Policy Resources and Information

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The Sentencing Project
The Sentencing Project is one of the nation’s leading organizations that develops alternative sentencing programs, conducts policy research on U.S. criminal justice, and advocates for creating meaningful reforms.

The Justice Policy Institute
JPI is a Washington DC-based think-tank that is committed to reducing society’s reliance on incarceration. The policy work of JPI aims to advance the quality and content of public discourse in the ongoing debate around juvenile and criminal justice system reform.

The Drug Policy Alliance
The Drug Policy Alliance works to end the war on drugs and promote realistic alternatives. The guiding principle of the Alliance is harm reduction, an alternative approach to drug policy and treatment that focuses on minimizing the adverse effects of both drug use and drug prohibition. http://www.drugpolicy.org/homepage.cfm The Legal Action Center Criminal Justice Program
An advocacy, research, and policy organization that works to improve the criminal justice system by assisting individuals with criminal records, engaging with current criminal justice policies, providing training to service providers and government agencies, and collecting and disseminating information on barriers people with criminal records face in terms of reentry. http://www.lac.org/programs/crimjus.html

Corrections Statistics by State
This interactive Web application provides state-level corrections statistics and charts showing national rankings. The site provides detailed statistics covering crime, population, incarceration, and community corrections. See how your state compares to other states and the national average. http://www.nicic.org/WebTopic_346.htm

Prisoners of the Census
In 48 states prisoners cannot vote, but the U.S. Census Department Census counts the nation’s mostly urban prisoners as residents of the mostly rural towns that host prisons. This website documents how, as a result, resources move away from urban areas to rural prison towns and how state legislative boundaries are redrawn and political power redistributed. http://www.prisonersofthecensus.org/

360 Degrees.org
This site contains a rich collection of resources on the criminal justice system, including a historical timeline, stories, theoretical background, and interactive modules (for example, the “Are You a Criminal?” on-line quiz). A “one of a kind” website. http://www.360degrees.org/

World Prison Population List (5th edition)
Click on this link to download the pdf file of the 5th edition of the World Prison Population List, published by the Home Office in Britain. The World Prison Population List gives details of the number of prisoners held in 205 countries. It also illustrates the differences in the level of imprisonment across the world and provides a means of estimating the world prison population. http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/r234.pdf

Prisonsucks.com
Prisonsucks.com is a clearinghouse for useful, reliable statistics about prisons, the criminal justice system, and the crime control industry. The site provides fact sheets, descriptions of information sources, and links to research organizations. http://www.prisonsucks.com/

Common Sense for Drug Policy
A news and information source which focuses on the war on drugs, drug laws, legalization, and current developments in drug policy. The website provides many useful links to organizations, information resources, and timely news stories. http://www.csdp.org/

Criminal Justice Policy Coalition (CJPC)
A member-based organization dedicated to the advancement of effective, just, and humane criminal justice policy in Massachusetts. CJPC seeks to expand the public discourse on criminal justice, promote dialogue and cooperation among diverse stakeholders, and build support for policies that better protect our communities. http://www.cjpc.org/

Prof. Todd Clear Website
Todd R. Clear is Distinguished Professor of Criminal Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York. He is Executive Officer of the Program Of Doctoral Studies in the Graduate Center of CUNY. Browse the site for information on Todd Clear's publications, projects, professional experience and contact information. Included are links to his books and publications, as well as other links relevant to the field. http://www.toddclear.org/

Prison Legal News (PLN)
PLN is an independent monthly publication that reports, reviews and analyzes court rulings and news related to prisoner rights and prison issues. PLN has a U.S. focus with some international coverage as well. The website provides access to PLN articles, sells relevant books, and distributes information about related resources. http://www.prisonlegalnews.org/

The National Juvenile Defender Center
The site provides descriptions of services and other work, announcements about latest projects, access to publications, and summaries of juvenile justice-related data for every state; it also allows visitors to join their mailing list, subscribe to their listservs, or request information about arranging a training session. http://www.njdc.info/

Good Jobs First (GJF)
GJF provides information to the public, the media, public officials and economic development professionals on state and local job subsidies. GJF for creating seeks to ensure that subsidized businesses are held accountable decent jobs. GJF also works on prison financing issues. Publications include: “JailBreaks: Economic Development Subsidies Given to Private Prisons” (2001) by Phil Mattera and Mafruza Kan. http://www.goodjobsfirst.org/

Demos
Demos is an organization committed to redesigning policy and politics to build democratic participation and to achieve a broadly shared prosperity characterized by greater opportunity and less disparity. Demos has conducted policy-relevant research into the disenfranchisement of individuals with felony convictions. http://www.demos-usa.org

The Urban Institute
The Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center carries out research to inform and shape the national dialogue on crime, justice, and community safety. http://www.urbaninstitute.org/

Prison Activist Resource Center (PARC)
PARC provides information and programs for educators, activists, prisoners, and prisoners' families. Its outreach efforts aim to build networks for action. The PARC website also lists many useful sources of information. http://www.prisonactivist.org/

Human Rights Watch Prison Project
Working in conjunction with numerous local partners, Human Rights Watch monitors conditions of detention around the world, pressuring governments to bring their treatment of prisoners into compliance with basic human rights standards. http://www.hrw.org/prisons/

Public Bonds
a resource for public officials, journalists, researchers and others who are interested in the process of government borrowing to finance public infrastructure such as prisons and schools. Our aim is to demystify the bond process and encourage greater public scrutiny and participation. http://www.publicbonds.org

Open Society Institute Links to Papers and Publications
on Prison and Criminal Justice Issues
Maintained by the Open Society Institute U.S. Justice Fund. Click here to go to this site which provides links to a wide range of policy papers, research studies, and publications dealing with the U.S. criminal justice system, incarceration, and the social costs of current policies. http://www.soros.org/initiatives/justice

Watching Justice
Watching Justice's mission is to keep a vigilant and long-term eye on Americans' fundamental rights and liberties by providing a forum for analysis, praise, and criticism of the Department of Justice (DOJ). Watching Justice also monitors those offices in the Department of Homeland Security that were previously based in the DOJ. http://www.watchingjustice.org/

One Nation Pulling Apart Project (Penn State University)
This research program provides new understanding of the manifestation, meaning, and causes of enduring economic distress. This project combines statistical analysis with policy evaluation and historical assessment of previous policy efforts. One Nation Pulling Apart Website http://www.povertyinamerica.psu.edu/

Living Wage Estimator http://www.livingwage.geog.psu.edu/

The Real Price of Prisons
From MotherJones magazine. Click here to explore this site which contains state incarceration profiles, including graphs and statistics on prisons vs. education spending, racial inequalities in incarceration, incarceration rates for drug crimes, and per capital spending (last updated July 2001). http://www.motherjones.com/news/special_reports/prisons/

Exploring the Diminishing Effects of More Incarceration: Virginia's Experiment in Sentencing Reform examines how Virginia's "truth-in-sentencing" laws enacted in the mid-1990s have contributed to the state's rapidly expanding prison system. It builds upon our last report on the Diminishing Returns of Incarceration by showing how a greater use of incarceration does not produce a greater return on lowering the crime rate. http://www.drugpolicy.org/docUploads/JFAInstituteVirginia.pdf

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