publications
January 17, 2020
Top Trends in State Criminal Justice Reform, 2019
In recent years most states have enacted reforms designed to reduce the scale of incarceration and the impact of the collateral consequences of a felony conviction. This briefing paper describes key reforms that were prioritized in 2019.
news
December 23, 2019
State Advocacy News: Strategizing to End Life Imprisonment
As the movement to challenge mass incarceration evolves there is growing attention being given to the dramatic impact of life sentences on the prison population. In 2019 national and state groups worked to build the base of support for ending life imprisonment. State advocates and organizers facilitated connections through strategy sessions to support reform.
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.
news
December 19, 2019
A death by any other name
Declining support for the death penalty is a victory, but its presence or absence shouldn't be our sole barometer for a proportionate sentencing regime. Life without parole as the "humane alternative" to death is highly problematic.
news
December 18, 2019
Race & Justice News: Department of Justice Frames Reforms as Anti-Police
The Department of Justice has framed policing and prosecutorial reforms as anti-police. In recent months, other DOJ officials have joined Attorney General William Barr in similarly framing local prosecutorial reforms.
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
December 17, 2019
One Year After the First Step Act: Mixed Outcomes
In commemoration of the sentencing reform law’s passage one year ago this week, The Sentencing Project has published an analysis of the law’s successes, challenges and the reform left undone.
news
November 26, 2019
State Advocacy News: Direct Services to End Life Imprisonment
Community organizations working to challenge life imprisonment are anchoring campaigns to address mass incarceration.
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.
publications
November 25, 2019
The Sentencing Project’s 2019 Annual Newsletter
This past year we have seen a growing movement to include people convicted of serious offenses in criminal justice reform efforts.
news
November 07, 2019
Taking a second look at life imprisonment
In most Western European nations, sentences of more than 20 years are rare either by statute or in practice. The United States, with just 4 percent of the world’s population, houses more than half of the world’s population of people serving life without parole.
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.
news
November 04, 2019
Race & Justice News: Police Departments Reduce Low-Level Arrests
Report finds Los Angeles courts’ mandatory community service is “fundamentally coercive,” Philadelphia's African Americans are disproportionately stuck in probation trap, and more in Race & Justice News.
news
October 31, 2019
State Advocacy Update: Inside-Outside Organizing in Ending Life Imprisonment
Raising awareness about the realities of lifelong prison terms has surfaced new activism in dismantling mass incarceration. This awareness can build on years of advocacy that aligns the lived experiences of those sentenced to life prison terms to activists on the outside.
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.
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