What’s New
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Changes to federal race & ethnicity standards give states an opportunity to improve data for prison gerrymandering reform States should consider new race and ethnicity standards when preparing to implement prison gerrymandering reform in the 2030 redistricting cycle
April 29: Prisoners of the Census Blog
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Lethal injection in the modern era: Cruel, unusual, and racist by Reprieve
April 25: Research Library: Death Penalty
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New data and visualizations spotlight states’ reliance on excessive jailing We’ve updated the data tables and 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.
April 15: Briefings
Featured report
Reforms Without Results: Why states should stop excluding violent offenses from criminal justice reforms
Too many states are passing criminal justice reforms that ignore the majority of people in prison: people convicted of violent crimes. In Reforms Without Results, we explain why people convicted of violence must be allowed to benefit from laws that expand early release, create alternatives to incarceration, and ease the reentry process. Our report includes a concise, rigorous overview of the existing research on violent crime, as well as an interactive U.S. map showing which states have passed laws that exclude people convicted of violence.
Mass incarceration, state by state
Learn about the national prison crisis and how we can begin to turn the tide on mass incarceration. Then, drill down to your state. Be sure to also check out our pages focused on D.C., and the incarceration of Native people.
If our work is new to you, you might want to check out our 2022-2023 annual report.
Recommended Reading:
Why are calls from prisons and jails so expensive?
We look at the progress in the fight for phone justice and what comes next.
Research Library
We curate a searchable database of 4,000+ original research reports, organizing each entry by topic and adding brief summaries.
Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie
The U.S. incarcerates over 1.9 million people, more than any other country. Where are they locked up and why? Read our report.
Jails and bail: Our research
One out of three people behind bars is in a local jail. Our research drives jail reform.