America’s criminal justice system locks up too many people for too long, preventing millions of Americans from reaching their full potential.
The Issue
Criminal Justice Reform: Unlocking Our Potential
America’s current criminal justice system is hurting our families, economy, and country.
What We Stand For
Reforming criminal justice will expand opportunities for all Americans
We’re committed to driving change, starting with the people and families directly impacted by mass incarceration. We want policymakers, at all levels of government, to adopt commonsense reforms that will safely lower the jail and prison population, reduce misdemeanor and felony convictions, and create opportunities for the tens of millions of people that have been incarcerated or convicted of a crime.
Goal
Safely reduce incarceration
We want to safely and significantly reduce the jailed and imprisoned population.
Goal
Reduce the number of impacted people
Over-criminalization not only affects those in jail, but also their families, their employers, and their communities. We want to safely shrink the number of those impacted.
Goal
Support families
We want to drive policy reform to help restore and protect the millions of families affected by the criminal justice system.
Family Impact of Incarceration
One in Two Adults in America Has Had an immediate Family Member Incarcerated
Research provides new estimates on the prevalence of family incarceration for parents, siblings, spouses, and children.
On any given day, there are more than 1.5 million people behind bars in state or federal prisons in the United States. Admissions to local jails have exceeded 10 million each year for at least the past 20 years. These figures are staggering, but the long reach of incarceration extends well beyond the jail and prison walls to the families on the other side. The negative effects that individuals experience after being incarcerated are well documented, but much less is known about the incredible direct and indirect harms and challenges that families face when a loved one has been taken away. This report examines this important but understudied aspect of mass incarceration and provides new estimates on the prevalence of family incarceration for parents, siblings, spouses, and children.
Read more about America's incarceration crisis from our report, Every Second: The Impact of the Incarceration Crisis on America's Families.
Learn More
On any given day, there are more than 1.5 million people behind bars in state or federal prisons in the United States. Admissions to local jails have exceeded 10 million each year for at least the past 20 years. These figures are staggering, but the long reach of incarceration extends well beyond the jail and prison walls to the families on the other side. The negative effects that individuals experience after being incarcerated are well documented, but much less is known about the incredible direct and indirect harms and challenges that families face when a loved one has been taken away. This report examines this important but understudied aspect of mass incarceration and provides new estimates on the prevalence of family incarceration for parents, siblings, spouses, and children.
Read more about America's incarceration crisis from our report, Every Second: The Impact of the Incarceration Crisis on America's Families.
Learn More
