Prison Policy Initiative

🚨NEW: Last year, the number of people incarcerated in the U.S. increased again. The driving factor? President Trump’s deportation agenda. Our annual report, The Whole Pie, gives the big picture of mass incarceration. Here are some key takeaways 🧵

Learn more 👇 prisonpolicy.org/blog/2025/06/2…

Jail expansion vs. decarceration is a matter of life and death. Data shows that county-level jail incarceration is associated with an increase in deaths — hurting the entire community. Keep that in mind as DHS & ICE eye warehouses to expand their detention network.

Which state has adopted the strongest law restricting ICE activity? Can local officials block ICE from building more detention facilities—and do zoning rules matter? You asked, we answered nine questions on how localities are responding to ICE. boltsmag.org/how-state-and-…

🧵(1/5) Here is what women inside Bedford Hills Correctional Facility — NY's largest women's prison — are reporting right now. Three people have died in four weeks. Two by suicide. @GovKathyHochul @NYSDOCCS must act. ⬇️ #Justice4BedfordHills → CTA: nhli.me/Justice4Bedford

"Jails and prisons as a catch-all solution has starved communities like mine of money and the freedom it grants—and it has also utterly failed to deliver the safety our communities deserve." A public defender sounds off on Gideon Day: inquest.org/public-defense…

Each year, the U.S. spends $445 billion on mass incarceration. Less than 2% of that goes toward indigent defense — public defenders, and private counsel appointed by courts, representing poor folks who can't afford a lawyer. Does that look like a system invested in "justice"?

Here are 9 ways that states can strengthen their public defense system 👇 prisonpolicy.org/blog/2021/07/2…

63 years ago today, Gideon v. Wainwright established the right to counsel for those charged with a crime Public defenders are vital to ensuring that people have representation in the legal system. Unfortunately, all too often, public defense systems are underfunded & overworked.

Powerful report from @PrisonPolicy: 'Winnable Reforms in 2026' highlights dozens of achievable changes that could reduce #massincarceration, end harmful practices like #solitaryconfinement, and improve reentry—without needing massive new laws. prisonpolicy.org/reports/winnab…

Among the 35 jail births identified in the news over 10 years, jail staff ignored repeated cries for help or medical assistance in at least 24 cases. The carceral system is no place for pregnant people.

In 2023, IL stopped charging people for their freedom while awaiting trial. Across the US though, most people caged in county jails are still locked up only because they can't afford to pay a money bond. This @PrisonPolicy graphic shows the current state of pretrial jailing.

Learn more: #disability" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">prisonpolicy.org/reports/chroni…

The bottom line is that the U.S. treats disabilities as a criminal offense to be policed — and it doesn’t make communities safer. Instead, it’s time to invest in programs that focus on health & wellbeing, and connect people with the services they need.

This alarming data is true — and it doesn't stop with courts. Disabled people are overrepresented in all interactions with the criminal legal system, and at all points, the system is failing them. 🧵

"Can it really be true that most people in #jail are legally innocent? How much of #MassIncarceration is a result of the war on drugs, or the profit motives of private prisons? Have popular reforms really triggered a crime wave?" via @PrisonPolicy prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie202…

Between 2025 and 2026, the number of people detained by ICE on any given day grew by nearly 60%. Thanks to Trump's deportation agenda, expanded immigration detention accounts for almost all of the growth in mass incarceration since last year.