The Sentencing Project Releases Its 2015 Annual Report

We’re pleased to announce the release of The Sentencing Project’s 2015 Annual Report, which documents our contributions in a whirlwind year for criminal justice reform.

In Congress, we saw substantial progress on sentencing reform legislation that would address some of the fundamental injustices of the drug war, while at the state level, initiatives to reduce the scale of incarceration gained support among diverse constituencies.

Since 1986, The Sentencing Project has played a major role in producing research and analysis designed to shape the policy debate on these issues.

The highlights of reforms that we and our allies achieved during this past year include the following:

• The Sentencing Project’s Executive Director Marc Mauer was called to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee at its consideration of the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, and the Judiciary Committees in both the House and Senate subsequently adopted versions of this bill.
• The Sentencing Project played a key supporting role in successful state campaigns in Alabama and Texas to scale back felony drug bans on welfare benefits and food stamps.
• The Sentencing Project’s research and analysis captured broad media attention, with citations from over 700 media outlets across the country.

We’re gratified that our perspectives are reaching a wide audience, but we also recognize the challenges ahead. We hope to see continued progress for reform in 2016 and will look forward to updating you as the year unfolds.