John,

As 2023 marks 50 years of mass incarceration in America, The Sentencing Project has released a new Public Service Announcement, "50 Years and a Wake Up," that raises awareness about the dire state of the U.S. criminal legal system and the devastating impact of incarceration on communities and families. The PSA will run in broadcast markets across the United States.

For the last fifty years, the United States has advanced punitive policies that have led to a staggering increase in the prison population. The prison population has grown 500% since 1973, and today, almost 2 million people – disproportionately Black Americans – are incarcerated in our nation’s prisons and jails. Alarmingly, there continues to be widespread misinformation about our criminal legal system and political posturing around failed “tough on crime” policy proposals that do nothing to actually make our communities safer.

The PSA features formerly incarcerated activists, Joél Castón and Kemba Smith, who share their valuable perspectives on why Americans must wake up to the dire consequences of our mass incarceration crisis.

We hope this public service announcement will urge Americans to understand that there is a better path forward to build healthy and safe communities.