NACDL is a leader in the movement to end America’s unjust, discriminatory, and ineffective policy of mass incarceration – a policy which in 2023 commemorates 50 years of failure. This page presents information to shed light on how mass incarceration makes communities less stable and safe, along with some examples of how NACDL, with your support, pushes back against half a century of this misguided policy failure.

What measures can the United States take to reduce mass incarceration while maintaining a criminal “justice” system that functions effectively? This issue was curated by NACDL’s Decarceration Committee and includes feature articles and book reviews by members of the committee.

The brother of NACDL member JoEllyn Jones was murdered in 1998. Ryan Young was released from prison in 2013, and she ran into him at a restaurant. This was her chance. For years, she rehearsed everything she wanted to say, imagining that she would curse him and tell him that he had torn her family apart. At that moment, however, something inside her shifted. JoEllyn asked Ryan if they could work together – and the healing began.

This month Robert Sanger reviews Mass Incarceration Nation: How the United States Became Addicted to Prisons and Jails and How It Can Recover by Jeffrey Bellin.

This month Sonya Pfeiffer reviews Prisoner of Politics: Breaking the Cycle of Mass Incarceration by Rachel Elise Barkow.

To achieve a meaningful decarceration (i.e., reducing the number of people in correctional facilities), policymakers must reduce prison admissions and scale back sentence lengths – both for those entering prisons and those already there. The growing movement to take a “second look” at unjust and excessive prison terms is a necessary first step. As the country grapples with an uptick in certain crimes, ending mass incarceration requires accelerating recent reforms and making effective investments in public safety.

Norway stands out as an innovator in corrections reform. The Scandinavian country is increasingly being studied for its success not only in improving living and working conditions for both individuals in custody and staff, but also because of its significantly lower recidivism rates. In Norway, life in prison resembles life outside as closely as possible. People in custody often wear their own clothes, cook in communal kitchens, and live in spaces that look more like dorm rooms than prison cells. Could this work in the United States?

How Holding Space, Education, Empowerment, and Speaking Truth to Power Can Deconstruct a Racist System

The United States incarcerates the most people of any country in the history of the world – and it has chosen whom to incarcerate, starting with people of color first. Oregon defense attorney Justin Rosas writes that any effort at creating a just society is going to involve decarcerating our society, accepting the invitation to truly hear one another, and speaking truth to power about the racial injustice the system was designed to inflict on communities.

Some people believe that mass incarceration is not a bad thing. It is. Mass incarceration is a public health hazard, promotes racism, increases the wealth gap, strains the economy, and increases crime and violence. It is unjustly meted out according to wealth and privilege, and often is most harshly used against the most vulnerable. How can the United States overcome its addiction to incarceration?

While often justified as a way to deter violence inside facilities, solitary confinement is more often used to punish non-violent transgressions such as dress code violations, refusal to work, or lack of respect toward correctional officials. Despite the failure of the U.S. Supreme Court to find that solitary confinement per se violates the Eighth Amendment, increasing numbers of stakeholders, including correctional officers, have called for its abolition.

The era of mass incarceration and the vast expansion of the nation’s criminal legal system over the past 50 years has produced a corresponding increase in the number of people with a criminal record. An estimated 77.7 million individuals – nearly 1 out of every 3 American adults – has a criminal record. At the same time, the collateral consequences of a conviction have become more severe and permanent, affecting virtually every aspect of an individual’s life. NACDL partners and advocates reflect on 50 Years of Mass Incarceration and their work to promote second chances in their communities.

Second Chance Videos 2023: Candace Snavely, Western Maryland Consortium

Second Chance Videos 2023: Coley Harris, Delaware Office of Defense Services

Second Chance Videos 2023: David Stewart, AHEC West Health Insurance Program

Second Chance Videos 2023: Kamau Sandiford, Safe & Just Michigan