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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

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

March 10, 2026

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.

Related to: Voting Rights, State Advocacy

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. We argue that ending felony disenfranchisement strengthens democracy and improves community safety by fostering civic responsibility to help reduce recidivism rates among voters impacted by the criminal legal system.

Read our full letter here and find a memo with disenfranchisement estimates here.

Related Resources

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Fact Sheet

Virginia Should Restore Voting Rights to Over a Quarter Million Citizens

Virginia has the fourth-highest disenfranchised population in the nation, behind only Florida, Texas, and Tennessee.

February 11, 2026

Press Release

Over a Quarter Million Virginians Are Banned from Voting

New Sentencing Project brief reveals jarring gaps in democratic representation thanks to felony disenfranchisement.

February 11, 2026

Testimony

Testimony in Support of Guaranteeing Voting Access to Individuals Released from State Prisons

Enacting House Bill 115 would be part of Maryland’s long arc to guarantee voting rights for persons impacted by the criminal legal system.

By Nicole D. Porter on February 4, 2026