A recent report from the Sentencing Project shows the United States remains a leader in mass incarceration as 39 states increased prison populations despite record-low crime rates, locking up its citizens at a far higher rate than any other industrialized nation.  In the face of falling crime rates, factors like long sentences, which keep people in prison for years, and policy changes that send a higher percentage of offenders to prison for longer period, are part of the return to “tough on crime” legislation and policies that were implemented in past decades. 

According to data in the report ” America’s Incarceration Crossroads: Reversing Progress Amid Record-Low Crime Rates,” between 1972 and 2009, the number of people imprisoned grew nearly 700%, while crime rates declined dramatically after peaking in 1991. Imprisonment levels slowly scaled back, achieving a 25% decline between 2009 and 2021. Then, the prison population has resumed its growth, according to the most recently available data. The prison population grew in 2022 and in 2023, as 39 states increased their prison populations.

While crime rates are at historic lows, Americans deserve greater levels of community safety. A growing number of elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels have moved to overturn successful criminal justice reforms and revert to the failed playbook of mass incarceration, while the federal government has cut funding for important crime-prevention programs. Instead, policymakers should respond to crime upticks with evidence-based responses, while correcting the counterproductive, costly, and cruel responses of the past.

Excessive reliance on imprisonment in the United States is historically ineffective at addressing crime, diverts resources from effective public safety investments, upends family stability, contributes to trauma, and disproportionately harms communities of color. A vast body of research has established that we can advance community safety while reducing prison admissions as well as scaling back sentences for both those entering prisons and those already there.

Key findings: 

• After a 25% decline in incarceration between 2009–2021, 39 states increased prison populations in 2023, despite violent and property crime rates hitting historic lows.
  
• States that reduced their incarceration witnessed greater declines in crime rates. From 1999-2023, New York cut its prison population by over 50% – and during that same period, violent crime dropped by 34%, outpacing the national decline of 28%. 
  
• In contrast, Montana, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas increased prison populations by over 10% between 2021 and 2023 and approved or began construction of new prisons, ignoring evidence that mass incarceration fails to improve safety.

Mass incarceration is a policy failure, not a safety solution. Instead of repeating costly, ineffective strategies, lawmakers should respond to fluctuations in crime by adopting evidence-based alternatives that strengthen communities.

You can read and download the full report from the Sentencing Project —>>> America’s Incarceration Crossroads: Reversing Progress Amid Record-Low Crime Rates