We fight to make sure all Iowans are treated fairly under the law.
More people are incarcerated in America than in any other country.
The state of Iowa is no exception. The number of people behind bars on any given day surpasses the population of entire towns like Clive, Boone, and Oskaloosa. In fact, Iowa prisons are projected to be 43 percent over capacity within 10 years.
The ACLU of Iowa is fighting to end mass incarceration. Over-reliance on the criminal legal system to respond to drug addiction, mental illness, poverty, and underfunded schools has fractured society, damaged communities, and wasted trillions of taxpayer dollars.
We need fair and smart justice in all steps of the criminal legal system, including pretrial detention and surveillance, police practices, public defense systems, sentencing, and prosecutorial discretion.
