Reports
The Pennsylvania Prison Society has been an expert source of information on prison conditions for 234 years. We monitor and report on 23 State Correctional Institutions (SCIs) and 62 county jails to ensure the humane treatment of individuals living behind bars and to provide data that can make a difference.
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New! Report on COVID-19 in PA State Prisons (Winter 2021) (PDF)
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Report on COVID-19 in PA State Prisons (Fall 2020) (PDF)
Forty years ago, Pennsylvania had seven prisons. Today we have 23.
Incarceration has increased by 500% while the crime rate has gone down. The impact of mass incarceration on safety in Pennsylvania has been modest, at best. Crime rates have gone up and down. They are largely independent of the number of people in prison. Violent crime rates in Pennsylvania are now same as in the mid-1970s, before mass incarceration began.