Prison Policy Initiative Releases New Report About the Parole System

Jazmine Rodriguez22 de octubre de 2025

The Prison Policy Initiative (PPI), a research nonprofit organization, recently released Parole in Perspective, a new report that sheds light on the lack of transparency, fairness, and representation within parole systems across the country.

Broken up into two parts, the report focuses on highlighting how parole boards and hearings work and how parole decisions are made. The policy scan reveals that states take wildly different approaches to parole boards and hearings. These inconsistencies allow the parole system to continue operating in a nontransparent way. 

One of the report’s most striking findings is that in most states, nearly anyone can serve on a parole board, with many states even prioritizing candidates with law enforcement backgrounds. Yet, no parole board in the U.S. requires a member with lived experience in the criminal legal system, not even in California.

These are the people deciding who gets a second chance at freedom. But when decisions are being made about us, without us, we have to ask: Are we building a system that supports people, or one that’s just waiting to cage us up again?

In collaboration with the MacArthur Justice Center, PPI also developed Principles for Parole Reform, a guide designed to help activists and policymakers identify priorities for reform in each state. Resources like this help us reimagine parole as a system centered on people, not punishment; one that’s informed by lived experience and grounded in care, dignity, and community.