People have asked for our take on this article that suggests the U.S. prison population could drop by 60% over the coming years.

Here it is: The math checks out. But the assumptions about the future depend on the choices policymakers make today. 🧵

theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/… The article is right. Prison populations have — for the most part — fallen over the last 15+ years.

That is a reason to celebrate and have hope for the future.

But those trends aren’t guaranteed to continue…and there are reasons to doubt they will.

🚨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.

Incarcerated people have to "douse themselves with toilet water" to cool off from sweltering heat, and Texas still refuses to provide air conditioning in prisons.

This is a form of torture.
newsfromthestates.com/article/bill-a… Texas would rather FALSIFY DATA than install air conditioning in prisons, all while temps routinely exceed 100° and put people in dire situations:
texastribune.org/2025/03/21/tex…

🚨NEW: The prison health care system is broken beyond repair. One of the most sinister features is copays – fees that often cost an entire week's pay for incarcerated people

Facilities claim copay "waivers" help, but the reality is they're not enough 🧵

prisonpolicy.org/blog/2025/05/1… Almost all state prison systems charging copays have exemptions for some services, but they're so limited, ill-defined, and inconsistent that they fail to make the copay system less harmful.

Take a look at how rare waivers are, even for the most basic types of care:

This Correctional Officers Week is a good time to examine the "staffing crisis" across the US

Prisons & jails are complaining that they can't hire & retain enough staff – why?

The simplest, most obvious answer: There are way too many people locked up🧵
prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/12/0… But that's not all.

People have always quit correctional jobs at high rates. Working in a prison or jail is harmful to mental health. It means being surrounded by trauma & suffering.

(Much of the violence behind bars is perpetrated by COs themselves)

prisonpolicy.org/blog/2022/05/0…

The carceral system is inundated with crises – that's why investigative journalism is more important than ever

On #WorldPressFreedomDay, here are 10 stories from 2024 that newsrooms can emulate to shine a light inside the black box of mass incarceration🧵
prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/12/1… @IvanaSuzette & @JohnArchibald took a deep dive into Alabama's parole system, which is granting release to fewer people each year

Their series exposes a system that keeps the elderly locked up for decades & demonizes people with minor convictions
al.com/denied/

While we're talking about #FreshOutTheSlammer... April is actually Second Chance Month.

Let's talk about what challenges & obstacles formerly incarcerated people face upon release as they work to rebuild their lives, families, and careers 🧵 600,000 people are released from state and federal prisons each year in the US, and carrying a conviction history comes with huge obstacles.

It's April Fools' Day, but prisons and jails are no joke.

So we've pulled together 7 alarming facts about mass incarceration that may sound like hoaxes, but sadly are not 🧵
prisonpolicy.org/blog/2025/04/0… 1. Each year, prisons & jails take millions from incarcerated people & their families through "inmate welfare funds"

This money is supposed to benefit incarcerated people but is often abused. One jail even used it to pay for staff gun range memberships.

prisonpolicy.org/reports/shadow…

🚨NEW REPORT: Since 2000, over 50% of all US states have been court-ordered to improve prison medical care

But behind bars, "healthcare" continues to come second to controlling costs and avoiding lawsuits 🧵
prisonpolicy.org/reports/health… Incarcerated people are routinely failed by their healthcare providers. Yet, the quality of healthcare in jails & prisons remains poor: health issues and mortality rates remain at crisis levels, costs continue to mount, and depts cycle through contracts with various providers

For nearly 40 years, landlords have had the ability to deny as many as 3 million people housing based solely on a past drug conviction – even when they are qualified in every other way, and even when the conviction is decades old

How did we get here?🧵

prisonpolicy.org/blog/2025/02/0… The Fair Housing Act of 1968 stops housing providers from discriminating against tenants on most bases

But in 1988, the Thurmond Amendment—yes, named after segregationist Strom Thurmond—created a carveout to this key piece of civil rights legislation
segregationinamerica.eji.org/segregationists

🚨NEW REPORT: Prison disciplinary systems are supposed to provide safety, security, and order – but our analysis shows that in reality these systems are counterproductive, traumatizing, and actually lengthen prison stays 🧵
prisonpolicy.org/reports/discip… We combed through policies from all 50 states & testimony from dozens of incarcerated people and found that prison discipline is a system of petty tyranny with devastating consequences

It explains why >50% of people in state prisons are punished at least 1x/year for misconduct

Yesterday, new regulations from the @FCC around phone and video call costs went into effect for prisons & large jails. They're meant to save incarcerated people & their families millions of $$.

But there are some big caveats. Here’s what people paying for calls can expect 🧵 @FCC If you or your loved one are in prison, or a jail with over 1,000 people, the new FCC rules now apply. Calls cannot exceed 6¢/minute, and ancillary (extra) fees are banned.

BUT: You probably won’t see the rates change immediately.

The carceral system is inundated with crises – that's why investigative journalism is more important than ever

We pulled together 10 stories from 2024 that newsrooms can emulate next year to shine a light inside the black box of mass incarceration 🧵
prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/12/1… @IvanaSuzette & @JohnArchibald took a deep dive into Alabama's parole system, which is granting release to fewer people each year

Their series exposes a system that keeps the elderly locked up for decades & demonizes people with minor convictions
al.com/denied/

From a deep dive into exploitative “Inmate Welfare Funds” to a major phone justice victory, 2024 was a busy year for us.

As the year comes to a close, here are some of our most important reports, briefings, & wins from the last 12 months👇🧵
prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/12/1… This year was the tenth anniversary of our flagship report, Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie. It provides the most comprehensive view of how many people are locked up in the US, in what kinds of facilities, and why.

prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie202…

🚨NEW briefing: Rates of police use of force remain persistently high among Black people and are increasing markedly among women & older people

In 2022, almost 50 million people reported contact with police – and the data shows concerning trends 🧵
prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/12/1… Traffic stops remain the most common reason for police-initiated contact across all demographics – but Black people are more than twice as likely as people of other racial groups to be searched or arrested during a traffic stop

It's no secret that corrections departments don't want journalists to get info about their facilities – that's why they're increasingly using "gag rules" to forbid staff from interviews without approval from their supervisor or public info officer 🧵

prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/12/1… A gag rule seeks to do exactly what it sounds like: keep people from talking. In this case, gag rules deter jail and prison employees from speaking to the media.

Generally, they take three forms:

The carceral system is inundated with crises – poor conditions, escalating deaths, environmental dangers. That's why investigative journalism is more important than ever

Here are 10 stories from 2024 that shined a light inside the "black box" of mass incarceration 🧵 @IvanaSuzette & @JohnArchibald took a deep dive into Alabama's parole system, which is granting release to fewer people each year

Their series exposes a system that keeps the elderly locked up for decades & demonizes people with minor convictions
al.com/denied/

🚨NEW Briefing: Jails & prisons say they are "understaffed." They've offered raises, built new facilities & lowered employment requirements – still, nothing's worked.

Why? Because “understaffing” is not a recruitment issue. It's an untreatable symptom of mass incarceration🧵 Nearly half of correction agencies say that 20-30% of their workers leave each year. Of course, the true victims here are incarcerated people.

With fewer workers, conditions get worse: More ‘lockdowns', housing units are consolidated, less access to services, & fights break out.

If the conversation during Thanksgiving dinner turns from pie to prisons or from cranberries to crime, we’ve got you covered.

Here are some of the false claims you'll likely hear — and data to help you push back🧵 Claim #1: "Crime is skyrocketing"

This is false. Contrary to what self-serving politicians would have you believe, crime remains at historically low levels.

In fact, violent crime rates are half of what they were 30 years ago.

Worried about what topics will get served at Thanksgiving dinner? If the conversation turns from pie to prisons or from cranberries to crime, we’ve got you covered.

Here are some of the false claims you'll likely hear at the dinner table — and data to help you push back🧵 Claim #1: "Crime is skyrocketing"

This is false. Contrary to what self-serving politicians would have you believe, crime remains at historically low levels.

In fact, violent crime rates are half of what they were 30 years ago.

Rapper Young Thug is now on probation & will have to follow strict rules for the next 15yrs

Probation *can* keep people safe from the harms of imprisonment, but it's important to remember that supervision is ultimately another form of carceral control 🧵

nytimes.com/2024/11/06/art… His probation is full of "special conditions" – rules determined by the court that oftentimes end up being outrageous.

But another part of probation that is especially hard for the avg. person to navigate is standard conditions – blanket rules that everyone must follow.