Arrangement of Sources
Left column below = Government-produced sources + HeinOnline databases that include selected U.S. government publications.
Right column below = Many additional sources + starting points for: Researching Health Issues in Carceral Facilities
Please also view sources described in: Organizations, Partnerships & Toolkits.
Bueau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice
The Bureau of Justice Statistics is "the primary statistical agency of the [U.S.] Department of Justice."
- Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of JusticeHome page tab "Topics" categorizes resources by subject, including: Corrections; Courts; Crime; Federal Justice System; Law Enforcement; Recidivism and Reentry; and Tribal Crime and Justice. This Bureau also funds third-party research/reports.
Recently published reports include:
- Bureau of Justice Statistics, Annual Survey of JailsNote: Site states: "Annually starting 1982; excluding years 1983, 1988, 1993, 1999, 2005, and 2019."
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Correctional HealthThe "Correctional Health" page includes: Data and Statistics (on medical problems reported by incarcerated individuals); Recommendations and Guidance; Scientific Reports & Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports; Health Education Materials; links to Research Regulations (regarding incarcerated individuals); and links to State, Federal, and Organizational Resources.
National Criminal Justice Reference Service, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs
National Criminal Justice Reference Service "is a [U.S.] federally funded resource offering justice and drug-related information to support research, policy, and program development worldwide."
- National Criminal Justice Reference Service: Virtual Library SearchProvides material produced and/or sponsored by the Office of Justice Programs. Covers criminal and juvenile justice. Comprehensively covers "corrections, law enforcement, drugs and crime, juvenile justice and crime victims." Also covers "technology in law enforcement, domestic violence, drug policy, and youth violence."
New York State Prison Redevelopment Commission, Recent Report
New York City Board of Correction, Reports
The New York City Board of Correction is a "non-judicial oversight board that regulates, monitors, and inspects the correctional facilities of the City."
The White House, Fact Sheets
HeinOnline: Historical Collections (available through BLS Library - off campus access requires implementation of BLS proxy instructions)
- Civil Rights and Social Justice (HeinOnline)Includes: U.S. Congressional hearings and committee prints; legislative histories of "landmark legislation"; CRS and GAO reports; briefs from leading U.S. Supreme Court cases; and publications from the Commission on Civil Rights.
- Criminal Justice and Criminology: (HeinOnline)Includes: U.S. Bureau of Justice statistics; U.S. Congressional hearings on drug control policies; historical accounts of life in prisons; government documents; and pamphlets, memoirs and books written by incarcerated people and law enforcement officers.
HeinOnline Collection That Includes Selected U.S. Congressional Hearings & U.S. Government Publications:
- History of Capital Punishment (HeinOnline)Provides the Eugene G. Wanger and Marilyn M. Wanger Death Penalty Collection: A Descriptive Bibliography (representing 50+ years of research). Also includes hundreds of additional related publications (e.g., hearings, trials,and periodicals).
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
ACLU is a non-profit and non-partisan organization. ACLU's lawyers (and other attorneys who assist them) "handle thousands of cases each year on behalf of clients whose rights have been violated." ACLU provides issue-focused pages of resources on: Capital Punishment; Criminal Law Reform; Juvenile Justice; Racial Justice; Prisoners' Rights; and Smart Justice (publicly accessible). Issue-focused pages include information about court cases and links to selected case documents.
Recent reports:
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
The Brennan Center for Justice is "a nonpartisan law and policy institute."
- Brennan Center for Justice, Issue: End Mass Incarceration (publicly accessible)The Brennan Center works "to expose the huge social and economic costs of mass incarceration." It provides research on local and national crime rates, tries to reform sentencing and bail, and develops new legislative proposals (example: the Reverse Mass Incarceration Act).
Issue page "End Mass Incarceration" links to work/resources pages on: Changing Incentives; Cutting Jail & Prison Populations; Accurate Crime Data; and Social & Economic Harm (for formerly incarcerated individuals, their families and their communities). - Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, Publications (HeinOnline)A searchable, browseable collection of works published by the Brennan Center. This collection includes the Brennan Center's annual publication: Democracy and Justice: Collected Writings.
This is a subscription database available through BLS Library - off campus access requires implementation of BLS proxy instructions.
Equal Justice Initiative
Equal Justice initiative is a private, nonprofit organization that "provides legal representation to people who have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in state jails and prisons."
- Equal Justice Initiative, home page tab: "Our Work "Tab "Our Work" provides information and reports on: Criminal Justice; Racial Reform; Anti-Poverty; and Public Education.
National Registry of Exonerations
This is a joint project of Newkirk Center for Science & Society at University of California Irvine, the University of Michigan Law School & Michigan State University College of Law. This Registry "provides detailed information about every known exoneration in the United States since 1989" and a smaller database of known exonerations before 1989,
Perilous: A Chronicle of Prisoner Unrest Across the U.S. and Canada
Perilous Chronicle is "an independent digital research and media project focusing on prisons, protest, unrest and repression in the U.S. and Canada." It "is run by a closed collective of volunteer journalists and researchers throughout the U.S. and Canada." The members of the Perilous Editorial Collective are not listed on this project's website.
- Perilous: Data on COVID ActionsProvides a spreadsheet of "data on the wave of COVID-19 related protests and unrest for the first 4 months of the crisis,"
Prison Policy Initiative
Prison Policy Initiative is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that "produces cutting edge research to expose the broader harm of mass criminalization, and then sparks advocacy campaigns to create a more just society."
- Prison Policy InitiativePrison Policy Initiative provides: reports; briefings; data visualizations; state profiles; and an advocacy toolkit.
The Sentencing Project
The Sentencing Project is a non-profit organization that "advocates for effective and humane responses to crime that minimize imprisonment and criminalization of youth and adults by promoting racial, ethnic, economic, and gender justice."
- The Sentencing Project, IssuesThe Sentencing Project provides news, publications and featured stories on: Sentencing Policy; Incarceration; Drug Policy; Racial Justice; Youth Justice; Gender Justice; Voting Rights; Collateral Consequences; and Campaign To End Life Imprisonment.
- The Sentencing Project, Criminal Justice FactsCollection of U.S. state-level criminal justice data. Allows users to view datasets for each state and to compare datasets from states.
Recent reports:
Two recent publications featured on The Sentencing Project's "Issues" page:
Vera Institute of Justice
Vera Institute of Justice is "a national organization that partners with impacted communities and government leaders for change."
- Vera Institute of Justice, Ending Mass IncarcerationIssue page "Ending Mass Incarceration" analyzes: Causes of Mass Incarceration; Criminalization and Racial Disparities; Reducing Incarceration; and Dignity Behind Bars.
- Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration StatisticsThis page provides U.S. incarceration data from 1980-2020. Link "Get the data" breaks down data by categories: "Local Jails" and "State & Federal Prisons."
- Vera Institute of Justice, Solutions & ResearchThis page allows researchers to search/filter by topic(s): Causes of Mass Incarceration; Public Safety; Bail Reform; Fines and Fees; Prosecution Reform; Detention of Immigrants; Reducing Jail and Prison Population; Living Conditions in Prison; College in Prison; Reducing Incarceration; Dignity Behind Bars; Criminalization and Racial Disparities; and Investing in Communities. Additional search filters include: type of resource(s) (Publications; Special Reports; Data & Analysis; Tools; and Projects); U.S. state(s); and date range.
Researching Health Issues in Carceral Facilities
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- The Covid Prison Project is "[a] group of interdisciplinary, public health scientists." This group "tracks data and policy across the country to monitor COVID-19 in prisons."
- This site provides COVID-19 statistical data (including data pertaining to federal BOP, ICE and state systems), policy data and data visualizations.
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This is a report from the Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center and the Texas Prisons Community Advocates. Excerpt from this report's Executive Summary: "Texas is one of at least thirteen states in the U.S. that does not have universal air-conditioning in state prisons. Throughout the history of imprisonment in Texas, incarcerated people have experienced great harm from extreme heat and a lack of adequate protections. Although 87 percent of households in the U.S. use air-conditioning equipment, only 30 percent of Texas prison units are fully air-conditioned. Temperatures inside units have been shown to regularly reach 110 degrees and in at least one unit have topped 149 degrees."
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See also Health Affairs journal, Health & Justice open-access special issue: Enhancing the Prison Environment, PubMed Central open-access repository and PsycNET index (described on the Journals & Sources of Articles guide page).
Books That Discuss Broader Health Issues:
Abortion to Abolition: Reproductive Health and Justice in Canada by Call Number: HQ766.5.C3 P39 2022 (Main)Publication Date: 2022Includes chapters: Beyond Abortion -- Bodily Autonomy -- Not Having Children -- Having Children -- Parenting in Safety -- Parenting in Prison -- Toward Reproductive Health and Justice.
The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide by Call Number: RA418.5.S63 T47 2022 (Main)Publication Date: 2022
Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want (ebook) by Publication Date: 2022In catalog record for this book, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBSCO). Unlimited user access. (Off-campus use: requires proxy.)
Excerpt from book description: "Born of a stubborn hopefulness, Viral Justice offers a passionate, inspiring, and practical vision of how small changes can add up to large ones, transforming our relationships and communities and helping us build a more just and joyful world."
