Prison Policy Initiative tracking “how the Trump administration is making the criminal legal system worse”

In this post yesterday, I noted that I had not been able to find analyses looking closely at all of the Trump Administration’s actions in the criminal justice enforcement and sentencing space over its first 100 days, and I suggested doing so would be challenging because there had been so many dynamics developments in this arena. But today I see that the folks at the Prison Policy Initiative now have this detailed new resource purporting to track “how the Trump administration is making the criminal legal system worse.”  The resource is quite extensive, has lots of helpful links, and gets started this way:

The American criminal legal system has always been terrible, but what has happened in recent months is different.  It is in a new kind of crisis.  Since taking office, the Trump administration has taken actions to eviscerate due process and the rule of law, make prison and jail conditions worse, expand the use of extreme sentences and harsh law enforcement tactics, eliminate oversight, undermine solutions that reduce incarceration and make communities safer, and much more.

When examined individually, these actions are troubling, but the true nature of the crisis is only clear when these actions are viewed in their entirety.  On this page, we are tracking the steps that the Trump administration is taking to make the criminal legal system in America harsher, less effective, and even more unfair.

It is important to note, the federal government directly controls only a relatively small slice of the carceral system in America.  So while it can’t set explicit policy that impacts most prisons, jails, and law enforcement, the Trump administration is using its bully pulpit and control over federal spending to coerce state and local governments into making their criminal legal systems bigger and even more brutal.

Additionally, because we’re not experts on immigration and policing, we have intentionally chosen not to list all of the actions by the administration in these areas.  Instead, we have curated a list of organizations and information sources that we recommend you visit if you would like to learn more about immigration and policing.

It is impossible to list everything the administration has done in this regard, but if you believe we have overlooked something that should be included, please let us know.