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Issues

Learn about our key areas of focus to end mass incarceration and promote racial justice.
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Racial Justice

Ending mass incarceration must include combating racial inequality and disparity.

Sentencing Reform

It's time to take a second look at extreme sentences.

Voting Rights

The criminal justice system shouldn't have a say in our democracy.

Youth Justice

We must end youth incarceration and provide all youth with the support they need to thrive.
Featured Campaign

Second Look Network

Ending mass incarceration requires taking a second look at extreme sentences. Learn more about our coalition of legal professionals providing direct representation to incarcerated individuals seeking relief from lengthy or unfair sentences.
Advocacy

The Sentencing Project is a leading voice for criminal legal reform.
Advocacy overview
Our Work

Explore our work at the national, state, and local level to promote a fair and effective criminal legal system.

Second Look Network

The Network serves, connects, and empowers legal advocates across the country to bring people serving excessive and unfair prison sentences home.

Get Involved

Changing laws and policies to end mass incarceration require a mass movement. Here are ways you can take action.
Featured Campaign

50 Years and a Wake Up

America’s 50-year experiment with mass incarceration has been a profound moral and policy failure. Partner with us to end mass incarceration!
Research

Explore our publications, fact sheets, data & more.
Overview
Growth in Mass Incarceration

The United States is the world’s leader in incarceration. Get the facts and statistics on trends in U.S. incarceration.

U.S. Criminal Justice Data

View state-level data to provide a snapshot of key indicators of mass incarceration's impact in the United States

Detailed Data Tool

Compare state-level incarceration data for youth and adults with this expanded data set

Resource Library

Search important resources published by The Sentencing Project, including research publications, advocacy briefs, webinars, and more
Featured Publication

One in Five

One in five Black men born in 2001 is likely to experience imprisonment within their lifetime. Our four-part “One in Five” series examines racial inequities in America’s criminal legal system, as well as highlights promising reforms.
- Glossary of Criminal Justice Terms

Advocacy Letter

Comment on the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s Proposed Amendments for 2025-2026 Amendment Cycle, Part 2

March 18, 2026

The Sentencing Project submitted a comment to the U.S. Sentencing Commission on its proposed amendments for the 2025-2025 amendment cycle.

Related to: Sentencing Reform, Incarceration

The Sentencing Project submitted a comment to the U.S. Sentencing Commission on its proposed amendments for the 2025-2025 amendment cycle. The comment addresses the Commission’s potential changes to the sentencing guidelines related to non-incarceration sentences, the career offender guideline, and the human smuggling guideline.

Read the letter here.

Related Resources

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Advocacy Letter

The Sentencing Project Supports Legislation to Restore Voting Rights to All Kentuckians

The Sentencing Project is urging Kentucky lawmakers to support and amend Senate Bill 80 to allow for the full restoration of voting rights for all individuals with felony convictions, both inside and outside of prison.

March 10, 2026

Press Release

New Report: States Are “Re‑Punishing the Past,” Adding Years—Often a Decade or More—to Already Long Prison Terms Because of Old Convictions

A new report from The Sentencing Project finds that across multiple states, criminal records account for a large share of already lengthy prison sentences, often adding years or even decades to sentences, without evidence of community safety benefits.

February 25, 2026

Report

Re-Punished for the Past: How Criminal Records Increase Prison Terms and Racial Injustice

Prior criminal records account for a large share of already lengthy prison sentences, often adding years or even decades to sentences, without evidence of community safety benefits.

By Nazgol Ghandnoosh, Ph.D., Bobby Boxerman, Ph.D. and Celeste Barry on February 25, 2026