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Reports on Prison Conditions
Reports on prison conditions have been compiled since the late 18th century, and many of them have triggered prison reform. Since 1980, the U.S. prison population has increased dramatically, reaching approximately 2.3 million by 2009—the highest documented incarceration rate in the world. During the same time, the average sentence length of inmates more than doubled. The rapid growth in prison population has been accompanied by numerous reports on prison conditions compiled and published by a diverse range of stakeholders.
Early Prison Reports
Written by John Howard in 1777, The State of the ...
- Arpaio, Joseph M.
- Adversarial Justice
- An American Tragedy
- Abortion
- Anarchists
- Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798
- Alabama
- American Revolution and Criminal Justice
- Child Abuse, Contemporary
- Atlanta, Georgia
- American Bar Association
- Automobile and the Police
- Adams, John (Administration of)
- African Americans
- Ableman v. Booth
- Augustus, John
- Alcatraz Island Prison
- Autobiographies, Criminals'
- Adultery
- Bakker, Jim
- Anti-Federalist Papers
- Chicago, Illinois
- Alaska
- Court of Common Pleas
- Child Abuse, History of
- Baltimore, Maryland
- American Civil Liberties Union
- Ballistics
- Adams, John Quincy (Administration of)
- Chinese Americans
- Abrams v. United States
- Beaumont, Gustave de
- American Law Institute
- Buntline, Ned
- Bigamy/Polygamy
- Berkowitz, David
- Articles of Confederation
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Arizona
- Court of Oyer and Terminer
- Child Abuse, Sociology of
- Birmingham, Alabama
- Bertillon System
- Arthur, Chester (Administration of)
- Civil Disobedience
- Adair v. United States
- Blackstone, William
- Antitrust Law
- Christie, Agatha
- Blood Sports
- Billy the Kid
- Los Angeles, California
- Arkansas
- Court of Quarter Sessions
- Child Murderers, History of
- Camden, New Jersey
- Border Patrol
- Buchanan, James (Administration of)
- Civil Rights Laws
- Barron v. Mayor of Baltimore
- Brennan, William J., Jr.
- Appeals
- Dime Novels, Pulps, Thrillers
- Bootlegging
- Bodine, Polly
- Miami, Florida
- California
- Courts of Indian Offenses
- Children, Abandoned
- Cincinnati, Ohio
- Knapp Commission
- Bounty Hunters
- Buren, Martin Van (Administration of)
- Codification of Laws
- Bowers v. Hardwick
- Brockway, Zebulon
- Appellate Courts
- Film, Crime in
- Burglary, Contemporary
- Boles, Charles
- Bail Reform Act
- New York City
- Colorado
- Coverture, doctrine of
- Children's Rights
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Ku Klux Klan
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
- Bush, George H. W. (Administration of)
- Criminalization and Decriminalization
- Brandenburg v. Ohio
- Burger, Warren
- Attica
- Film, Police in
- Burglary, History of
- Bonnie and Clyde
- Bible
- Newark, New Jersey
- Connecticut
- Equality, Concept of
- Compton, California
- Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
- Code of Silence
- Bush, George W. (Administration of)
- Fear of Crime
- Brown v. Board of Education
- Bush, George H. W. (Administration of)
- Bail and Bond
- Film, Punishment in
- Burglary, Sociology of
- Booth, John Wilkes
- Bill of Rights
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Delaware
- Great Depression
- Juvenile Corrections, Contemporary
- Dayton, Ohio
- Lawyers Guild
- Community Policing and Relations
- Carter, Jimmy (Administration of)
- Gun Control
- Brown v. Mississippi
- Bush, George W. (Administration of)
- Bedford Hills Correctional Facility
- Grafton, Sue
- Computer Crime
- Borden, Lizzie
- Bodie of Liberties
- San Francisco, California
- Florida
- History of Crime and Punishment in America: Colonial
- Juvenile Corrections, History of
- Detroit, Michigan
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
- Corruption, Contemporary
- Cleveland, Grover (Administration of)
- Hispanic Americans
- Buck v. Bell
- Byrnes, Thomas
- Capital Punishment
- Green, Anna K.
- Confidence Games and Frauds
- Brocius, William
- Book of the General Lawes & Libertyes
- Georgia
- History of Crime and Punishment in America: 1783–1850
- Juvenile Corrections, Sociology of
- Jackson, Mississippi
- National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement
- Corruption, History of
- Clinton, William (Administration of)
- Insanity Defense
- Caminetti v. United States
- Cummings, Homer
- Chain Gangs and Prison Labor
- Hammett, Dashiell
- Corruption, Contemporary
- Bundy, Ted
- Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
- Hawai'i
- History of Crime and Punishment in America: 1850–1900
- Juvenile Courts, Contemporary
- Kansas City, Missouri
- National Congress on Penitentiary and Reformatory Discipline
- Corruption, Sociology of
- Coolidge, Calvin (Administration of)
- Irish Americans
- Chandler v. Florida
- Darrow, Clarence
- Chillicothe Correctional Institution
- Hillerman, Tony
- Corruption, History of
- Capone, Al
- Civil Rights Act of 1866
- Idaho
- History of Crime and Punishment in America: 1900–1950
- Juvenile Courts, History of
- Memphis, Tennessee
- National Organization for Women
- Crime Prevention
- Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Administration of)
- Italian Americans
- Chisholm v. Georgia
- Devery, William
- Citizen Participation on Juries
- Literature and Theater, Crime in
- Corruption, Sociology of
- Chapman, Mark David
- Civil Rights Act of 1875
- Illinois
- History of Crime and Punishment in America: 1950–1970
- Juvenile Delinquency, History of
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- National Prison Association
- Crime Scene Investigation
- Fillmore, Millard (Administration of)
- Japanese Americans
- Cohens v. Virginia
- Dewey, Thomas E.
- Civil Rights Laws
- Literature and Theater, Police in
- Counterfeiting
- Cunningham, Emma
- Clayton Anti-Trust Act of 1914
- Indiana
- History of Crime and Punishment in America: 1970-Present
- Juvenile Delinquency, Sociology of
- Oakland, California
- Penitentiary Study Commission
- Customs Service as Police
- Ford, Gerald (Administration of)
- Jewish Americans
- Coker v. Georgia
- Douglas, William O.
- Clemency
- Literature and Theater, Punishment in
- Crime and Arrest Statistics Analysis
- Czolgosz, Leon
- Colonial Charters and Grants
- Iowa
- Homeland Security
- Juvenile Justice, History of
- St. Louis, Missouri
- President's Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice
- Detection and Detectives
- Grant, Ulysses S. (Administration of)
- Libertarianism
- Crabtree v. State
- Garfield, James
- Clinton Correctional Facility
- Memoirs, Police and Prosecutors
- Crime in America, Causes
- Dahmer, Jeffrey
- Constitution of the United States of America
- Kansas
- Prohibition
- Juvenile Offenders, Prevention and Education
- Washington, D.C.
- Securities and Exchange Commission
- Drug Enforcement Administration
- Harding, Warren G. (Administration of)
- Morality
- Davis v. State
- Giuliani, Rudolph
- Codification of Laws
- Music and Crime
- Crime in America, Distribution
- DeSalvo, Albert
- Kentucky
- Puritans
- Juvenile Offenders in Adult Courts
- Students for a Democratic Society and the Weathermen
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Harrison, Benjamin (Administration of)
- Native Americans
- Dennis v. United States
- Hamilton, Alexander
- Colonial Courts
- News Media, Crime in
- Crime in America, Types
- Dillinger, John
- Declaration of Independence
- Louisiana
- Salem Witch Trials
- School Shootings
- Wickersham Commission
- Federal Policing
- Hayes, Rutherford B. (Administration of)
- Obscenity Laws
- Dillard v. the State of Georgia
- Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr.
- Common Law Origins of Criminal Law
- News Media, Police in
- Crime Rates
- Everleigh Sisters
- Dyer Act
- Maine
- Victorian Compromise
- Lindsey, Ben
- Forensic Science
- Hoover, Herbert (Administration of)
- Political Dissidents
- Dred Scott v. Sandford
- Hoover, J. Edgar
- Community Service
- News Media, Punishment in
- Criminology
- Ferguson, Colin
- Elkins Act of 1903
- Maryland
- Incapacitation, Theory of
- Jackson, Andrew (Administration of)
- Quakers
- Duren v. Missouri
- Jefferson, Thomas
- Comstock Law
- Domestic Violence, Contemporary
- Floyd, Charles Arthur
- Emergency Quota Act of 1921
- Massachusetts
- Internal Revenue Service
- Jefferson, Thomas (Administration of)
- Racism
- Eisenstadt v. Baird
- Kennedy, Robert F.
- Confession
- Poe, Edgar Allen
- Domestic Violence, History of
- Gacy, John Wayne
- Enforcement Acts of 1870–1871
- Michigan
- Interrogation Practices
- Johnson, Andrew (Administration of)
- Sin
- Estes v. Texas
- King, Martin Luther, Jr.
- Convict Lease System
- Spillane, Mickey
- Domestic Violence, Sociology of
- Genovese, Vito
- English Charter of Liberties of 1100
- Minnesota
- Military Police
- Slavery
- Fletcher v. Peck
- Kunstler, William
- Corporal Punishment
- Television, Crime in
- Drinking and Crime
- Gotti, John
- Espionage Act of 1917
- Mississippi
- Miranda v. Arizona
- Kennedy, John F. (Administration of)
- Urbanization
- Frontiero v. Richardson
- La Guardia, Fiorello
- Corrections
- Television, Police in
- Drug Abuse and Addiction, Contemporary
- Guiteau, Charles
- Ethics in Government Act of 1978
- Missouri
- M'Naghten Test
- Lincoln, Abraham (Administration of)
- Xenophobia
- Furman v. Georgia
- Leopold and Loeb
- Courts
- Television, Punishment in
- Drug Abuse and Addiction, History of
- Hauptmann, Bruno
- Federalist Papers
- Montana
- Mug Shots
- Madison, James (Administration of)
- Gates v. Collier
- Livingston, Edward
- Critical Legal Studies Movement
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Drug Abuse and Addiction, Sociology of
- James, Jesse
- Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
- Nebraska
- Narcotics Laws
- McKinley, William (Administration of)
- Gibbons v. Ogden
- Marshall, John
- Cruel and Unusual Punishment
- Wambaugh, Joseph
- Embezzlement
- Kaczynski, Ted
- Freedom of Information Act of 1966
- Nevada
- National Police Gazette
- Monroe, James (Administration of)
- Gideon v. Wainwright
- McCarthy, Joseph
- Death Row
- Environmental Crimes
- Kevorkian, Jack
- Fugitive Slave Act of 1793
- New Hampshire
- Native American Tribal Police
- Nixon, Richard (Administration of)
- Glidewell v. State
- Ness, Eliot
- Defendant's Rights
- Espionage
- Klebold, Dylan, and Eric Harris
- Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
- New Jersey
- Police, Women as
- Obama, Barack (Administration of)
- Gregg v. Georgia
- Paine, Thomas
- Deportation
- Felonies
- Leopold and Loeb
- Habeas Corpus Act of 1679
- New Mexico
- Police Abuse
- Pierce, Franklin (Administration of)
- Griffin v. California
- Parker, William
- Deterrence, Theory of
- Fornication Laws
- Luciano, “Lucky”
- Habeas Corpus Act of 1863
- New York
- Political Policing
- Polk, James K. (Administration of)
- Griswold v. Connecticut
- Penn, William
- Discretionary Decision Making
- Fraud
- Manson, Charles
- Harrison Act of 1914
- North Carolina
- Posses
- Reagan, Ronald (Administration of)
- Grutter v. Bollinger
- Percival, Robert V.
- District Attorney
- Frontier Crime
- Homestead Act of 1862
- North Dakota
- Private Detectives
- Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Administration of)
- Holden v. Hardy
- Ragen, Joseph
- Due Process
- Gambling
- Menendez, Lyle and Erik
- Independent Treasury Act
- Ohio
- Private Police
- Roosevelt, Theodore (Administration of)
- Holt v. Sarver
- Rockefeller, Nelson
- Eastern State Penitentiary
- Gangs, Contemporary
- Mudgett, Herman
- Indian Civil Rights Act
- Oklahoma
- Private Security Services
- Taft, William Howard (Administration of)
- Hurtado v. California
- Roosevelt, Theodore (Administration of)
- Electric Chair, History of
- Gangs, History of
- Muhammad, John Allen
- Indian Removal Act
- Oregon
- Professionalization of Police
- Taylor, Zachary (Administration of)
- Johnson v. Avery
- Snyder, Ruth
- Electronic Surveillance
- Gangs, Sociology of
- Nelson, “Baby Face”
- Internal Security Act of 1950
- Pennsylvania
- Reform, Police and Enforcement
- Truman, Harry S. (Administration of)
- Korematsu v. United States
- Steenburgh, Sam
- Elmira Prison
- Guns and Violent Crime
- Nitti, Frank
- Interstate Commerce Act of 1887
- Rhode Island
- Rural Police
- Tyler, John (Administration of)
- Lochner v. New York
- Sutherland, Edwin
- Executions
- Hereditary Crime
- Oswald, Lee Harvey
- Intolerable Acts of 1774
- South Carolina
- Secret Service
- Washington, George (Administration of)
- Loving v. Virginia
- Thaw, Harry K.
- Famous Trials
- Identity Theft
- Peterson, Scott
- Judiciary Act of 1789
- South Dakota
- Sheriffs
- Wilson, Woodrow (Administration of)
- Mapp v. Ohio
- Thoreau, Henry David
- Federal Prisons
- Immigration Crimes
- Rader, Dennis
- Landrum-Griffin Act of 1859
- Tennessee
- State Police
- Marbury v. Madison
- Tocqueville, Alexis de
- Fingerprinting
- Incest
- Ramirez, Richard
- Law Enforcement Assistance Act
- Texas
- Strikes
- Martin v. Hunter's Lessee
- Vollmer, August
- Fish and Game Laws
- Indecent Exposure
- Ray, James Earl
- Laws and Liberties of Massachusetts
- Utah
- Technology, Police
- McCleskey v. Kemp
- Walling, George
- Fornication Laws
- Infanticide
- Rothstein, Arnold
- Lindbergh Law
- Vermont
- Texas Rangers
- McCulloch v. Maryland
- Warren, Earl
- Gender and Criminal Law
- Kidnapping
- Sacco and Vanzetti
- Magna Carta
- Virginia
- Training Police
- McNabb v. United States
- Wickersham, George
- Habeas Corpus, Writ of
- Larceny
- Schultz, “Dutch”
- Mann Act
- Washington
- Uniform Crime Reporting Program
- Minor v. Happersett
- Wilson, James Q.
- Hanging
- Livestock and Cattle Crimes
- Sheppard, Sam
- Maryland Toleration Act of 1649
- West Virginia
- Vice Reformers
- Miranda v. Arizona
- Wilson, O. W.
- Judges and Magistrates
- Lynchings
- Simpson, O. J.
- Mayflower Compact
- Wisconsin
- Vigilantism
- Mississippi v. Johnson
- Zeisel, Hans
- Juries
- Moonshine
- Sirhan Sirhan
- National Security Act of 1947
- Wyoming
- Muller v. Oregon
- Jurisdiction
- Murder, Contemporary
- Smith, Susan
- Northwest Ordinance of 1787
- Munn v. Illinois
- Justice, Department of
- Murder, History of
- Torrio, John
- Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968
- Olmstead v. United States
- Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary
- Murder, Sociology of
- Wuornos, Aileen
- Pendleton Act of 1883
- Padilla v. Kentucky
- Legal Counsel
- Murders, Unsolved
- Yates, Andrea
- Presidential Proclamations
- People v. Pinnell
- Matteawan State Hospital
- Obscenity
- Zodiac Killer
- Proclamation for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition of 1775
- People v. Superior Court of Santa Clara County
- Military Courts
- Organized Crime, Contemporary
- Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906
- Plessy v. Ferguson
- “New Punitiveness”
- Organized Crime, History of
- Reports on Prison Conditions
- Procunier v. Martinez
- Parole
- Organized Crime, Sociology of
- Sedition Act of 1918
- Reynolds v. United States
- Penitentiaries
- Pickpockets
- Selective Service Act of 1967
- Ricci v. DeStefano
- Petty Courts
- Political Crimes, Contemporary
- Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890
- Roberts v. Louisiana
- Plea
- Political Crimes, History of
- Smith Act
- Roe v. Wade
- Prison Privatization
- Political Crimes, Sociology of
- Stamp Act of 1765
- Romer v. Evans
- Prison Riots
- Pornography
- State Blue Laws
- Roth v. United States
- Prisoner's Rights
- Prostitution, Contemporary
- State Slave Codes
- Santobello v. New York
- Probation
- Prostitution, History of
- Tea Act of 1773
- Schenck v. United States
- Punishment Within Prison
- Prostitution, Sociology of
- Townshend Acts of 1767
- Sheppard v. Maxwell
- Race, Class, and Criminal Law
- Race-Based Crimes
- USA PATRIOT Act of 2001
- Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States
- Reform Movements in Justice
- Rape, Contemporary
- Vice Commission
- State v. Heitman
- Rehabilitation
- Rape, History of
- Violence Against Women Act of 1994
- Strauder v. West Virginia
- Rule of Law
- Rape, Sociology of
- Volstead Act
- Taylor v. State
- San Quentin State Prison
- Religion and Crime, Contemporary
- Terry v. Ohio
- Segregation Laws
- Religion and Crime, History of
- Texas v. White
- Sentencing
- Religion and Crime, Sociology of
- Twining v. New Jersey
- Sentencing: Indeterminate Versus Fixed
- Riots
- United States v. Ballard
- Sex Offender Laws
- Robbery, Contemporary
- United States v. E. C. Knight Company
- Shaming and Shunning
- Robbery, History of
- United States v. Hudson and Goodwin
- Sing Sing Correctional Facility
- Robbery, Sociology of
- United States v. Nixon
- Slavery, Law of
- Serial and Mass Killers
- United States v. One Book Called Ulysses
- Supreme Court, U.S.
- Sex Offenders
- Webb v. United States
- Suspect's Rights
- Sexual Harassment
- Weeks v. United States
- Torture
- Smuggling
- Whitney v. California
- Trials
- Sodomy
- Wolf v. Colorado
- Victim Rights and Restitution
- Tax Crimes
- Yates v. United States
- Witness Testimony
- Terrorism
- Women in Prison
- Theories of Crime
- Traffic Crimes
- Vagrancy
- Victimless Crime
- Violent Crimes
- White-Collar Crime, Contemporary
- White-Collar Crime, History of
- White-Collar Crime, Sociology of
- Women Criminals, Contemporary
- Women Criminals, History of
- Women Criminals, Sociology of
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