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Issues

Learn about our key areas of focus to end mass incarceration and promote racial justice.
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Racial Justice

Ending mass incarceration must include combating racial inequality and disparity.

Sentencing Reform

It's time to take a second look at extreme sentences.

Voting Rights

The criminal justice system shouldn't have a say in our democracy.

Youth Justice

We must end youth incarceration and provide all youth with the support they need to thrive.
Featured Campaign

Second Look Network

Ending mass incarceration requires taking a second look at extreme sentences. Learn more about our coalition of legal professionals providing direct representation to incarcerated individuals seeking relief from lengthy or unfair sentences.
Advocacy

The Sentencing Project is a leading voice for criminal legal reform.
Advocacy overview
Our Work

Explore our work at the national, state, and local level to promote a fair and effective criminal legal system.

Second Look Network

The Network serves, connects, and empowers legal advocates across the country to bring people serving excessive and unfair prison sentences home.

Get Involved

Changing laws and policies to end mass incarceration require a mass movement. Here are ways you can take action.
Featured Campaign

50 Years and a Wake Up

This year marks the 50th year since the U.S. prison population began its unprecedented surge. Partner with us to end mass incarceration!
Research

Explore our publications, fact sheets, data & more.
Overview
Growth in Mass Incarceration

The United States is the world’s leader in incarceration. Get the facts and statistics on trends in U.S. incarceration.

U.S. Criminal Justice Data

View state-level data to provide a snapshot of key indicators of mass incarceration's impact in the United States

Detailed Data Tool

Compare state-level incarceration data for youth and adults with this expanded data set

Resource Library

Search important resources published by The Sentencing Project, including research publications, advocacy briefs, webinars, and more
Featured Publication

One in Five

One in five Black men born in 2001 is likely to experience imprisonment within their lifetime. Our four-part “One in Five” series examines racial inequities in America’s criminal legal system, as well as highlights promising reforms.
- Glossary of Criminal Justice Terms

Experiences

Jose Saldana

Jose Saldaña survived 38 years of incarceration in New York. He was released in 2018. Today, Jose is the Director of RAPP (Release Aging People in Prison), a grassroots inter-generational organization that seeks to address the crisis of people serving long prison sentences, getting old, sick and dying.

Related to: Sentencing Reform

Jose Saldaña survived 38 years of incarceration in New York. He was released in 2018. Today, Jose is the Director of RAPP (Release Aging People in Prison), a grassroots inter-generational organization that seeks to address the crisis of people serving long prison sentences, getting old, sick and dying. RAPP advocates for legislative initiatives that will provide a meaningful opportunity to all incarcerated New Yorkers to be considered for release at 55 years old and served 15 years.

He condemns the NYS prison system as a racist institution bent on revenge and perpetual punishment, not rehabilitation or healing and closure for those harmed by interpersonal violence. He was never offered any therapeutic program to help him to reflect and gain insight on the impact of his crime on people. It was with the help of elder incarcerated people that he developed this insight, change his thinking and behavior and embrace life-affirming values and principles that define who he is today. Elders that should have been walking out of prison with him, if not before him.

Related Resources

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Newsletter

Rhode Island Supreme Court Affirms Emerging Adult Sentencing Reform

Mario Monteiro has gained the right to a meaningful opportunity for parole thanks to a recent Rhode Island Supreme Court ruling.

By Alexandra Bailey on July 15, 2024

Experiences

Randall McNeil

When Randall McNeil was 20 years old, he was sentenced to 66 years in prison and spent 24 years of his life behind bars. With the expansion of Washington, D.C.'s Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act (IRAA) in 2020, McNeil was finally given an opportunity to petition for his freedom.

Experiences

Gaylord Salters

In 2021, Connecticut passed a second look law allowing judges to modify sentences without the need for prosecutorial consent. This change opened the door for many, like Gaylord Salters, to have a judge reconsider their sentences.