publications
June 28, 2017
Incarceration Rates in an International Perspective
A nation’s rate of incarceration is the number of people incarcerated as a proportion of its total population. Internationally, there is broad variation in the degree to which nations incarcerate their citizens, with a nearly 40-fold difference between the highest and lowest rates. The incarceration rate is often interpreted as a measurement of the degree of punitiveness in a society, although it is an imperfect measurement.
publications
June 26, 2017
Trends in U.S. Corrections
The Sentencing Project's key fact sheet provides a compilation of major developments in the criminal justice system over the past several decades.
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.
news
May 12, 2017
Federal Prison Population will Expand under new DOJ Directive
The Sentencing Project condemns DOJ’s return to harsh enforcement of low-level drug crimes
news
May 09, 2017
Life Without Redemption
When 1 in 7 Americans in prison is serving a life term, it's time to rethink our failed crime policies.
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
May 08, 2017
Number of people serving life in US prisons is surging, new report says
A person in prison who starts his or her sentence in their 30s will, on average, cost the state $1 million per year.
news
April 20, 2017
The Sentencing Project Releases Its 2016 Annual Report
Learn more about how our research and analysis in 2016 played a major role in shaping the policy debate around criminal justice reform.
Theresa McIntyre Smith
In 1999, Theresa Smith was arrested at an airport after she met a drug courier in Roy Mercer’s network and according to the government, identified a suitcase containing eleven kilograms of cocaine for the courier. Smith said she had been told by Mercer that the suitcase contained his nieces’ clothes. For this first-time non-violent offense, Smith was sentenced to a ten-year mandatory prison term.
news
April 14, 2017
Race & Justice News: Examining Racial Disparity in Exonerations
Black people represent almost half of innocent defendants wrongfully convicted of crimes, lawsuit charges Milwaukee police with racially biased stop-and-frisks, and more in the latest Race and Justice News.
news
December 16, 2016
Race & Justice News: Black Women Overrepresented in Solitary Confinement
Among 40 jurisdictions providing data, black women constituted 24% of the total female incarcerated population but comprised 41% of the female restricted housing population. More in our latest Race & Justice News.
news
October 28, 2016
Race & Justice News: "The Jude Effect": Police Brutality Reduces 911 Calls
Study finds that blacks reduce their crime-reporting behavior in the wake of high-profile cases of police brutality, black women with criminal records more likely to face housing discrimination in D.C., and more in our latest Race and Justice News.
news
September 13, 2016
Watch: A 30-Year March Toward Justice
Watch our 30th anniversary video celebrating The Sentencing Project's work over the last 30 years and looking ahead to the future of criminal justice reform
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