Key Facts

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

Related

What People in Prison Are Saying About the Presidential Election

Elections entertain, divide, and frustrate people watching from behind bars and looking for hope.

Most people would be surprised about how well-informed incarcerated people really are. For example, there are two topics that have been gaining a lot of momentum amongst the prison population: stocks and the presidential election. Just recently, a friend told me he has prepared two different stock portfolios, each tailored toward who is elected as ...

News
  • David Sell
October 01, 2024
News

About Half a Million People in Jail Have a Legal Right to Vote, But Don’t Get to Cast Ballots

The Supreme Court says that people held in jails who are legally innocent have a right to vote. In reality, that’s often impossible.

On Election Day, approximately 448,000 legally innocent people will be held in more than 3,000 local jails across the United States. Since they have not been convicted of a crime, they are eligible to vote. But few will get the chance to exercise that right. In 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that people who are held in jail and haven’t been co ...

News
  • Erica Bryant
    Erica Bryant
September 24, 2024
News

Boston’s Homicide Rate Reaches a Historic Low

Last year, the city set a goal of reducing the annual homicide rate 20 percent by 2026. It’s already surpassing that target.

This past May, Mayor Michelle Wu hailed Boston as “one of the safest major cities in the country.” Wu’s statement was not grandstanding; recent data bears out her claim, and the city has made headlines throughout the past year for its public safety numbers. No statistic is more remarkable than 2024’s plummeting homicide rate. In the first quarter ...

News
  • Elizabeth Allen
    Elizabeth Allen
September 17, 2024
News