Global Prison Trends 2018
"Global Prison Trends 2018 is the fourth edition in PRI’s annual flagship Global Prison Trends series, which identifies topical developments and challenges in criminal justice and prison policy and practice.

Global Prison Trends 2018 explores:

• Trends in the use of imprisonment, including the use of pre-trial detention as an automatic response to suspects; the ongoing challenge of prison overcrowding; and the steady growth in the number of life-sentenced prisoners around the world.
• Prison populations, such as the specific needs of women, children and LGBTI prisoners.
• Developments and challenges in prison management, including record levels of prisoner violence in a number of prison systems; healthcare challenges and shortages of qualified healthcare staff; and the need to address violent extremism and prevent radicalisation in the prison system.
• The role of technology in criminal justice and prison systems, such as the use of ‘telemedicine’ to provide mental healthcare and treatment, and the rise in access to online education and training.
• The expansion of prison alternatives, including community service orders and electronic monitoring, and a growing trend in the use of restorative justice."

View the Full Report
 

How Many Americans Are Unnecessarily Incarcerated?
"Nearly 40 percent of the U.S. prison population — 576,000 people — are behind bars with no compelling public safety reason, according to a new report from the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. The first-of-its-kind analysis provides a blueprint for how the country can drastically cut its prison population while still keeping crime rates near historic lows."

View the Report
 

Penal Reform International: Global Prison Trends 2015

"This report is designed to describe key global trends in the use and practice of imprisonment and to identify some of the pressing challenges facing states that wish to organise their penitentiary system in accordance with international norms and standards. Topics include:

• Prison populations and rates of imprisonment
• Prison management
• Prison regimes
• New technologies
• Criminal justice, social policy and sustainable development

The report also includes a Special Focus pull-out section on the impact of the ‘war on drugs’ and its implications for prison management. Significant international developments, recent research projects and precedent-setting court decisions are highlighted throughout.

Global Prison Trends is intended to be an annual publication. Tracking trends and challenges in criminal justice systems will be vital to designing and assessing measures intended to strengthen the rule of law as a means to advancing sustainable development."

View the Report

Centre's Prof. Emeritus Anthony Doob speaking about "Limiting the Use of Imprisonment" Feb. 22 http://t.co/RXK1HESAaF
— Crim Library UTL (@CrimLib) February 15, 2015

5 Ways California Can Imprison Fewer People
In 2009, overcrowding in California’s prisons had gotten so bad—140,000 inmates crammed into prisons built to house just 80,000—that federal judges ruled it violated prisoners’ civil rights. Under order to reduce the state’s prison population, Governor Brown introduced realignment in 2011, a plan to send nonviolent inmates to county jails and probation departments rather than prison.