Prison Policy Initiative newsletter archive
Periodic news on the Prison Policy Initiative and our work to expose the broader harm of mass incarceration.
- New report reveals successes and limitations of medications for opioid use disorder in New York state prisons
March 18, 2025 - New report, Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2025, shows prisons and jails continuing to lock up more people after a decade of consistent declines
March 11, 2025 - WEBINAR: Challenging myths about recidivism, March 19
February 24, 2025 - New Prison Policy Initiative report explains notoriously bad correctional healthcare
February 19, 2025 - Jailing the homeless: New data shed light on unhoused people in local jails
February 11, 2025 - New research finds higher county jail rates have deadly consequences for entire communities
February 6, 2025 - New Prison Policy Initiative report, Bad Behavior, provides first 50-state analysis of prison disciplinary systems in the era of mass incarceration
January 28, 2025 - Despite fewer people experiencing police contact, racial disparities in arrests, police misconduct, and police use of force continue
January 7, 2025 - 12 of our most important reports, briefings, and wins from 2024
December 23, 2024 - Why jails and prisons can’t recruit their way out of the understaffing crisis
December 16, 2024 - Who is jailed, how often, and why: Our Jail Data Initiative collaboration offers a fresh look at the misuse of local jails
December 9, 2024 - 34 criminal legal system reforms that can win in 2025
December 4, 2024 - Talking turkey about the death penalty: outgoing governors and the president must use their clemency power now
November 19, 2024 - New report, One Size Fits None, explores counterproductive and difficult conditions of probation in all 50 states
October 15, 2024 - New, expanded data on Indian country jails show concerning trends extend to tribal lands
October 8, 2024 - Candidates for office use jail and prison as "one size fits all" policy solutions. Here’s how to push back
September 25, 2024 - Prison Banned Books Week: Books give incarcerated people access to the world, but tablets are often used to wall them off
September 16, 2024 - Ending mass incarceration is on the ballot
September 11, 2024 - New research links medical copays to reduced healthcare access in prisons
September 4, 2024 - 10 ways that mass incarceration is an engine of economic injustice
August 27, 2024 - Research roundup: Evidence that even one day in jail has immediate and lasting harms
August 7, 2024 - FCC votes to slash prison and jail calling rates and ban corporate kickbacks
July 18, 2024 - Webinar: Organizing legislative testimony from incarcerated people
July 9, 2024 - States of Incarceration: The Global Context 2024
June 25, 2024 - Two years after the end of Roe v. Wade, most women on probation and parole have to ask permission to travel for abortion care
June 18, 2024 - Donald Trump can still be president, but he could be barred from being a bartender, car salesman — or real estate developer
June 5, 2024 - NEW 50-STATE REPORT: How “Inmate Welfare Funds” use families’ money to pad prison budgets
May 6, 2024 - New data and visualizations spotlight states’ reliance on excessive jailing
April 15, 2024 - Updated charts show the magnitude of prison and jail racial disparities, pretrial populations, correctional control, and more
April 2, 2024 - NEW REPORT: Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2024
March 14, 2024 - NEW NATIONAL REPORT: Women’s Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2024
March 5, 2024 - Since you asked: How many women and men are released from each state’s prisons and jails every year?
February 29, 2024 - Cautionary jails: Deconstructing the three “C”s of jail construction arguments
February 20, 2024 - Prison disciplinary fines only further impoverish incarcerated people and families
February 7, 2024 - Addicted to punishment: Jails and prisons punish drug use far more than they treat it
January 30, 2024 - Zombie politics: The return of failed criminal legal system policies in 2023 – and how to fight back
January 24, 2024 - Force multipliers: How the criminal legal and child welfare systems cooperate to punish families
January 8, 2024 - 12 of our most important reports, briefings, and tools in 2023
December 26, 2023 - Why did prison and jail populations grow in 2022 — and what comes next?
December 19, 2023 - 32 reforms to the criminal legal system ripe for victory in 2024
November 29, 2023 - Guilty by association: When parole and probation rules disrupt support systems
November 8, 2023 - Not an alternative: The myths, harms, and expansion of pretrial electronic monitoring
October 31, 2023 - Ten statistics about the scale and impact of mass incarceration in the U.S.
October 24, 2023 - No Release: Parole grant rates have plummeted in most states since the pandemic started
October 16, 2023 - Updated data and charts: Incarceration stats by race, ethnicity, and gender for all 50 states and D.C.
September 27, 2023 - Why cities should see Housing First as a tool for decarceration
September 11, 2023 - High stakes mistakes: How courts respond to "failure to appear"
August 15, 2023 - The aging prison population: Causes, costs, and consequences
August 2, 2023 - Heat, floods, pests, disease, and death: What climate change means for people in prison
July 19, 2023 - Releasing people pretrial doesn’t harm public safety
July 10, 2023 - New resource: Contending with carveouts: how and why to resist charge-based exclusions in reforms
June 27, 2023 - Breaking news from inside: How prisons suppress prison journalism
June 15, 2023 - Unhoused and under arrest: How Atlanta polices poverty
June 12, 2023 - New data on HIV in prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic underscore links between HIV and incarceration
June 2, 2023 - New report: A blueprint for meaningful probation and parole reform in Connecticut — and other states
May 23, 2023 - What is civil commitment? Recent report raises visibility of this shadowy form of incarceration
May 18, 2023 - New 50-state report shows mass incarceration doesn’t stop at the prison walls
May 10, 2023 - Mortality, health, and poverty: the unmet needs of people on probation and parole
April 3, 2023 - NEW 50-STATE REPORT: The rapid & unregulated growth of e-messaging in prison
March 28, 2023 - Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2023
March 14, 2023 - Racial disparities in diversion: A research roundup
March 8, 2023 - NEW NATIONAL REPORT: Women's Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie
March 1, 2023 - How 12 states are addressing family separation by incarceration — and why they can and should do more
February 27, 2023 - How your local public housing authority can reduce barriers for people with criminal records
February 15, 2023 - Incarcerated people must be at the forefront of Biden Administration and Federal Trade Commission efforts to end “junk fees”
February 8, 2023 - Where people in prison come from: The geography of mass incarceration
January 25, 2023 - Since You Asked: What’s next for prison and jail phone justice now that the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act is law?
January 19, 2023 - How a Medicare rule that ends financial burdens for the incarcerated leaves some behind
January 4, 2023 - New data: Police use of force rising for Black, female, and older people; racial bias persists
December 27, 2022 - 11 of our most important reports, briefings, and tools in 2022
December 21, 2022 - State of Phone Justice 2022: The problem, the progress, and what's next
December 15, 2022 - Why states should change Medicaid rules to cover people leaving prison
November 29, 2022 - Mail scanning: A harsh and exploitative new trend in prisons
November 17, 2022 - 31 criminal justice reforms ripe for victory in 2023 legislative sessions
November 16, 2022 - A how-to guide: Critically reviewing a jail assessment calling for a bigger jail
November 4, 2022 - Jail-based polling locations: A way to fight voter disenfranchisement
October 25, 2022 - New data confirms that prisons neglected COVID-19 mitigation strategies, putting public health at risk
October 13, 2022 - All profit, no risk: How the bail industry exploits the legal system
October 4, 2022 - The state prison experience: Too much drudgery, not enough opportunity
September 8, 2022 - Since you asked: How many people are released from each state’s prisons and jails every year?
August 26, 2022 - Please Mr. Postman: It’s time to create a special postal mail rate for incarcerated people
August 17, 2022 - Both sides of the bars: How mass incarceration punishes families
August 11, 2022 - New data: LGBT people across all demographics are at heightened risk of violent victimization
July 11, 2022 - New Correctional Contracts Library shows you what companies are profiting off of incarcerated people in your area
July 6, 2022 - What the end of Roe v. Wade will mean for people on probation and parole
June 30, 2022 - New report, Chronic Punishment, reveals the unmet health needs of people in state prisons
June 22, 2022 - Updated charts provides insights on racial disparities, correctional control, jail suicides, and more
May 19, 2022 - Prisons and jails will separate millions of mothers from their children in 2022
May 5, 2022 - Insufficient funds: How prison and jail “release cards” perpetuate the cycle of poverty
May 3, 2022 - Executive inaction: States and the federal government fail to use commutations as a release mechanism
April 28, 2022 - Prisons are a daily environmental injustice
April 20, 2022 - New report, Beyond the Count, uses demographic data to show the social disadvantage of people locked up in state prisons
April 13, 2022 - What the Survey of Prison Inmates tells us about trans people in state prison
March 31, 2022 - What does successful bail reform look like? To start, look to Harris County, Texas.
March 29, 2022 - Untangling why prison & jail populations dropped early in the pandemic
March 24, 2022 - NEW: Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2022
March 14, 2022 - Mistrust of correctional healthcare is stopping incarcerated people from getting vaccinated
March 10, 2022 - A new toolkit for advocates working to end mass incarceration
March 2, 2022 - State prisons and local jails appear indifferent to COVID outbreaks, refuse to depopulate dangerous facilities
February 10, 2022 - New data on formerly incarcerated people’s employment reveal labor market injustices
February 8, 2022 - COVID looks like it may stay. That means prison medical copays must go.
February 2, 2022 - NEW DATA: In the first year of COVID, deaths behind bars were up, releases were down
January 11, 2022 - Research roundup: The positive impacts of family contact for incarcerated people and their families
January 4, 2022 - 11 of our most important reports of 2021
December 20, 2021 - Since you asked: What information is available about COVID-19 and vaccinations in prison now?
December 16, 2021 - 30 winnable state criminal justice reforms in 2022
December 15, 2021 - Recent studies shed light on what reproductive “choice” looks like in prisons and jails
December 8, 2021 - For the poorest people in prison, it’s a struggle to access even basic necessities
November 18, 2021 - New report: Tracking the companies that have a lock on sending funds to incarcerated people
November 9, 2021 - The CFPB’s enforcement order against prison profiteer JPay, explained
October 28, 2021 - Despite Delta variant threat, jails & prisons still putting incarcerated people at risk
October 21, 2021 - Native people in prisons and jails: data for Indigenous Peoples' Day
October 8, 2021 - NEW REPORT: How does your state compare to the rest of the world on incarceration? Spoiler: It's not good.
September 8, 2021 - NEW 50-STATE REPORT: Grading prison system responses to COVID-19
September 1, 2021 - New research paints a bleak picture of being pregnant, postpartum or giving birth while incarcerated
August 19, 2021 - How good is your state's public defense system?
July 27, 2021 - New report: Diversion programs explained
July 20, 2021 - Having an incarcerated loved one tied to shorter life expectancies and poorer health
July 13, 2021 - The worst jail assessment we’ve ever seen
July 6, 2021 - New Data: Jail deaths at record level...even before the pandemic
June 24, 2021 - New data shows alarming rises in suicide, homicide, and drug and alcohol-related deaths in state prisons.
June 9, 2021 - Low COVID-19 vaccination rates mean incarcerated people are still at serious risk
May 19, 2021 - Since you asked: How incarceration exacerbates mental illness
May 14, 2021 - What drives city incarceration? Not crime rates...
May 7, 2021 - Over half of all women in U.S. prisons are mothers.
May 5, 2021 - Data: How COVID-19 increased death rates in Florida prisons
April 28, 2021 - It is time for Congress to repeal the Prison Litigation Reform Act
April 26, 2021 - Low rates of COVID-19 vaccinations among corrections officers put incarcerated people at serious risk
April 22, 2021 - Violent crimes against Black and Latinx people receive less coverage and less justice
March 18, 2021 - With a new victory in Iowa, our movement to end prison phone exploitation picks up speed
March 10, 2021 - New graphs reveal overrepresentation of LGBTQ people in the criminal justice system
March 2, 2021 - New 50-state report: How excluding people with criminal records hurts jury diversity
February 18, 2021 - New data clarifies the link between homelessness and incarceration
February 10, 2021 - Parole boards released fewer people in 2020 than 2019, despite pandemic
February 3, 2021 - Parole boards released fewer people in 2020 than 2019, despite pandemic
February 3, 2021 - 27 state criminal justice reforms that are ripe for victory in 2021
January 27, 2021 - Why aren't more states using "good time" credits to get people out of prison?
January 12, 2021 - Incarcerated people are eligible for the new round of stimulus payments
December 30, 2020 - Prisons shouldn’t be charging medical co-pays – especially during a pandemic
December 21, 2020 - NEW 50-STATE REPORT: Mass incarceration led to huge increase in national COVID-19 caseloads
December 15, 2020 - New 48-state survey shows which states are prioritizing people in prison for the COVID-19 vaccine
December 9, 2020 - New data: Prisons and jails fail to reduce populations as COVID-19 cases climb
December 2, 2020 - There's now overwhelming evidence that reducing pretrial populations doesn't hurt public safety
November 18, 2020 - The promise - and peril - of Joe Biden's criminal justice reform platform
November 16, 2020 - How the war on drugs is driving women's incarceration
November 11, 2020 - We analyze the new BJS data on US prison populations and Indian country jails
October 30, 2020 - D.C. data sheds new light on punishments for "technical violations"
October 28, 2020 - New data: Solitary confinement increases risk of death after release
October 14, 2020 - Important updates: Court says IRS can’t deny economic stimulus payments to incarcerated people
October 8, 2020 - NEW: 50-state guide explains who can vote in jail and the barriers to jail voting
October 2, 2020 - Why are prisons and jails rolling back free phone calls for families in need?
September 11, 2020 - Halfway houses, explained
September 10, 2020 - Why lawmakers must do more to support reentry during the pandemic
September 2, 2020 - The most valuable online resources about American policing
August 28, 2020 - Half of states fail to require mask use by correctional staff
August 14, 2020 - New data: Coronavirus isn't over, but most jail populations are rising again
August 5, 2020 - 17 new charts illustrating the racial disparities in mass incarceration
July 28, 2020 - New 50-state report from ACLU and Prison Policy Initiative grades states' COVID-19 responses
June 25, 2020 - A legislative guide for winnable, high-impact criminal justice reforms
June 11, 2020 - 10 key facts from our work about policing in America
June 5, 2020 - Our new infographic shows the dysfunction of "compassionate release"
May 29, 2020 - Senseless “program requirements” keeping people behind bars during a pandemic
May 22, 2020 - The IRS is wrong: Incarcerated people qualify for stimulus checks
May 20, 2020 - Updated report: State and federal prisons lag behind local jails in reducing their populations
May 14, 2020 - New resource: the states with the "oldest" prison populations
May 12, 2020 - Some federal courts are issuing orders to reduce pretrial detention
May 6, 2020 - New BJS reports show correctional populations are stagnant, but demographics are changing
May 5, 2020 - State and federal prisons lag behind local jails in reducing their populations
May 1, 2020 - Hundreds are still jailed for technical parole violations in NYC. Why?
April 24, 2020 - How prepared are state prison systems for a viral pandemic?
April 10, 2020 - We can safely release thousands of people from prison right now - history proves it
April 9, 2020 - NEW REPORT: Why states should stop excluding violent offenses from criminal justice reforms
April 7, 2020 - Special report: what the criminal justice system still needs to do to fight COVID-19
March 27, 2020 - NEW REPORT: Mass Incarceration - The Whole Pie 2020
March 24, 2020 - We're tracking what prisons and jails are doing about COVID-19
March 17, 2020 - Special edition: Five lessons pandemics can teach us about criminal justice reform
March 6, 2020 - New report and data: The geography of incarceration in New York
February 19, 2020 - The new BJS statistics on prison and jail mortality, explained
February 13, 2020 - How counties can strike fairer contracts for jail services
February 7, 2020 - “What percent of the U.S. is incarcerated?” (And other ways to measure mass incarceration)
January 16, 2020 - New report reveals where 48,000 children and teens are locked up and why
December 19, 2019 - New report: State criminal justice reforms that can win in 2020
December 12, 2019 - How prisons neglect pregnant women: a 50-state survey
December 5, 2019 - "Consumer protections" are very different for people in prison
November 21, 2019 - Why is the government releasing less data about the criminal justice system?
November 14, 2019 - New report, Women's Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie, shows that the number of women in local jails is growing
October 29, 2019 - A review of our work over the last year: new data, graphics, and policy victories
October 17, 2019 - How race impacts who is detained pretrial
October 9, 2019 - New analysis shows that local jails impact more people than you think
September 18, 2019 - Mapping the biggest prison phone injustices by state
September 11, 2019 - New Prison Policy Initiative report: How many people go to county jails every year?
August 26, 2019 - After Pell Grants were cut, college participation in prisons dropped by half
August 22, 2019 - Illinois becomes the third state in 2019 to reform harmful prison co-pays
August 8, 2019 - Too many women are leaving prison and jail with no resources or support
July 24, 2019 - The awful consequences of states denying air conditioning in prisons
June 18, 2019 - Why haven't presidential candidates proposed to end the criminalization of poverty?
June 12, 2019 - Women make up a growing share of arrests and report more police use of force
May 14, 2019 - New report: Does our county really need a bigger jail?
May 6, 2019 - Iowa jails charge exorbitant phone rates; Prison Policy Initiative files objections
May 2, 2019 - How many people on probation can afford probation fees?
April 10, 2019 - Victory for phone justice: Securus and ICSolutions abandon attempted merger
April 3, 2019 - New report: Mass Incarceration - The Whole Pie 2019
March 19, 2019 - The number of states with deceptive "free tablet" contracts is growing
March 7, 2019 - How fair is your state's parole system? We gave it a letter grade
February 26, 2019 - New 50-state report: State of Phone Justice
February 11, 2019 - How “progressive” states can be oppressive for people on parole
January 9, 2019 - #Bestof2018
December 31, 2018 - New report ranks all 50 states on “correctional control,” showing huge state disparities in use of probation
December 11, 2018 - New survey suggests jail guards are to blame for most contraband
December 6, 2018 - Our most important successes over the last year
November 29, 2018 - New report: The eight most effective ways to shorten long prison sentences
November 15, 2018 - New report gives visual breakdown of women's incarceration, with a close-up on jails
November 13, 2018 - New York State’s parole reforms haven't gone far enough
November 7, 2018 - New report, Getting Back on Course, shows that prison permanently hinders education
October 30, 2018 - States are asking the wrong people for input on parole decisions
October 25, 2018 - New data shows police twice as likely to use force against people of color
October 18, 2018 - Iowa and Utah end a costly law from the War on Drugs
August 31, 2018 - Why algorithmic risk assessments might treat young people unfairly
August 22, 2018 - New report - Nowhere to Go: Homelessness among formerly incarcerated people
August 14, 2018 - We reply to Securus: The prison phones market is broken enough
August 3, 2018 - How to spot the hidden costs in a “no-cost” tablet contract
July 26, 2018 - NYC to make calls from jail free
July 19, 2018 - New report - Out of Prison & Out of Work
July 10, 2018 - New report compares U.S. state incarceration rates with 166 countries around the world
June 5, 2018 - Urging the Florida DOC to protect in-person visits
May 31, 2018 - New report - The Company Store: A Deeper Look at Prison Commissaries
May 24, 2018 - Essie Justice sheds new light on women with incarcerated loved ones
May 15, 2018 - Prisons and jails can track your phone without a warrant
May 11, 2018 - Probation is shrinking, but still a major driver of incarceration
April 26, 2018 - Target will compensate 41,000 victims of criminal record discrimination
April 12, 2018 - Massachusetts gets closer to protecting in-person jail visits
March 29, 2018 - What 10.6 million jail admissions a year actually looks like
March 22, 2018 - New report - Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2018
March 14, 2018 - N.J. and Cali. make progress to protect in-person visits
March 7, 2018 - New report - Youth Confinement: The Whole Pie
February 27, 2018 - Bringing Latinx voices into the conversation on mass incarceration
January 24, 2018 - New data shows that the "gender divide" in prison populations is widening
January 17, 2018 - New report - The Gender Divide: Tracking women’s state prison growth
January 9, 2018 - #BestOf2017
December 29, 2017 - Criminal justice campaigns that can win in 2018
December 20, 2017 - Media raises urgent questions about banning jail visits
December 14, 2017 - Tracking the impact of the prison system on the economy
December 7, 2017 - A year of hard-won victories
November 16, 2017 - The dismal state of transgender incarceration policies
November 9, 2017 - How American women are left to rot in jail
October 27, 2017 - New Report - Women’s Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2017
October 19, 2017 - Jail phone companies are flooding money into sheriff races
October 12, 2017 - Even video conferencing enthusiasts recognize harms of jail video calling industry
September 28, 2017 - The parallel epidemics of incarceration & HIV in the Deep South
September 14, 2017 - Increasing need to eliminate money bail
August 29, 2017 - What Trump gets wrong about “Stop-and-Frisk” policing
August 17, 2017 - “Too cruel to be true?” Boston Globe slams Sheriff for banning in-person visits
August 9, 2017 - Protecting in-person visits in prisons and jails
July 28, 2017 - New data shines a light on "prosecutor politicians"
July 20, 2017 - New report on the exploitive prison tablet industry
July 6, 2017 - Mental health issues in prison and jail rampant. Treatment? Not so much.
June 29, 2017 - The downstream effect of 35 years of jail growth?
June 20, 2017 - For families of incarcerated dads, Father's day comes at a premium
June 13, 2017 - New Report - Era of Mass Expansion: Why State Officials Should Fight Jail Growth
May 31, 2017 - Washington Post editorial in support of phone justice
May 27, 2017 - Why are Black women disproportionately affected by HIV?
May 18, 2017 - Uncovering the risk of solitary confinement for people over 45
May 2, 2017 - The steep cost of medical co-pays in prison puts health at risk
April 19, 2017 - How much do incarcerated people earn in each state?
April 13, 2017 - Bill takes aim at outdated War-on-Drugs era policy
April 7, 2017 - Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2017
March 14, 2017 - Food for thought: Prison food is a public health problem
March 8, 2017 - Telephone justice and video visitation updates
February 9, 2017 - Following the Money of Mass Incarceration
January 25, 2017 - President Obama’s parting reminders on criminal justice reform
January 10, 2017 - Another century of mass incarceration?
January 4, 2017 - Data update: Incarcerated population inching down
December 29, 2016 - Jail mortality numbers and probation rates are still sky high
December 22, 2016 - New report finds that 12 states and Washington D.C. still automatically suspend driver’s licenses for drug offenses unrelated to driving
December 12, 2016 - Massachusetts charges monthly probation fees to people who can’t afford them
December 8, 2016 - This Giving Tuesday, justice reform needs your support like never before
November 29, 2016 - Celebrating our 15th year fueling justice reform
November 8, 2016 - Untangling Police Poll Data
November 4, 2016 - Video visits are not #RealVisits
September 29, 2016 - The criminal justice system is riddled with racial disparities
August 19, 2016 - Prison commissary giants prepare to merge
July 7, 2016 - New report and infographic: How does your state's incarceration rate compare to the nations of the world?
June 16, 2016 - New Research Clearinghouse updates for June 9, 2016
June 9, 2016 - New Report: Incarceration and supervision by state
June 1, 2016 - Tallying the extent of the Clinton-era crime bills
May 25, 2016 - President Obama's record on clemency: A premature celebration
May 19, 2016 - New Report: Money bail and the poverty of people in jails
May 10, 2016 - 20 years is enough: Time to repeal the Prison Litigation Reform Act
May 6, 2016 - Seeing eye to eye: understanding the limits of video visitation
April 22, 2016 - Driver's license victory in Massachusetts
March 17, 2016 - This Pi Day, new report, Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2016
March 14, 2016 - FCC, your work isn't over. Protect families from new technologies.
February 12, 2016 - Report: Is electronic messaging in prisons and jails innovative or exploitative?
January 21, 2016 - Massachusetts is one step closer to ending relic from War on Drugs
January 15, 2016 - Year in Review
December 31, 2015 - New report: Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2015
December 8, 2015 - This Giving Tuesday, help us uncover the U.S. incarceration crisis
December 1, 2015 - New report: How does women’s incarceration in your state compare to countries across the world?
November 18, 2015 - A historic victory for prison and jail phone justice
October 22, 2015 - Separation by Bars and Miles: New report finds that great distances discourage visits
October 20, 2015 - FCC commissioners reveal details of their proposal to protect all families of incarcerated people
October 1, 2015 - Jails matter. But who is listening?
September 25, 2015 - Prison industry vendors react to "prison reform" talk
September 3, 2015 - New BJS report shows suicide in jails is a national crisis
August 4, 2015 - PPI's recent collaborations with its Young Professionals Network and interns
July 22, 2015 - New report provides the pre-incarceration incomes of the imprisoned
July 9, 2015 - Uncovering Securus' prison phone profits
July 6, 2015 - The prison phone industry's new business model: Fee Harvesting
June 25, 2015 - New animation illustrates the real size of Connecticut Sentencing Enhancement Zones
June 18, 2015 - In memory of Nils Christie, 1928-2015
June 10, 2015 - Securus ends its ban on in-person visits, shifts responsibility to sheriffs
May 6, 2015 - Steep costs of phone calls, for-profit video visits, high-fee release cards, and more
April 14, 2015 - Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should regulate jail release cards
March 18, 2015 - New Study: Maryland taxpayers spend $288 million a year to incarcerate people from Baltimore City
February 25, 2015 - New videos: Video visitation is not "just like Skype"
February 18, 2015 - Portland, Oregon Sheriff reverses ban on in-person visits in Multnomah County jails!
February 9, 2015 - Prison and Jail Video Visitation: A forward-looking idea implemented badly
January 14, 2015 - Best of 2014
December 29, 2014 - Serial's $2,500 Phone Bill and the Prison-Calling Racket
December 18, 2014 - New opportunity to weigh in on FCC prison phone regulation
December 2, 2014 - Dallas County approves video visitation contract
November 12, 2014 - FCC's new prison phone ruling released
October 27, 2014 - FCC considers next steps to protect families from predatory prison and jail telephone industry
October 17, 2014 - Annual Report, FCC prison and jail phone reform, and more
October 3, 2014 - New figures show that mass incarceration is getting bigger
September 16, 2014 - Dallas County protects visting hours, rejects Securus video visitation contract
September 10, 2014 - PPI’s Aleks Kajstura presents at FCC workshop on further regulation of the prison phone industry
August 22, 2014 - High prison phone rates cost parents their parental rights
August 12, 2014 - The Atlantic: Leader of the Unfree World
July 24, 2014 - How does incarceration in your state measure up in the global context?
June 12, 2014 - Three massive new briefings on race, rates and states
May 29, 2014 - Mass., stop suspending driver's licenses for unrelated drug convictions!
May 22, 2014 - PPI helps VlogBrothers take on mass incarceration
April 10, 2014 - New report exposes flaws in Connecticut's sentencing enhancement zone policy
April 1, 2014 - Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie
March 13, 2014 - PPI weighs in on video visitation in New York Times "Room for Debate"
February 24, 2014 - Valentine's Day victory for families
February 14, 2014 - New York Times: Phoning From Prison, at Prices Through the Roof
February 3, 2014 - FCC should remain persistent on prison phone progress
January 17, 2014 - New York Times editorial: Unfair Phone Charges for Inmates
January 7, 2014 - Honoring Nelson Mandela, Freedom Fighter
December 12, 2013 - Tell the FCC to protect ALL families from outrageous prison phone charges
December 4, 2013 - How does the FCC's prison phone regulation affect your phone bill?
November 21, 2013 - Securus thinks families should pay $15 for a single phone call
November 13, 2013 - Zones, phones, and maps, oh my!
October 11, 2013 - New video: Why jails should not ban letters from home
September 9, 2013
Recommended Reading:
Advocacy Toolkit
Resources, tips, and best practices to help advocates working to end mass incarceration.
50 state incarceration profiles
All of our recent reports about prison/jail growth, racial disparities, and more, re-organized by state.
Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie
The U.S. incarcerates nearly 2 million people. Where are they locked up and why? Read our report.
Events
- April 15-17, 2025:
Sarah Staudt, our Director of Policy and Advocacy, will be attending the MacArthur Safety and Justice Challenge Network Meeting from April 15-17 in Chicago. Drop her a line if you’d like to meet up!
Not near you?
Invite us to your city, college or organization.