The conversation around incarceration in the United States is often framed in broad statistics, but the latest wave of updated data and visual analysis reveals something far more precise—and far more urgent. What emerges is not just a system under strain, but one defined by deep structural imbalances, accelerating disparities, and a growing disconnect between […]
As the United States moves toward the 2030 Census, a critical issue that has long distorted political representation is once again being left unresolved at the federal level. Prison gerrymandering—the practice of counting incarcerated individuals as residents of the districts where they are imprisoned rather than where they lived prior to incarceration—remains firmly embedded in
Inside the federal prison system, access to medical care is often framed as a guaranteed right—an institutional obligation embedded within policy, procedure, and constitutional expectation. On paper, there is a mechanism designed to uphold that right: the grievance system, a formal process through which incarcerated individuals can report inadequate care, delays, neglect, or outright denial
Across the United States, the conversation surrounding mass incarceration has evolved dramatically over the past decade. Policymakers, researchers, and advocacy organizations have increasingly examined the scale of incarceration in the country and the policies that drive it. While many reforms have focused on reducing prison populations through changes to sentencing laws, bail reform, and diversion
Across the United States, the debate over incarceration, public safety, and justice reform has entered a new and consequential phase. For more than a decade, lawmakers, researchers, and community advocates have worked to rethink the nation’s criminal legal system—challenging policies that fueled mass incarceration while promoting alternatives that strengthen public safety without expanding prison populations.
Across the United States, the census is treated as a cornerstone of democracy. Every ten years the nation undertakes the monumental task of counting every resident to determine political representation, federal funding allocation, and the demographic realities that shape national policy for the decade that follows. Yet buried inside this process is a longstanding structural
Across the United States, criminal justice reform has evolved into one of the defining public policy debates of the modern era. Over the past two decades, reform movements have gained traction in cities, states, and federal institutions alike, fueled by growing awareness of mass incarceration, racial disparities in sentencing, and the social and economic costs
In the United States, punishment does not always end at sentencing. For many people placed on probation, the penalties extend far beyond court supervision. They reach into housing, employment, voting rights, and increasingly, access to food. A newly added analysis titled “Hunger as punishment: How states restrict SNAP benefits for people on probation” on the
New Jersey is once again at the center of a national reckoning over private prisons, immigrant detention, and the ethical responsibility of public pension investments. In a forceful letter sent today to Governor Mikie Sherrill, Assemblyman Joe Danielsen (D-17), Chair of the Public Safety and Preparedness Committee, called for the immediate divestment of approximately $800,000
On February 25, 2026 at 1 p.m. EST, Sustainable Action Now urges advocates, policy leaders, researchers, and community organizers to attend a critical national webinar examining one of the most urgent and misunderstood dynamics in modern criminal justice reform: How do we recognize and resist “carceral humanist” narratives that soften the language of incarceration without