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Prison Policy Initiative Profile picture
@PrisonPolicy
Jun 5, 2025 • 8 tweets • 3 min read • Read on X
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🚨NEW: Prison transfers are common, but that doesn't mean they're easy for incarcerated people and their loved ones.

We examined transfer records & interviews with dozens of formerly incarcerated New Yorkers to find out how transfers upend people's lives 🧵
"The worst experience of my life."

Transfers require people to pack their belongings, undergo invasive strip searches, and take long trips while restrictively shackled.

These moves affect every aspect of life behind bars, from peer networks to familiarity with officers.
These transfers happen A LOT. Half of New York's prisons transfer out at least 60% of their population each year.

This turnover makes everyday life in prisons unstable & uncertain – while also severing friendships behind bars that are important to survival. Graph showing that half of New York prisons transfer out 60% or more of their population each year
In New York, incarcerated people *can* request a transfer, but an overwhelming number of the transfers we examined were involuntary.

When done for punitive reasons, transfers can worsen mental health & misconduct issues – while also stripping incarcerated people of their agency. Graph showing that in 2022, 92% of NY prison transfers were for administrative, disciplinary, or other reasons. Only 8% were done by request.
Importantly, most of the transfers initiated by the prison system took people *farther* away from their home communities.

Being close to loved ones is pivotal in visitation and surviving prison life 👇
prisonpolicy.org/blog/2021/12/2…Screenshot of chart showing that NY prison transfers initiated by the prison system took people an average of 29 miles farther away from their home communities.
The first few weeks in a new prison are also especially difficult – and even dangerous.

Recently transferred people need to restock possessions lost during transfers, which is expensive. They also have to learn the rules (both formal and informal) of their new facility.
David, a participant in our analysis, reflected on being transferred 6 times in 25 years:

"That’s kind of what these transfers do: they disrupt your life. What little life that we had in there, they just broke it up." Screenshot of quote with text: "It was hard. Don't get me wrong, I was furious because my whole life was planned out and everything was just taken away. And that's kind of what these transfers do: they disrupt your life. What little life that we had in there, they just broke it up. So, when you have a plan, and you want to get these programs... they take it all away and you got to start all over."
Rather than continuously shuffling incarcerated people, transfers should be used to prioritize stability & autonomy – especially if they have no disciplinary issues & are succeeding in their programs, jobs, and relationships.

Learn more 👇
prisonpolicy.org/blog/2025/06/0…

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More from @PrisonPolicy

Prison Policy Initiative Profile picture
Jan 19
Every day, but especially on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we're reminded of the systemic racism that plagues every part of the U.S. criminal legal system – from arrest to sentencing and even reentry.

Here's what the data shows 🧵 Infographic card with quote: “There must be a recognition on the part of everybody in this nation that America is still a racist country. Now however unpleasant that sounds, it is the truth. And we will never solve the problem of racism until there is a recognition of the fact that racism still stands at the center of so much of our nation and we must see racism for what it is.” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “The Other America” speech at Grosse Pointe High School, March 14, 1968
➡️ As youth:

Black children are disproportionately targeted by the criminal legal system. Just 14% of all youth under 18 in the U.S. are Black, yet 47% of boys and 39% of girls in juvenile facilities are Black.

prisonpolicy.org/reports/youth2…
➡️ During police encounters:

Black people are more than 2x as likely to be searched or arrested in a traffic stop, and experience police misconduct at 6x the rate of white people. Graph showing that Black people experience police misconduct at 6x the rate of white people.
Read 6 tweets
Prison Policy Initiative Profile picture
Jan 8
Since 2020, when police murdered George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and more than 1,100 other people, more Americans have questioned the role and practices of police in society – and hoped for meaningful reform.

So, what does the state of policing look like now, 6 years later? 🧵
➡️ For starters, 2022 data show that fewer people are experiencing police contact, but the system is still plagued with issues, including racial disparities in police interactions, misconduct, and use of force.

prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/12/1…
➡️ The number of people killed by police has been increasing.

In 2024, 1,379 people were killed by police – the highest number on record. This is the direct result of policies & practices that enable and encourage police violence.

mappingpoliceviolence.orgScreenshot showing that there were only 11 days in 2024 where police didn't kill someone in the U.S.
Read 8 tweets
Prison Policy Initiative Profile picture
Dec 31, 2025
This year, DHS aggressively tried to recruit ICE agents by offering massive signing bonuses, lowering age requirements, and shortening training periods.

We've seen these exact recruitment strategies play out in U.S. prisons & jails – and they always fail 🧵
While correction officers & ICE agents are entirely different roles, we'd bet there is a ton of overlap when it comes to staffing issues.

Prisons & jails complain that they can't hire and retrain enough staff

Why? The most obvious answer: There are way too many people locked up Graph state prisons lost 12% of their full-time workforce between 2013 and 2023, with nearly all (93%) of this decline coinciding with the pandemic. Local jails lost 2% of their full-time workers over the past decade, with a 7% decline in the workforce since 2020.
Notably, people have always quit correctional jobs at high rates. Working in the carceral system is harmful to mental health. It means being surrounded by trauma & suffering.

(Much of the violence behind bars is perpetrated by COs themselves) Graph showing that correctional officers reported that in the month prior 28% felt depressed or hopeless, 48% felt anxious, nervous, or on edge, 34% experienced repeated, disturbing memories, and 11% had suicidal thoughts or attempted suicide
Read 9 tweets
Prison Policy Initiative Profile picture
Dec 31, 2025
From exposing the role of jails in Trump's deportation agenda to examining the state of youth confinement, 2025 was a busy year for PPI.

Here are some of our most important reports, briefings, & advocacy partnerships over the last 12 months 🧵
prisonpolicy.org/blog/2025/12/1…
➡️ Our flagship report, 'Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie,' offers a comprehensive view of where and why nearly 2 million people are incarcerated in the U.S.

For the first time, it also includes which states are driving the growth in incarceration.

prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie202…Pie chart showing where nearly 2 million people locked up in the U.S.
➡️ Since taking office, the Trump admin has made the criminal legal system worse, both through executive orders & flexing control over federal spending

Our new tool keeps track of these rapid-fire actions to help make sense of this new kind of crisis:
prisonpolicy.org/federaltracker…
Read 14 tweets
Prison Policy Initiative Profile picture
Dec 29, 2025
Day 7️⃣ of Criminal Justice Reform ⚖️

Every day through the end of the year, we're pointing to high-impact policy ideas to reform the criminal justice system without making it bigger.

Let's talk about giving incarcerated & formerly incarcerated people political representation 🧵 Infographic with text: The criminal legal system doesn't have to get any bigger in 2026. These policy ideas can lead to meaningful reform.
Equal representation is supposed to be the foundation of U.S. democracy – yet for many, it's a false promise.

There are lots of ways incarcerated people's political voice gets silenced, largely thanks to disenfranchisement during & after incarceration:
sentencingproject.org/issues/voting-…
But there's a lesser-known issue that also silences the voices of incarcerated people and their communities: Prison gerrymandering.
Read 7 tweets
Prison Policy Initiative Profile picture
Dec 26, 2025
Day 4️⃣ of Criminal Justice Reform ⚖️

Every day through the end of the year, we're pointing to high-impact policy ideas to reform the criminal justice system without making it bigger.

Let's talk about treating people humanely during incarceration🧵 Infographic with text: The criminal legal system doesn't have to get any bigger in 2026. These policy ideas can lead to meaningful reform.
It’s no secret that prisons & jails are brutal places, plagued with human rights abuses.

Here’s the reality: the vast majority of people behind bars will be released back into their communities one day, surely taking their trauma with them.
One of the most forthright ways the carceral system can improve its treatment of people during incarceration and reduce their trauma is to end solitary confinement once and for all.

Around the world, solitary is viewed as a form of torture, yet it’s commonplace in the U.S.
Read 7 tweets

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