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Why did prison and jail populations grow in 2022 — and what comes next?
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) recently released its annual reports on prison and jail populations in 2022, noting that the combined state and federal prison populations had increased for the...
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Going back to Cali: Revisiting California’s parole release system
In 2019, we graded parole release systems across the US. Though no state performed particularly well, the 16 states that have mostly abolished discretionary parole since 1976 received our lowest grade,...
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Force multipliers: How the criminal legal and child welfare systems cooperate...
The harmful effects of the criminal legal system on children are well-established. For years, evidence has shown that a parent’s involvement with the criminal legal system can harm kids, and...
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Zombie politics: The return of failed criminal legal system policies in 2023...
For the first time in over a decade, prison and jail populations increased in 2022, and state prison systems and the federal Bureau of Prisons are predicting future growth. Although there are many...
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Addicted to punishment: Jails and prisons punish drug use far more than they...
Jails and prisons are often described as de facto mental health and substance abuse treatment providers, and corrections officials increasingly frame their missions around offering healthcare.1 But...
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Prison disciplinary fines only further impoverish incarcerated people and...
In yet another example of how the criminal legal system extracts wealth from the poorest families, at least one-third of prison systems nationwide charge fines as a punishment for a rule violation....
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Oregon shouldn’t go backwards on drug decriminalization
In 2020, Oregon adopted Measure 110, a transformational change to the way drug possession and addiction were treated by the criminal legal system. Instead of incarceration and criminal charges,...
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Cautionary jails: Deconstructing the three “C”s of jail construction arguments
Arapahoe County, Colorado, is expanding its jail just four years after taxpayers rejected a proposition to raise taxes for a new one. The justification for the $46 million expansion? Proponents cite...
View ArticleSince you asked: How many women and men are released from each state’s...
We often think about incarceration as something only experienced behind bars, but millions of people leave correctional facilities every year in serious need of services and reentry resources....
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New data and visualizations spotlight states’ reliance on excessive jailing
Table of Contents Warehousing effect Renting jail space COVID’s Impact Recommendations State-specific graphics Methodology Data appendices Footnotes One out of every three people behind bars is being...
View ArticleJournalists: Here’s how to uncover how the money in “Inmate Welfare Funds” is...
Our new report Shadow Budgets: How mass incarceration steals from the poor to give to the prison explains that prisons and jails squeeze revenue out of incarcerated people and their families via paid...
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Donald Trump can still be president, but he could be barred from being a...
Last week, former President Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felonies in New York — becoming the first former (and perhaps future) president to be convicted of a felony. While the conviction will not...
View ArticleWhat can journalists do when prisons and jails cite HIPAA to withhold...
Prisons and jails often claim that the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rule prevents them from sharing information about in-custody deaths with the press, or even...
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Two years after the end of Roe v. Wade, most women on probation and parole...
June 24 marks two years since the Supreme Court stripped Americans of their constitutional right to abortion. The court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization permitted state...
View ArticleFCC votes to slash prison and jail calling rates and ban corporate kickbacks
Today, the Federal Communications Commission voted to implement several new regulations on phone and video calling services in prisons and jails.1 As required by the 2022 Martha Wright-Reed Fair and...
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Research roundup: Evidence that a single day in jail causes immediate and...
The criminal legal system views pretrial detention as a necessary sacrifice that prioritizes crime prevention and court attendance over personal liberty. However, detention is demonstrably ineffective...
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An Act of Regression: Louisiana takes a giant step backward in parole and...
With the passage of HB 9, Louisiana recently became the 17th state since 1976 — and the first in nearly a quarter of a century — to eliminate discretionary parole as a pathway for releasing people...
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10 ways that mass incarceration is an engine of economic injustice
Table of Contents Mass incarceration traps low-income communities in poverty #1: Sentencing poor people to deeper poverty #2: Impoverishing the families and communities of incarcerated people #3:...
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New research links medical copays to reduced healthcare access in prisons
In most states, people incarcerated in prisons must pay medical copays1 and fees for physician visits, medications, dental treatment, and other health services. While these copays may be as little as...
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Mass incarceration is on the ballot
Elected Offices Local Offices District Attorneys Sheriffs County Commissioners Mayors and City Commissioners City Auditors Local Judges Coroners City Clerks School Board Members State Offices...
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