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 (72) The pandemic’s impact on prisons and jails
- Community Impact (254) Impact of justice system on communities, includes housing, employment, schools
- Conditions of Confinement (384)
- Crime and Crime Rates (380) Information on type of crime/frequency
- Death Penalty (160) Data, policy, and analysis of the death penalty
- Disability (26)
- Drug Policy (220) Analysis of drug policy and its effects on the prison system
- Economics of Incarceration (289) The economic drivers and consequences of mass incarceration
- Education (124) Correctional education and the school-to-prison pipeline
- Families (142) The justice system's impact on families.
- Felon Disenfranchisement (102) Barring people from the polls because of criminal convictions
- General (161) Atlases, indices, and broad-based source material
- Gun Control (47) Statistics on gun violence, suggestions for gun control
- Health impact (272) Public health, access to healthcare, and mortality
- Immigration (67) Detainment practices and statistics
- Incarceration Rates Growth Causes (472)
- International Incarceration Comparisons (58)
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Advanced search options or view entire database by the date added.
Some of the most recently added reports are:
Friday, September 1 2023:
- Jails in Indian Country, 2022
Bureau of Justice Statistics.
May, 2023.
"Indian country jails admitted 5,570 persons during June 2022, a 4% decline from the 5,780 admissions during June 2021."
- Removing Barriers to Pretrial Appearance
Lessons Learned from Tulsa County, Oklahoma, and Hennepin County, Minnesota,
Urban Institute.
June, 2021.
"Most respondents agreed or strongly agreed that Court Ride [in Hennepin Cty, Minn.] had reduced barriers to court appearance (87.51%) and FTA rates for their clients (78.13%), and that it had reduced the number of their clients in custody (64.51%)."
- Findings and Policy Solutions from New Hanover, Orange, and Robeson Counties
North Carolina Court Appearance Project.
April, 2022.
"About 1 in 6 jail bookings in project counties occurred solely because of a failure to appear."
- Violent Victimization by Race or Hispanic Origin, 2008-2021
Bureau of Justice Statistics.
July, 2023.
"The rate of robbery victimization for black (2.8 per 1,000) and Hispanic persons (2.5 per 1K) was higher than for white persons (1.6 per 1K), but the rate of simple assault was higher for white persons (13.3) than black (11.3) or Hispanic (10.6) persons."
- Sentencing Decisions for Persons in Federal Prison for Drug Offenses, 2013-2018
Bureau of Justice Statistics.
July, 2023.
"The number of people in federal prison for drug offenses decreased 24% during the 5-year period from fiscal yearend 2013 to fiscal yearend 2018."
- Juveniles Incarcerated in U.S. Adult Jails and Prisons, 2002-2021
Bureau of Justice Statistics.
June, 2023.
"In 2021, local jails had custody of 1,960 juveniles while state and federal adult prisons held 290."
Thursday, August 31 2023:
- The Cost of Doing Business:
Why Criminal Justice Reform Is the Right Investment to Strengthen Mississippi's Economy and Workforce,
FWD.us.
June, 2023.
"Each year, Mississippi's economy -- especially its small businesses -- lose an estimated $2.7 billion in earnings due to criminal convictions."
- SMH:
The rapid & unregulated growth of e-messaging in prisons,
Prison Policy Initiative.
March, 2023.
"Per-minute pricing [on tablet use] acts as a literacy tax, making it far more expensive for people who struggle to read and respond to messages."
- Reducing Multigenerational Poverty in New York Through Sentencing Reform
Jared Trujillo.
November, 2023.
"New York led the national charge in enacting harsh sentencing laws, while simultaneously shrinking its social safety net."
- Pretrial Detention, Release, and Bail Practice in Oregon
Oregon Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
June, 2021.
"There is a lack of data collected by Oregon's county and municipal jails...there are 16 different jail management systems across the state."
- High stakes mistakes:
How courts respond to "failure to appear",
Prison Policy Initiative.
August, 2023.
"We find that, on balance, "failure to appear" policies are about punishment, not improving appearance rates."
Tuesday, August 29 2023:
- COVID-19 amplified racial disparities in the US criminal legal system
Brennan Klein, C. Brandon Ogbunugafor, Benjamin J. Schafer et al.
April, 2023.
"States with fewer short-term prison sentences (Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Oregon and Wyoming) did not show the same racial disparity we found nationally."
- Systemic Failures:
Conditions in California State Prisons During the Covid-19 Pandemic,
Prison Accountability Project at UCLA School of Law.
June, 2023.
"According to respondents, the [California Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation] ignored over 80 percent of incarcerated people's requests for medical care and failed to protect people with pre-existing conditions from COVID-19."
- Moving Justice Forward:
A Blueprint for the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice,
Center for Justice Innovation.
January, 2023.
"Stakeholders expressed great interest in piloting and eventually expanding the use of restorative justice practices in local courts."
- Digital inequalities in time of pandemic:
COVID-19 exposure risk profiles and new forms of vulnerability,
Laura Robinson, Jeremy Schulz, Aneka Khilnani et al.
June, 2020.
"...Restrictions imposed in the name of security already sharply curtail communication beyond prison walls, yet...fresh provision for digital communication might deliver outsized benefits."
(This article covers digital and social inequalities for many groups, including older adults, gig workers, and incarcerated people.)
- Office of the Public Defender Parole Project:
Revised Report,
New Jersey Office of the Public Defender.
September, 2021.
"From January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2019, 445 people who were sentenced to life in prison appeared before the Parole Board...39 applicants (8.76%) were paroled."
- Collaborating Across the Walls:
A Community Approach to Parole Justice,
Michelle Lewin and Nora Carroll.
October, 2017.
"Many applicants appear before the Board numerous times, often on nine or ten occasions, before they are granted release, forcing them to languish in prison for many years longer than their minimum sentence."
- Only Young Once:
The Urgent Need for Reform of Louisiana's Youth Justice System,
Southern Poverty Law Center.
July, 2023.
"Incarcerating a young person in Louisiana for one year ($156,570) is more expensive than the annual costs of enrollment in Louisiana public schools, Tulane University, and Louisiana State University combined ($118,571)."
Friday, August 25 2023:
- The Criminalization of Poverty in Kentucky:
How Economic Crises and Flawed Reforms Fueled an Incarceration Boom,
Vera Institute of Justice.
August, 2023.
"By turning to criminal legal fines and fees to fund court and jail operations, jurisdictions across Kentucky create a vicious cycle that traps people in poverty and makes it more difficult for people to lead stable lives after incarceration."