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Prison Policy Initiative

@prisonpolicy.org

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Challenging mass incarceration and over-criminalization through research, advocacy, and organizing. Get email updates: https://prisonpolicy.org/subscribe/

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 8d

🚨NEW REPORT: Parole is one of the most powerful release mechanisms that could significantly reduce the number of people behind bars. But across the U.S., parole systems are dysfunctional, to say the least.

We examine how parole boards work, and how parole decisions are made 🧵

U.S. map showing 33 states with discretionary parole systems for most people serving sentences of incarceration

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 1h

60% of youth in custody are diagnosed with ADD or ADHD – compared to just 11% nationally.

Kids need care, not cages.

#ADHDAwarenessMonth

Graph showing the prevalence of diagnoses among youth in confinement: 4% autism spectrum, 27% learning disabilities, 60% ADD or ADHD

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 6h

🚨NEW: Everyone in Florida is supposed to have an equal voice, but an outdated U.S. Census Bureau policy counts incarcerated people in the wrong place, giving a few residents a megaphone – aka prison gerrymandering

The state can fix this. Here's how👇
www.prisonersofthecensus.org/news/2025/10...

Federal Census policy breaks Florida’s democracy — state lawmakers can fix it

Florida’s redistricting data was once again skewed after the 2020 Census; the state needs to take action to fix the issue for 2030.

www.prisonersofthecensus.org

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Reposted by Prison Policy Initiative

Safety Bound @safetybound.bsky.social · 23h

Join us on Oct. 22 for a webinar with @prisonpolicy.org & local organizers to discuss how jail expansion happens and how we can stop it.
Register → safetybound.org/demands

Demands — Safety Bound

safetybound.org

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Reposted by Prison Policy Initiative

Safety Bound @safetybound.bsky.social · 23h

Sheriffs keep pushing to expand jails. We’re pushing back.

Demand 2 in our 7 Demands to Reimagine the Sheriff is: Towards Freedom - calling on sheriffs to reduce jail populations & stop jail expansion.
A quick breakdown: 🧵

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 1d

Across the U.S., parole boards are releasing fewer people than in 2019.

Does this look like a system that values bettering people and giving them a second chance?

Graphs showing that almost every parole board in 29 states is releasing fewer people now than in 2019

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Reposted by Prison Policy Initiative

TEN DEMANDS (The Abolitionists) @tendemands.bsky.social · 1d

The Ten Demands for Justice provides the roadmap to abolition — with each action chipping away at an inherently, intentionally unjust system.

Read all 10 here, and print this PDF to bring to your city council members.

drive.google.com/file/d/1MKG3...

web.archive.org/web/20240622...

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 1d

The important thing for taxpayers to keep in mind is that this collaboration between local jails & ICE is entirely VOLUNTARY. State and local governments can push back and end their contracts with ICE and the U.S. Marshals for good.

Learn more:
www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/jail...

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 1d

In 25 states & DC, ICE & US Marshals exclusively rely on local jails to lock people up.

These facilities are incentivized by contracts with federal agencies that line sheriffs' pockets (but in some cases, like in TN, counties are actually losing $$ while doing the dirty work).

U.S. map showing that in 25 states and D.C., federal agencies like ICE and the U.S. Marshals only detain people using local jails.
In other states, jails play a part in the detention network alongside federal or private facilities. In Arizona, Delaware, and Hawaii no local jails provide substantial detention space to these agencies.

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 1d

Local jails don't often receive much attention, but the truth is, they play a critical role as “incarceration’s front door."

Our recent report exposed just how sinister the relationship between federal agencies & local jails is:

www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/jail...

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 1d

In just 5 months, one Tennessee county spent $130,000 of taxpayer money locking people up for ICE.

When we say local governments wield significant power in ICE's immigration agenda, this is what we mean.

www.wvlt.tv/2025/07/01/k...

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 2d

The national incarceration rate of Native Americans is more than double that of white Americans.

For Native youth, the confinement rate is approximately THREE TIMES that of white youth.

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Reposted by Prison Policy Initiative

Idaho Prison Project @idahoprisonproject.bsky.social · 2d

This is very much true in Idaho - native women in particular are 5x likely as white women to end up in Idaho's prisons.

Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 2d

Happy #IndigenousPeoplesDay, and a reminder that the legacy of centuries of oppression and theft from Native people is their vast overrepresentation in state prisons:

Graph showing that in six state prison systems, Native people are vastly overrepresented (AK, SD, MT, ND, WY, and UT)

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 2d

Happy #IndigenousPeoplesDay, and a reminder that the legacy of centuries of oppression and theft from Native people is their vast overrepresentation in state prisons:

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 3d

Each year, thousands of pregnant people are incarcerated – yet some states fail to provide basic care and necessary accommodations during pregnancy.

Locking up pregnant people does not leave anyone better off.

Graph showing that some US state prison systems fail to provide extra pillows, offer special diets, or psychosocial support during pregnancy

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 3d

Black people disproportionately experience police misconduct – including slurs, bias, and sexual harassment – during encounters with police

Is this really what it means for police to serve & protect?

Graph titled: Black people experience police misconduct at six times the rate of white people

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 4d

Over 4,000 children are confined for things that aren't even crimes for adults – like truancy, running away, violating curfew, or being otherwise “ungovernable.”

Kids need care, not cages.

Pie chart showing that 4,085 youth are held for probation violations or status offenses.

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 4d

Over the last two decades, police departments across the country have become more militarized, and no group has experienced an increase in police violence like women – particularly Black and brown women.

How does increasing violence in communities make our neighborhoods safer?

Infographic that says the number of women experiencing threat or use of force by police rose by 285% between 1999 and 2022
Source: https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/12/19/policing_survey_2022/

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 5d

Prison is a dangerous place. Its horrific conditions can be triggering for anyone. Yet more than 40% of people behind bars in severe psychological distress have not had mental health treatment

The carceral system is no place for people who need health care

#WorldMentalHealthDay

Graph titled the most vulnerable people in prison often do not receive the medical care they need. 42% of people in severe psychological distress while incarcerated have not had mental health treatment.

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 5d

Today is World Mental Health Day and World Homeless Day – two issues that are undoubtedly targeted by the criminal legal system.

Clearly, the U.S.'s approach is not working.

Graphic with text: In the U.S., at least 63% of unhoused people with serious mental illness will be arrested in their lifetimes.

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 5d

56% of people in state prisons have a mental health problem, yet only 26% have received professional help

Prisons & jails are not made to accommodate serious mental health needs, yet the system continues to respond to mental illness like it’s a crime

#WorldMentalHealthDay

Graph titled: Over half of people in state prisons report mental health problems, but only 1 in 4 has received professional help in prison

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 6d

The vast majority of people held in jail are legally innocent. Many of them are there simply because they are too poor to make bail.

Does that look like a system built on justice?

Graph showing that the median felony bail amount is $10,000, yet the median annual pre-incarceration income for men & women aged 23-39 in local jails who were detained pretrial and unable to post a bail bond was $15,598 and $11,071, respectively (2015)

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 6d

Instead of focusing on how people have changed, far too many parole boards heavily base their decisions on static factors.

This is not a system that rewards "reform."

Chart showing that parole release decisions lean heavily on static factors (like criminal history) rather than growth and preparation

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 6d

Thousands of people detained by ICE are actually held in local, publicly operated jails

These facilities–run by elected sheriffs–are making money off of the incarceration of people who are mostly accused of no more serious offense than crossing the border without permission

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 7d

🗓️ TODAY!

Parole can & should be a meaningful pathway for release. But for too many, it is out of reach.

Join us to discuss how to make parole a system that safely reduces prison populations, strengthens families, & promotes public safety.

Register: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Flyer for the webinar. Click the link in this post for details.

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