End Mass Incarceration

Despite work to improve the justice system, insufficient attention is paid to conditions behind bars. Prisons and jails must provide better programming and safer environments.

Federal funding has fueled our country’s incarceration boom. The Brennan Center promotes policies to reverse this trend by creating incentives to reduce both incarceration and crime rates.

More than 2.2 million people are incarcerated in America, often in conditions that violate constitutional standards. And many of these individuals would pose no public safety risk if released.

Too often, politicians and pundits use false narratives about public safety to justify America’s system of mass incarceration, which relies on excessive punishment without actually making our communities safe. The Brennan Center counteracts these myths through authoritative research and data on local and national crime rates.

Mass incarceration doesn’t just unnecessarily deprive people of their freedom — it also comes with enormous social and economic costs for formerly incarcerated individuals, their families, and their communities.