 people (22%) booked into jail are booked again within 12 months."
  • One Size Fits None: How 'standard conditions' of probation set people up to fail, Prison Policy Initiative. October, 2024. "In our sample, 34 jurisdictions require supervision fees with the cost of probation supervision for twelve months ranging from $170 to $917."


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