HELP US END MASS INCARCERATION The 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.

Can you help us sustain this work?

Thank you,
Peter Wagner, Executive Director
Donate
Graph showing the number of people incarcerated under state and federal jurisdiction by facility type, 1999-2014

Data Source: Compiled by the Prison Policy Initiative, using data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics National Prisoner Statistics series. (Graph: Peter Wagner, 2016)

This graph originally appeared in Some private prisons are, um, public.

Since 1999, private prisons and local jails have housed roughly the same number of those serving state and federal prison sentences. But when those interested in justice reform talk about profiting off of mass incarceration, they almost always leave local jails out of the conversation.

Stay Informed

Get the latest updates:


And our other newsletters:







Stay Informed


Get the latest updates:



Share on 𝕏 Donate