Despite enormous strides in building a fairer and more just criminal justice system in the last two decades, progress has stalled amid too many efforts to pull us backward. While the vast majority of these gains are still holding, the prison population has risen each of the last two years. Without a change in course, rollbacks of successful reforms along with harmful new policy changes will increase incarceration even more.

We’re charting a different path forward by lifting proven strategies that work to advance both safety and justice–and interrogating some of the myths and misperceptions that hold us back. The evidence is with us, and Americans are too.