publications
April 24, 2018
Families and Mass Incarceration
In the United States mothers and fathers go to prison at troubling rates. One of every 12 American children, more than 5.7 million kids under age 18, have experienced parental incarceration at some point during their lives.
news
April 23, 2018
Race & Justice News: Louisiana’s Non-Unanimous Juries Disadvantage African Americans
On average, Louisiana sends one person to prison every five days on the decision of a divided jury—a practice that disproportionately impacts African Americans. Learn more in Race & Justice News.
Dorothy Gaines
Dorothy Gaines's life changed when Alabama state police raided her home for drugs. Police found no evidence of Gaines having possessed or sold drugs, yet federal prosecutors charged Gaines with drug conspiracy.
news
April 20, 2018
Trump’s commitment to a renewed War on Drugs
Officials should not see this public health crisis as an invitation to exacerbate mass incarceration.
publications
April 19, 2018
Report to the United Nations on Racial Disparities in the U.S. Criminal Justice System
The Sentencing Project submitted a report to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance
Willie Mays Aikens
In 2008, Willie Mays Aikens made headlines when a federal judge reduced his lengthy prison term to 14 years as a result of the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s adjustment to the crack cocaine sentencing guidelines. Aikens was released in June 2008.
publications
April 10, 2018
Letter to Subcommittee Hearing on Defeating Fentanyl: Addressing the Deadliest Drugs Fueling the Opioid Crisis
The Sentencing Project outlines lessons learned from the War on Drugs and recommends that federal resources be directed towards policies that will expand access to drug treatment to stop the skyrocketing death toll from overdoses caused by fentanyl and other opioids.
news
March 30, 2018
Race & Justice News: Jackson, MS to Stop Releasing Mug Shots of People Shot by Police
"The last image of any person should not be on the worst day of their life," said Jackson Mayor. Learn more in Race & Justice News.
December 01, 2017
James Inge
James D. Inge is one of 300 individuals age 60 or older arrested between 1965 and 1980 that was sentenced to life imprisonment in Pennsylvania. Learn more about his campaign to give rehabilitated seniors serving life a second chance.
publications
March 29, 2018
The Sentencing Project Releases its 2017 Annual Report
Learn more about how our research and analysis in 2017 played a major role in shaping the policy debate around criminal justice reform.
news
March 28, 2018
Punitive responses to gang violence are not effective
Residents of the communities that experience gang crime want it to stop, and there are better ways to make that happen than sending more people to prison for ever longer sentences.
Kemba Smith
At 24 years old, Kemba Smith was sentenced to 24.5 years in prison for conspiracy to participate in her boyfriend's drug activities, a non-violent, first-time offense. For years, her parents galvanized a tireless movement seeking clemency for their daughter.
publications
March 27, 2018
National coalition rejects death penalty and increased penalties for drug offenses
Sixty-two faith, civil rights, treatment and legal organizations condemn accelerating the use of the death penalty and urge the Trump Administration to support proven public health strategies to end the opioid crisis, reduce problematic drug use and save lives.
news
March 26, 2018
State Advocacy News: Challenging mass incarceration
Efforts are underway to expand voting rights, recalibrate life prison terms, and counter efforts to enhance penalties
Christopher Poulos
When Chris Poulos was arrested, he experienced firsthand the difference that money can make in the criminal justice system. He recounts the experience in his own words.
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