Key Facts

Total Number of People in County Jails and State Prisons, 2015
Explore your state's use of local jails and state prisons.

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We’re Suing the Trump Administration to Win Back Funding for Programs That Save Lives and Make Communities Safer

In April, the Department of Justice terminated roughly $820 million in public safety grants. We’re leading the challenge to these illegal and arbitrary cuts in a class action lawsuit.

In April, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) abruptly terminated roughly $820 million in grants that funded more than 200 organizations across 37 states to do life-saving work that makes communities safer. Today, we are leading the challenge to these illegal and arbitrary funding terminations in a class action lawsuit, filed by Democrac ...

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  • Nicholas Turner
    Nicholas Turner
May 22, 2025
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When New York Corrections Officers Went on Strike for Better Working Conditions, Those of Us Incarcerated Continued to Suffer

LaShawn Lewis is currently incarcerated at one of the prisons affected by this year’s corrections officer strikes.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an extreme shortage of staff within the carceral system. As a result, security staff are at times forced to work and are routinely exposed to high levels of stress and traumatic events. Without a doubt, this pattern becomes taxing both mentally and physically. This fatigue affects a number of different ...

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  • LaShawn Lewis
May 13, 2025
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With 20 Deaths in 2025, LA Jails Continue Deadly Trend

97 people have died in LA County jails since the start of 2023.

How are people dying? Los Angeles County has not yet publicly issued causes of death for everyone who has died in county jails in recent months. And even once even once autopsy reports are finalized, they don’t tell the whole story. When the coroner rules that a death is the result of “natural causes,” jail conditions can still be to blame. Researc ...

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  • Sam McCann
May 09, 2025
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