For the first time in nearly 40 years, the number of state prisoners in the United States has declined, according to Prison Count 2010, a survey by the Pew Center on the States. more

This 2009 report explored how, at a time when states are facing historic budget deficits, state leaders can prevent a large share of the nation’s criminal activity and cut corrections costs.

Some offenders need to be put in prison. Others can be managed safely on probation in the community. This 2008 report looks at how judges and prosecutors often face the difficult task of figuring out what to do with defendants who don’t fit cleanly into either group.

Despite having built more than 100,000 prison beds in the 1980s and ‘90s, Texas was looking at a 17,000-bed shortfall by 2012 at an additional cost of $900 million for fiscal years 2008 and 2009. more

Dr. Joan Petersilia is one of the nation’s most respected experts on community corrections. In 2007, she spoke with Pew’s Public Safety Performance Project about what policy makers should know about the research on these critical programs.