Web Resources: Prisons and Criminal Justice

PRISONS & CRIMINAL JUSTICE

policy & activist - u.s. government - industry - california

• symbol represents a site we find particularly useful.

Policy Analyst & Activist Sources

American Civil Liberties Union (http://www.aclu.org)
This web page has sections on a number of criminal justice issues (juvenile justice, the drug war, the death penalty) and has press releases and criminal justice news from various sources. Also has legislative updates on key criminal justice issues involving the prison industrial complex.

Asian and Asian American Criminal Justice and Legal Studies
(http://www.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/research/asia.html)
This web site has a very useful collection of documents on various aspects of Asian/ Asian American criminal justice issues and data. A good source of information on Asian criminal law, and inter-ethnic crime data.

Building Blocks for Youth (http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org)
This group does great research on juvenile justice issues. It's an alliance of children's advocates, researchers, law enforcement professionals and community organizers that seeks to protect minority youth in the justice system and promote rational and effective justice policies.

Center on Juvenile & Criminal Justice (http://www.cjcj.org)
CJCJ does a wide array of criminal justice research and their web site has informative studies and reports and is easy to negotiate. The Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice is a private non-profit organization with a mission to reduce reliance on incarceration as a solution to social problems.

Critical Resistance (http://www.criticalresistance.org)
Critical Resistance is a national grassroots organization dedicated to ending the prison industrial complex and fighting for social justice. CR does campaigns and cultural events around prison expansion, gender, class and racial inequalities within the criminal justice system and mistreatment of prisoners behind bars. A great resource.

Debt To Society: The Real Price of Prisons
(http://www.motherjones.com/prisons)
A special report by the Foundation for National Progress, umbrella organization for MotherJones.com and Mother Jones magazine. It explores the hidden costs of the national prison explosion with articles and an interactive "Incarceration Atlas," a map with state-by-state data on who is getting locked up, and at what price.

The Fortune Society (http://www.fortunesociety.org)
Staffed primarily by ex-offenders, The Fortune Society is a not-for-profit community-based organization dedicated to educating the public about prisons, criminal justice issues, and the root causes of crime. They also help ex-offenders and at-risk youth break the cycle of crime and incarceration through a broad range of services. They
Have an excellent search engine on their web site and publish a quarterly on criminal justice issues.

Moving Stronger: Needs of the Criminal Justice Reform Movement (http://www.datacenter.org/programs/movingstronger.htm)
A special DataCenter report that assesses the state of grassroots organizing around a broad spectrum of criminal justice reform issues, with the goal of bringing critical information to funders and grassroots groups about the diverse needs, organizing approaches and campaigns of groups around the country.

National Council on Crime and Delinquency (http://www.nccd-crc.org)
"The National Council on Crime and Delinquency, founded in 1907, is a nonprofit organization which promotes effective, humane, fair and economically sound solutions to family, community and justice problems. NCCD conducts research, promotes reform initiatives, and seeks to work with individuals, public and private organizations and the media to prevent and reduce crime and delinquency."

No War On Youth Resources (http://www.colorlines.com/waronyouth)
"ColorLines Magazine and the DataCenter's Impact Research Team have come together to create a set of resources for organizers and activists fighting against the War on Youth." Includes resources on gang profiling, gang definitions, and organizing nationally. Not being updated.

Prison Activist Resource Center (http://www.prisonactivist.org)
"The source for progressive and radical information on prisons and the criminal prosecution system." Includes: "Statistics, discussion, and background on the prison crisis, political prisoners, women prisoners, the death penalty, and control units. Links to sites on prisoner support, prison law, and prison activism. Archived news on prisons and prisoners from the PrisonAct email list. Links to organizations working on prison reform/abolition, prisoner support, and alternatives to incarceration." Searchable!

Prison Legal News (http://www.prisonlegalnews.org)
Prison Legal News is an independent 36-page monthly publication that provides a cutting edge review and analysis of prisoner rights, court rulings and news about prison issues. PLN has a national (U.S.) focus on both state and federal prison issues, with international coverage as well.

The Sentencing Project (http://www.sentencingproject.org)
"The Sentencing Project Website is designed to provide resources and information for the news media and a public concerned with criminal justice and sentencing issues. This site also includes news and information about the National Association of Sentencing Advocates (NASA), which The Sentencing Project sponsors, and professional information of use to its members. We also provide information about the Campaign for an Effective Crime Policy." Includes a report on the impact of disenfranchisement on current and former prisoners.

Western Prison Project (http://www.westernprisonproject.org)
The Western Prison Project exists to coordinate a progressive response to the criminal justice system, and to build a grassroots, multi-racial movement that achieves prison reform and reduces the over-reliance on incarceration in the western states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming and Nevada. They produce reports on prison related issues and are a great information resource for what's happening in the Northwest.

[back to top]

U.S. Government Sources

U.S. Department of Justice:

Bureau of Justice Assistance (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA)
Funding and technical assistance arm of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Bureau of Justice Statistics (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs)
Official Department of Justice statistics about prison population, crime rates, and court proceedings. Searchable!

Drug Enforcement Agency: State Fact Sheets (http://www.usdoj.gov/dea)
These are great information sources for doing quick data checks on drug arrest and conviction rates, and finding out different aspects of drug war enforcement in your state and city.

Federal Bureau of Investigation: Uniform Crime Reports (http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm)
The most comprehensive annual statistic breakdown of crime in the U.S. Includes racial, age, gender, nationality data sets.

Federal Bureau of Prisons, Office of Research and Evaluation: Quick Facts
(http://www.bop.gov/fact0598.html)
Has useful data about who's locked up in federal prison (race, age, gender) what they're there for, how many facilities there are, the security system, etc…

National Criminal Justice Reference Service (http://www.ncjrs.org)
Provides comprehensive national criminal justice data on a number of different issues. An arm of the U.S. Department of Justice.

National Institute of Justice (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij)
Official research agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. Searchable!

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Programs (http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org)
Government reports and resources about youth prisons and youth crime.

U.S. General Accounting Office
(http://www.gao.gov)
As the investigative arm of Congress, the GAO examines pertinent prison and criminal justice issues, including prison expansion, private prison, and youth in adult prisons. It evaluates federal programs and activities, and provides analyses, options, recommendations, and other assistance for Congress. Searchable! Use the search engine to find reports on prison and criminal justice issues.

[back to top]

Prison Industry Sources

Corrections.com (http://www.corrections.com)
The prison industry's online information source. Includes information about vendors in food service, cleaning and other industries profiting from prison construction, maintenance, supply, and expansion. Also includes links to Education, Food, Juvenile, Health Care, Privatization, International, Student, and Technology issues from the prison industry's perspective. Searchable!

Hoovers (http://www.hoovers.com)
Financial and other information about prison corporations traded on the stock market. Use the company's name or ticker to obtain Securities & Exchange Commission filings, stock prices, and recent news. Searchable!

[back to top]

California Sources

California Department of Corrections
(http://www.cdc.state.ca.us)
Official website of the California Department of Corrections.

California Legislative Analyst's Office
(http://www.lao.ca.gov)
Official website of the California Legislative Analyst's Office, which provides fiscal and policy advice to the State Legislature.

Little Hoover Commission (http://www.lhc.ca.gov/lhc.html)
The Little Hoover Commission is a bipartisan, independent state body that promotes efficiency and effectiveness in state programs. Does reports on California criminal justice and public safety issues.

Schools Not Jails (http://www.schoolsnotjails.com)
An informative source about young people and the prison industrial complex. It boasts multiple chat rooms for youth, tips and education tools for organizers, and informative articles about criminalization, Junior ROTC, high school ethnic studies courses, and other issues facing youth nationwide.

[back to top]

Updated Feb 2005. Please send Web site corrections to datacenter@datacenter.org.