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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 Experience

April Wilkens - Advocate for Survivors of Domestic Violence

"What does it say about a society that treats some of its most victimized and vulnerable citizens with so little compassion and mercy? How do we fix such a terrible injustice?"
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.

Get Involved

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

Second Look Network

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

50 Years and a Wake Up

This year marks the 50th year since the U.S. prison population began its unprecedented surge. 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

The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons

This report documents the rates of incarceration for white, Black and Latinx Americans in each state, identifies three contributors to racial and ethnic disparities in imprisonment, and provides recommendations for reform.
- Glossary of Criminal Justice Terms

Fact Sheet

Media Guide: 10 Crime Coverage Dos and Don’ts

By Nazgol Ghandnoosh, Ph.D.

April 26, 2022

The Sentencing Project’s new media guide can help media outlets develop coverage that will better inform the public and policymakers on how to pursue the most effective and humane public safety policies.

Related to: Collateral Consequences

The Sentencing Project is a research and advocacy organization that promotes effective and humane responses to crime that minimize imprisonment and criminalization by promoting racial/ethnic, economic, and gender justice. News coverage of crime and criminal justice policies has played an integral role in the buildup of mass incarceration and its racial disparities. Many newsrooms are now striving to more accurately and critically cover these issues.

Click to read our guidance to newsrooms and journalists on how to cover crime and criminal justice in ways that would better inform the public and policymakers on how to pursue the most effective and humane public safety policies.

Related Resources

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Event

2023 Annual Meeting on Law and Society

The Sentencing Project organized three panels for the Law & Society Association’s Annual Meeting this summer that will examine mass incarceration’s impact.

Press Release

New Report Finds Nearly 80% Decline in Youth Incarceration

Racial and ethnic disparities in youth incarceration and sentencing persist despite overall decrease in youth offending.

May 16, 2023

Policy Brief

Youth Justice by the Numbers

Between 2000-2020, there has been a 77% decline in youth incarceration. However, racial and ethnic disparities in youth incarceration and sentencing persist despite overall decrease in youth offending.

By Joshua Rovner on May 16, 2023