The Illogic of Indiscriminate Incarceration
A new report concludes that two-fifths of Americans in prison don't belong there.
Prisons
The U.S. Put at Least 67,000 People in Solitary Confinement Last Year
About 3,000 of those were in solitary for six years or longer.
Donate to Reason Because We 'Are Detrimental to the Safe, Secure, and Orderly Operation' of Prisons
And also because we "promote drug paraphernalia"
Imprisoned on Drug Charges, Michigan Man Claims He Was Forced Into Sex by Prison Counselor Who Wanted to Get Pregnant
Steven Moerman claims the counselor used him as "a virtual sex slave, demanding sexual gratification at her whim."
Prison Censors Impound Reason Because It 'Presents a Threat' to 'Security, Good Order, or Discipline'
A Florida inmate can't read his copy of the magazine this month. Can you?
Philly Can't Turn Entire Airport Into Emotional Safe Space, Say Judges In NAACP-Ad Case
The NAACP just won a years-long First-Amendment fight with the city of Philadelphia.
Conservatives Against Incarceration
How criminal justice reform found support on the right—and what it will take to push it further
Bureau of Prisons Will Reduce Time Inmates Spend in Controversial 'Double Solitary'
News investigations have found that putting inmates together in cells the size of a parking space for 23 hours a day, shockingly, doesn't end well.
Ramen Noodles Replacing Cigarettes as Prison Currency
The rise of ramen noodles as prison currency can be blamed on cost-cutting that leaves prisoners hungry, says a new study.
The Justice Department Is Wrong. Private Prisons Aren't the Problem.
Private prisons are a symptom. Mass incarceration is the disease.
America's Jails and Prisons Have Become Cruel, Expensive Institutions for the Mentally and Physically Disabled
Inmates in prisons and jails are three to four times more likely than average to report having a disability, new report finds.
State and Local Spending On Prisons Has Grown Three Times as Fast as Spending on Schools, Says New Report
Young black males without a high school diploma are more likely to be incarcerated than employed.
Louisiana Inmates Serving Unconstitutional Sentences Will Have to Keep Waiting for Relief
Louisiana state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson just blocked a bill that would have provided relief to those sentenced as children to life without parole.
Maryland Reforms Asset Forfeiture, Mandatory Minimums
Tighter rules on seizure and looser rules on sentences for nonviolent crimes.
Non-Violent Drug Offenders Get Life +185 Years
Their stories begin differently but end in the same place.
Why Released Felons Should Be Allowed to Vote
Ban harms those who want to reintegrate back into society.
Is Male Rape More Common at College Than in Prison? Yes, Suggests the White House.
If statistics are true, young men sentenced to prison should breathe a sigh of relief: "At least I wasn't accepted to Harvard."
Life + 185 Years: Three Stories of Incarceration
Three people convicted of non-violent drug crimes. Their stories are the stuff of nightmares.
Why Belgian Justice Officials Are Defending Prison Porn
Prison heads say it's humane and helps prisoners rehabilitate.
Wrongfully Convicted Man Who Spent 30 Years on Death Row Not Entitled to Compensation, Court Says
"An over-technical interpretation of the law" leaves the late Glenn Ford's family with no remuneration for the life he spent behind bars.
Sanders Misleadingly Connects 'Mass Incarceration' to Pot Busts
Clinton minimizes her role in advocating longer sentences and exaggerates her role in trying to shorten them.
Judge Rules That Pastafarianism Is Not a Proper Religion
As of this week, religious accommodation doesn't require a prison to let an inmate wear a pirate costume.
Bill Clinton Claims His Wife 'Was the First Candidate' to Talk About Sentencing Reform
It's true, if you don't count Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Rick Perry, or Jim Webb
Bill Clinton's Crime Bill Ambivalence
The former president can't decide whether he should brag about the 1994 law or apologize for it.
Innocent Man Spent 30 Years in Prison, Died a Year After His Release. Now the State Might Finally Pay
Louisiana denied modest financial compensation to Glenn Ford because he couldn't prove his "factual innocence."
Bill Clinton's Mendacious Defense of the 1994 Crime Bill
The former president says Republicans made him support longer sentences, which were a necessary response to 13-year-old murderers "hopped up on crack."
Life in Prison for Stealing Candy Bars in New Orleans?
Even the judge thinks it's "over the top," but Louisiana's "habitual-offender" law takes away his discretion.
Justice Department Tells Prisons to Take Gender Identity Seriously
Prison and jail policies "must allow for housing by gender identity when appropriate" say new federal guidelines.
The Felony-Murder Rule Sends Non-Killers to Prison and Doesn't Even Reduce Crime
These flawed laws need to be reformed.
On Commutations, DOJ Blames Volunteer Lawyers for Failing to Do Its Job
A big backlog of prisoners seeking shorter sentences has gotten a lot bigger.
Indiana Prosecutor Bradley Cooper Is 'Proudly Over-Crowding our Prisons'
Cooper's new campaign flyer brags about the people he's put in prison for decades over drug sales and minor theft.
Yet Another Tale of Death in Jail Over a Debt, in a Nation Officially Without Debtors Prisons
Taken from a hospital suffering from gastroenteritis straight to jail, Joyce Curnell died there of likely dehydration. All over an unpaid court debt.
No Debtors Prison in America--Technically, At Least
Still, a Utah man died after being jailed last month over not paying an ambulance bill.
On Criminal Justice Reform, Clinton Is Sanders Lite
Clinton, who was for mass incarceration before she was against it, fills in some blanks in her agenda.
The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Solitary Confinement
Life inside the Supermax archipelago
The Fiction That Drug Trafficking Is 'Inherently Violent' Could Harm Sentencing Reform
Watered down improvements to federal mandatory minimums may get watered down further.
Guantanamo Prisoner and Author Loses Court Challenge
Mohamedou Ould Slahi's request for federal court to intervene in confinement conditions at Guantanamo denied.
New York Rolls Back Solitary Confinement
The most successful solitary confinement reform this year will release 1,000 prisoners.
Asking Tough Questions About the Death Penalty
Journalists and prisoners stage a First Amendment challenge to state secrecy regarding executions.
Hacked Contents of Millions of Prisoner Phone Calls Leaked to The Intercept (Updated: Securus Responds)
Likely violations of attorney-client privilege
When Prohibitions Fail in Prison, How Can They Work in the World Outside?
Jailhouse black markets make a mockery of restrictions imposed in what are literally miniature police states.
