State Criminal Justice Work

Starting with Texas in 2007, more than half the states have taken steps to rein in the size and cost of their corrections systems. After nearly 40 years of unabated growth, the state prison population has leveled off and the imprisonment rate is down 6 percent from its peak in 2008. Falling incarceration has coincided with continued historic drops in crime.

Pew and its partners have worked with many of these states as part of the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, a collaboration between Pew and the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance. States selected for participation have demonstrated a bipartisan commitment to using data and research to produce a better public safety return on their corrections spending.

Where We Work