The Issue

Criminal Justice Reform: Unlocking Our Potential

America’s current criminal justice system is hurting our families, economy, and country.

America's criminal justice system undermines the promise of who we can and should be.
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Over-Incarceration Hurts Us All

America’s criminal justice system locks up too many people for too long, preventing millions of Americans from reaching their full potential.

Our criminal justice system costs too much and holds us all back.

Our criminal justice system poses one of the greatest challenges confronting our country today. This bloated, predatory system comes at significant cost to taxpayers at the local, state, and federal level even as it fails to make us safer or create more opportunity. It causes substantial harm, especially to communities of color and poor people, and the damage spreads far beyond those incarcerated. It strips basic rights and opportunity from entire families and communities with effects felt across generations. In sum, our current criminal justice system undermines the promise of what America can and should be.

Hurts our Families
More than five million kids in the U.S. have had a parent in jail or prison at some point during their childhood. Over-incarceration tears families apart without making us safer.
Hurts our Economy
One in 13 Americans has a felony conviction. Over-criminalization costs our economy more than $87 billion every year by denying these individuals the chance to participate. Taxpayers are footing the bill for a costly system that stifles opportunity.
Hurts our Country
2.2 million Americans are currently behind bars. Over-incarceration causes lifelong damage, especially in communities of color.
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.
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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

Our Campaigns

Criminal Justice Reform:
Here’s What’s Happening

We’re on the ground in multiple states, working to safely reduce prison and jail populations, shrink the criminal justice system, and support impacted families.

The Latest on Criminal Justice Reform