What’s New
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New report exposes how “Inmate Welfare Funds” in at least 49 prison systems use families’ money to pad prison budgets New report details how prisons and jails have misused money in “Inmate Welfare Funds” to pay for bounce houses, ham gift cards, and even shooting range memberships.
May 6: Press releases
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Journalists: Here’s how to uncover how the money in “Inmate Welfare Funds” is being spent We offer lessons learned from developing our new report, Shadow Budgets, to encourage journalists to investigate welfare funds in their local prison or jail systems.
May 6: Briefings
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The “Profane Margins” of the State: Florida Sheriff Walter R. Clark and the Local History of Crime, Policing, and Incarceration by Cindy Hahamovitch
May 3: Research Library: Police and Policing
Featured report
Shadow Budgets: How mass incarceration steals from the poor to give to the prison
Prisons and jails siphon money from incarcerated people by making them pay for communication services and basic essentials at the commissary, then put the revenue into so-called “Inmate Welfare Funds.” But how are these funds used? Our report Shadow Budgets finds that all too often, welfare funds go to pay for capital projects like prison construction, are spent on essential items for incarcerated people, or are left to accrue as slush funds. In detailed data tables, we uncover how welfare funds in 49 prison systems are accrued, overseen — and frequently misused.
Mass incarceration, state by state
Learn about the national prison crisis and how we can begin to turn the tide on mass incarceration. Then, drill down to your state. Be sure to also check out our pages focused on D.C., and the incarceration of Native people.
If our work is new to you, you might want to check out our 2022-2023 annual report.
Recommended Reading:
50 state incarceration profiles
All of our recent reports about prison/jail growth, racial disparities, and more, re-organized by state.
The rapid & unregulated growth of e-messaging in prisons
It can strengthen connections, but instead has been used to sap money from incarcerated people.
Incarceration and supervision by states
Probation and parole are the leading forms of mass punishment in America.
Prison Gerrymandering Project
We are leading the movement to protect our democracy from the Census Bureau's prison miscount.