The crisis of criminalization

"This report is an urgent call for a comprehensive philanthropic response to the growing crisis of criminalization. Over the past decade mass incarceration – the reality that over 2.2 million people are locked up in the nation’s prisons and jails, and 60% are people of color – has emerged as a central social justice issue of our time. Advocates, organizers, and philanthropic partners have confronted this crisis by working to reduce both racial disparities and the overall population of incarcerated people, and to mitigate the collateral consequences of criminal convictions." "While these interventions remain critical, mass incarceration represents the tip of a much larger iceberg – the growing crisis of criminalization. Over 10 million arrests take place annually across the country. Four million people are currently on probation, parole or otherwise under the control of the criminal legal system without being incarcerated. These daunting statistics reflect a growing crisis in the United States – not of increasing violent crime, but of an ever-expanding web of criminalization." "The crisis of criminalization is dramatically intensifying in the current political climate as criminaliza