Sarah Staudt | March 4, 2026

Bad Omens: Reform rollbacks in Washington D.C. are a warning sign for state-level advocates

Bills in Congress that repeal bail reform, worsen mandatory minimums, and further criminalize youth threaten to undo decades of criminal legal system reform in D.C.

Jacob Kang-Brown | January 8, 2026

How many jail stays are due to missed court dates?

Failing to make it to a court appearance – routine for attorneys and witnesses – leads to 19 million additional nights in jail each year for people accused of crimes.

Emily Widra | December 18, 2025

Large Minnesota study underscores disproportionate rates of health problems among recently incarcerated and unhoused people

In a study of more than 4.3 million people in Minnesota, researchers found widespread disparities in health conditions between the general population and people who were recently unhoused, jailed, or imprisoned.

Jacob Kang-Brown and Brian Nam-Sonenstein | December 11, 2025

New ICE arrest data show the power of state and local governments to curtail mass deportations

Using fresh data on ICE arrests through mid-October from the Deportation Data Project, we examine how jails continue to facilitate mass deportation, spotlighting important opportunities for resistance at the state and local levels.

Emily Widra | October 28, 2025

Almost half of all incarcerated people are in rural jails and prisons and at risk of losing access to hospitals

The Trump administration's One Big Beautiful Bill Act will result in the closure of many rural hospitals, leaving people in the surrounding communities — including those in prisons and jails — facing elevated healthcare costs and limited access to necessary healthcare.

Emily Widra | April 17, 2025

New national data help fill 20-year data gap: Offense data for people in local jails

Our analysis of Jail Data Initiative data offers the first detailed, national view of the criminal charges for which people are jailed since the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ 2002 survey. We look at the one-day jail population as well as bookings over a full year; ‘top’ charges versus all charges; and break down trends by sex, jail size, and region.

Leah Wang | February 11, 2025

Jailing the homeless: New data shed light on unhoused people in local jails

Our analysis of Jail Data Initiative data confirms the troubling practice of shuffling unhoused people into jails, at enormous moral and fiscal cost.

Emily Widra and Wendy Sawyer | January 30, 2025

New research finds higher county jail rates have deadly consequences for entire communities

A recent study from a researcher at University of Pennsylvania finds that higher jail rates are associated with higher death rates, especially for Black people and women.

Emily Widra and Wendy Sawyer | November 27, 2024

Who is jailed, how often, and why: Our Jail Data Initiative collaboration offers a fresh look at the misuse of local jails

Using a novel data source, we examine the flow of individuals booked into a nationally-representative sample of jails along lines of race, ethnicity, sex, age, housing status, and type of criminal charge.

Emily Widra | October 8, 2024

New, expanded data on Indian country jails show concerning trends extend to tribal lands

In Indian country jails, populations have rebounded from pandemic lows, the detention of women and older adults is increasing, and new offense type data raise questions about why so many people are incarcerated on tribal lands.

Brian Nam-Sonenstein | August 6, 2024

Research roundup: Evidence that a single day in jail causes immediate and long-lasting harms

Recent research suggests the onset of pretrial detention’s criminal legal system, social, and economic harms is earlier than previously thought.

Emily Widra | April 15, 2024

New data and visualizations spotlight states’ reliance on excessive jailing

We've updated the data tables and graphics from our 2017 report to show just how little has changed in our nation's overuse of jails: too many people are locked up in jails, most detained pretrial and many of them are not even under local jurisdiction.

Emmett Sanders | February 20, 2024

Cautionary jails: Deconstructing the three “C”s of jail construction arguments

Communities across the country have been told that investing in new jail construction is the only way to solve old policy problems, but arguments for new jails can leave them with a billion-dollar case of buyer’s remorse.

Wendy Sawyer | December 19, 2023

Why did prison and jail populations grow in 2022 — and what comes next?

Recently published data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics show growing prison and jail populations, but this has little to do with crime. Instead, the trend reflects court systems’ slow return to “business as usual” and lawmakers’ resurrection of ineffective “tough on crime” strategies.

Emmett Sanders | October 30, 2023

Not an alternative: The myths, harms, and expansion of pretrial electronic monitoring

The expansion of pretrial electronic monitoring across 70 counties threatens to undermine Illinois’ groundbreaking Pretrial Fairness Act, despite both the lack of evidence of EM's efficacy and its well-documented flaws and harms.

Leah Wang | September 27, 2023

Updated data and charts: Incarceration stats by race, ethnicity, and gender for all 50 states and D.C.

New data visualizations and updated tables show the national landscape of persistent racial disparity in state prisons and local jails.

Brian Nam-Sonenstein | August 15, 2023

High stakes mistakes: How courts respond to “failure to appear”

Research shows that while most people who miss court are not dangerous or evading justice, the way courts treat “failure to appear” may make our communities less safe.

Sarah Staudt | July 6, 2023

Releasing people pretrial doesn’t harm public safety

When these states, cities, and counties began releasing more people pretrial, there were no corresponding waves in crime.

Luci Harrell and Brian Nam-Sonenstein | June 8, 2023

Unhoused and under arrest: How Atlanta polices poverty

New research from the Atlanta Community Support Project finds 1 in 8 city jail bookings involve a person experiencing homelessness

Leah Wang | March 7, 2023

Racial disparities in diversion: A research roundup

Research shows diversion “works,” reducing harmful outcomes and increasing access to social services. However, studies also suggest diversion is routinely denied to people of color, sending them deeper into the criminal legal system. We review the research and remind practitioners that most diversion programs aren’t designed around racial equity — but should be.

Wanda Bertram and Naila Awan | November 18, 2022

In an election where every vote matters, Georgia officials should ensure registered voters in jails can cast their ballots

Sheriffs and local election officials must do everything in their power to ensure detained individuals can exercise their fundamental right to vote.

Naila Awan | October 25, 2022

Jail-based polling locations: A way to fight voter disenfranchisement

Evidence from seven jail-based polling locations shows that it is not only feasible but effective.

Wanda Bertram | October 14, 2022

How journalists can investigate the bail bond industry: Story ideas and tips

Wendy Sawyer | August 25, 2022

Since you asked: How many people are released from each state’s prisons and jails every year?

The number of people going through reentry each year vastly exceeds the resources available to them in most communities.

Emily Widra | March 28, 2022

What does successful bail reform look like? To start, look to Harris County, Texas.

New data supports what advocates have been saying all along: there’s no need to detain so many people pretrial.

Wendy Sawyer | March 24, 2022

Untangling why prison & jail populations dropped early in the pandemic

Reductions in prison and jail populations were due to COVID-related slowdowns in the gears of the criminal legal system. Without intentional action, these reductions will be erased.

Emily Widra | February 10, 2022

State prisons and local jails appear indifferent to COVID outbreaks, refuse to depopulate dangerous facilities

While some prison systems and local jails have maintained historically low populations, others have returned to pre-pandemic levels, despite the ongoing dangers of COVID-19 and new, more transmissible variants.

Wendy Sawyer | January 11, 2022

New data: The changes in prisons, jails, probation, and parole in the first year of the pandemic

Newly released data from 2020 show the impact of early-pandemic correctional policy choices and what kind of change is possible under pressure. But the data also show how inadequate, uneven, and unsustained policy changes have been: most have already been reversed.

Emily Widra | October 21, 2021

Data update: As the Delta variant ravages the country, correctional systems are dropping the ball (again)

While some prison systems and local jails have maintained historically low populations, others have returned to pre-pandemic levels, despite the ongoing dangers of COVID-19.

Leah Wang | October 8, 2021

The U.S. criminal justice system disproportionately hurts Native people: the data, visualized

We’re lucky when criminal justice data is broken down by race and ethnicity enough to see how Native populations are criminalized and incarcerated. Here’s a roundup of what we know.

Ginger Jackson-Gleich and Wanda Bertram | July 27, 2021

Nine ways that states can provide better public defense

We suggest a few questions to ask to assess the strength of your state's public defense system.

Wendy Sawyer | July 6, 2021

Smoke and mirrors: A cautionary tale for counties considering a big, costly new jail

How law enforcement and jail architects almost duped taxpayers into approving a new jail far bigger than the county needs, by offering biased analysis and misleading arguments.

Emily Widra | June 23, 2021

With over 2,700 deaths behind bars and slow vaccine acceptance, prisons and jails must continue to decarcerate

Just because vaccines are increasingly available does not mean that the COVID-19 crisis in prisons and jails is over - far from it. Yet new data show more prisons and jails are returning to “business as usual.”

Leah Wang | June 23, 2021

Rise in jail deaths is especially troubling as jail populations become more rural and more female

New data show record high deaths of people locked up in jail, as jail populations have shifted toward smaller, rural jails and growing numbers of women. A lack of accountability and acknowledgement of women’s unique disadvantages all but ensures more deaths to come.

Wanda Bertram and Wendy Sawyer | May 5, 2021

Prisons and jails will separate millions of mothers from their children in 2021

The most important statistics about the incarceration of mothers and pregnant women.

Tiana Herring | May 4, 2021

Jail incarceration rates vary widely, but inexplicably, across U.S. cities

Cities jail people at rates that have little to no correlation to their violent crime rates, police budgets, or jail budgets.

Katie Rose Quandt and Andrea Fenster | March 23, 2021

It’s all about the incentives: Why a call home from a jail in New York State can cost 7 times more than the same call from the state’s prisons

Alexi Jones and Wendy Sawyer | March 17, 2021

New data on jail populations: The good, the bad, and the ugly

A new BJS report shows that U.S. jails reduced their populations by 25% in the first few months of the pandemic. But even then, the U.S. was still putting more people in local jails than most countries incarcerate in total.

Emily Widra | February 3, 2021

How much have COVID-19 releases changed prison and jail populations?

The good news is that jail and prison populations remain lower than they were before COVID-19, but it’s not obvious just how much of that is attributable to additional releases.

Emily Widra | December 2, 2020

As COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly, state prisons and local jails have failed to mitigate the risk of infection behind bars

COVID infections are rising across the country. So why are we allowing jail populations to rise?

Tiana Herring | November 17, 2020

Releasing people pretrial doesn’t harm public safety

When these states, cities, and counties began releasing more people pretrial, there were no corresponding waves in crime.

Emily Widra | September 10, 2020

Visualizing changes in the incarcerated population during COVID-19

Initial policy changes that resulted in quick and necessary decarceration have slowed, despite the growing infection and death rate of COVID-19 in prisons and jails.

Emily Widra and Peter Wagner | August 5, 2020

Jails and prisons have reduced their populations in the face of the pandemic, but not enough to save lives

Our updated analysis finds that the initial efforts to reduce jail populations have slowed, while the small drops in state prison populations are still too little to save lives.

Wendy Sawyer | July 27, 2020

Visualizing the racial disparities in mass incarceration

Racial inequality is evident in every stage of the criminal justice system - here are the key statistics compiled into a series of charts.

Wendy Sawyer | June 5, 2020

Ten key facts about policing: Highlights from our work

Police disproportionately target Black and other marginalized people in stops, arrests, and use of force; and are increasingly called upon to respond to problems, such as homelessness, that are unrelated to public safety.

Emily Widra and Peter Wagner | May 14, 2020

While jails drastically cut populations, state prisons have released almost no one

Our updated analysis finds that jails are responding to the unprecedented public health crisis by rapidly dropping their populations. In contrast, state prisons have barely budged.

Alexi Jones | May 5, 2020

Stagnant populations and changing demographics: what the new BJS reports tell us about correctional populations

New BJS reports show that jail and prison populations remain stubbornly high despite decreasing crime rates, and point to the shifting demographics of correctional populations.

Emily Widra and Peter Wagner | May 1, 2020

While jails drastically cut populations, state prisons have released almost no one

Our analysis finds that jails are responding to the unprecedented public health crisis by rapidly dropping their populations. In contrast, state prisons have barely budged.

Wanda Bertram and Emily Widra | April 24, 2020

Hundreds are still jailed for technical parole violations in NYC, which means decarceration is happening far too slowly

As cities attempt to reduce their jail populations, they should pay attention to the lesson of NYC’s slow decarceration: Even releasing "low-level offenders" is a complicated process liable to be bogged down by delays.

Aleks Kajstura and Jenny Landon | April 3, 2020

Since you asked: Is social distancing possible behind bars?

The short answer is no - social distancing is even harder behind bars than in nursing homes or on cruise ships.

Peter Wagner and Emily Widra | March 27, 2020

Five ways the criminal justice system could slow the pandemic

We offer five areas where quick action could slow the spread of the viral pandemic in prisons and jails and in society as a whole.

Alexi Jones | March 19, 2020

The “services” offered by jails don’t make them safe places for vulnerable people

Even in the best of times, jails are not good at providing health and social services.

Wendy Sawyer, Alexi Jones and Maddy Troilo | March 18, 2020

Technical violations, immigration detainers, and other bad reasons to keep people in jail

How ICE and probation and parole detainers (or “holds”) contribute to unnecessary jailing

Peter Wagner and Emily Widra | March 6, 2020

No need to wait for pandemics: The public health case for criminal justice reform

We offer five examples of policies that could slow the spread of a viral pandemic in prisons and jails - and would mitigate the everyday impact of incarceration on public health.

Alexi Jones | February 13, 2020

New BJS report reveals staggering number of preventable deaths in local jails

In 2016, over 1,000 people died in local jails - many the tragic result of healthcare and jail systems that fail to address serious health problems among the jail population, and of the trauma of incarceration itself.

Wendy Sawyer | October 9, 2019

How race impacts who is detained pretrial

The government hasn’t collected national data on the race or ethnicity of people awaiting trial in jail since 2002. We review the academic literature published since then to offer a more current assessment of racial disparities in pretrial detention.

Wanda Bertram and Alexi Jones | September 18, 2019

How many people in your state go to local jails every year?

New data shows that local jails impact more people in your state than you may think.

Peter Wagner and Alexi Jones | September 11, 2019

The biggest priorities for prison and jail phone justice in 40 states

High prison rates, high jail rates, high first minute charges, and more

Wendy Sawyer | July 19, 2019

Who’s helping the 1.9 million women released from prisons and jails each year?

Women make up a growing share of incarcerated populations, and they have different needs than justice-involved men. Accordingly, some prison systems have begun to implement gender-responsive policies and programs. But what happens after release?

Sarah Watson | June 18, 2019

When jails replace in-person visits with video, what happens when the technology fails?

As more jails ban face-to-face visits in favor of paid video chats, a growing number of people in jail are being cut off from their families when the technology breaks down.

Wendy Sawyer | March 29, 2019

Massachusetts women do not need a new jail

The Mass. Senate is considering building a new women's jail. We offer a number of reasons why this is a bad idea.

Wendy Sawyer | August 15, 2018

How does unaffordable money bail affect families?

Using a national data set, we find that over half of the people held in jail pretrial because they can't afford bail are parents of minor children.

Wendy Sawyer and Wanda Bertram | May 13, 2018

Jail will separate 2.3 million mothers from their children this year

80% of the women jailed each year are mothers. We're inflicting profound damage not only on them, but their children as well.

Wanda Bertram | April 11, 2018

State-level studies identify causes of the national “gender divide”

Our January report showed how incarcerated women are being left behind, but to identify specific areas for improvement, state-level research is needed.

Lucius Couloute | March 26, 2018

New Massachusetts reform package aims to protect in-person jail visits

The Massachusetts conference committee between the House and Senate recently reached an agreement on criminal justice reform which includes an important measure that will protect in-person jail visits.

Wendy Sawyer | March 22, 2018

Artist collaboration: Visualizing 10.6 million jail admissions each year

The real impact of jail is far greater than the daily population suggests: People go to jail 10.6 million times each year. We collaborated with data journalist and illustrator Mona Chalabi to visualize just how vast a number 10.6 million jail admissions is.

Stephen Raher | December 20, 2017

Money and Power: Corruption in Local Sheriff Departments

The New York Times looks at how corruption is tolerated and even encouraged in some county sheriff offices.

Wendy Sawyer and Emily Widra | August 24, 2017

Findings from Harris County: Money bail undermines criminal justice goals

A recent study of misdemeanor pretrial detention in Harris County, Texas, offers evidence that money bail actually increases risks to public safety, affects case outcomes in ways that contribute to more incarceration, and infringes on constitutional rights.

Elliot Oberholtzer | August 23, 2017

Police, courts, jails, and prisons all fail disabled people

Disabled people are overrepresented in all interactions with the criminal justice system, and at all points, the system is failing them.

Joshua Aiken | June 14, 2017

The downstream effect of 35 years of jail growth? A state prison boom

Bernadette Rabuy | February 7, 2017

Pretrial detention costs $13.6 billion each year

Our new report looks at the big picture to find that mass incarceration costs $182 billion per year; and we also calculate the cost of locking people up before trial.

Bernadette Rabuy | December 22, 2016

The life-threatening reality of short jail stays

New BJS data shows suicide is still the leading cause of death in local jails. And most suicides occur shortly after jail admission.

Peter Wagner | June 9, 2016

Some private prisons are, um, public.

Private prisons get all the attention, but the hidden truth is that many county jails are profiting off incarceration too.

Peter Wagner | December 8, 2015

Who is in jail? Deep dive

Jail churn and pre-trial detention are even more important than a quick look at the data suggests. Here, we correct for the fact that a sizable number of people are housed in jails for other agencies.

Peter Wagner | August 14, 2015

Jails matter. But who is listening?

Most of the people who go to prison or jail in a year go to jail, so why don't policymakers pay more attention to jails?