The Justice Center
This page compiles both original and external resources related to family impact, procedural fairness, and accountability within the justice system to make the process more understandable.
All resources are provided for informational purposes only and external resources are not affiliated with this site.
→ Start Here: Justice Center Guide
If you or someone close to you is entering the federal criminal process, it can be difficult to understand the process.
This guide provides a clear, step-by-step overview of what to expect.
It explains how the process typically unfolds and where uncertainty often arises.
Understanding the Federal Criminal Process
19-page overview
Plain-language explanations
Covers investigation → sentencing
Justice Center
Supporting Families & Caregivers
Resources explaining the impact of the justice system on families, including incarcerated individuals and their children. Highlights effects, current issues, programs, and resources.
National Organizations & Advocacy
Support, advocacy, and education for families impacted by incarceration, with a focus on peer connection and family stability.
Families for Justice as Healing
National advocacy organization advancing alternatives to incarceration for primary caregivers and centering family preservation in sentencing policy.
Tennessee-based organization advocating for incarcerated women, sentencing reform, and family unity through lived experience leadership.
Provides family-focused reentry services, education, and advocacy for people impacted by incarceration and their loved ones.
Children of Incarcerated Parents
Youth.gov – Children of Incarcerated Parents
Federal hub offering tools, guides, and research for supporting children with incarcerated parents across developmental stages.
Children of Incarcerated Caregivers National Network (CICMN)
National network advancing best practices, policy, and coordination to support children impacted by caregiver incarceration.
Effects of Parental Incarceration on Children (APA)
A comprehensive overview from the American Psychological Association detailing how parental incarceration, including arrest, trial, and custody, affects children’s attachment, development and well-being.
National Resource Center on Children & Families of the Incarcerated (NRCCFI)
The largest U.S. organization focused specifically on children and families impacted by incarceration, offering fact sheets, research, and training.
Pregnancy, Birth & Parenting in Custody
ACOG – Reproductive Health Care for Incarcerated Individuals
Clinical guidance on pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum care, and ethical standards for people in custody.
Collective Power for Reproductice Justice
Collective Power for Reproductive Justice is a national movement-building organization centering reproductive justice.
Prison Policy Initiative – Women & Mass Incarceration
Data and analysis on women’s incarceration, facility-level policies, pregnancy in custody, breastfeeding in custody, and infant and family separation.
The Sentencing Project – Incarcerated Women & Pregnancy
Data and policy analysis on pregnancy, postpartum care, and family separation.
ACLU – Reproductive Justice & Incarceration
Legal challenges related to breastfeeding denial and postpartum separation.
Federal Bureau of Prisons – Female Offenders
Official BOP resource on programs and services, facilities, and pregnancy issues. Also contains the Female Offender Manual (link currently broken) with policies regarding pregnancy, lactation, and postpartum care (often inconsistently applied).
Human Rights Watch – “The Shackling of Pregnant Women”
Documentation of systemic violations during pregnancy, labor, and postpartum.
Children’s Contact With Their Incarcerated Parents (NIH)
A detailed academic article on how letters, phone calls, and visits may affect parent-child relationships and child outcomes during incarceration.
Evidence-Based Programs that Support Incarcerated Parents, Their Children, and Families
Outlines programs and practices that support families with an incarcerated parent.
Prison Nursery & Mother–Baby Programs
Women’s Prison Association (WPA)
Mother–Baby Prison Nursery Programs
Advocacy, research, and policy recommendations for keeping mothers and infants together.
Children of Incarcerated Caregivers 2025 United States Prison Nursery Report
Justification and criticisms, physical environment, eligibility, caregiving dynamics, programming, and reentry are addressed in this CICMN report.
Mothers, Infants and Imprisonment
A national look at prison nurseries and community-based alternatives from the Women’s Prison Association Institute on Women and Criminal Justice.
Mothers’ Perceptions of Quality of Life After a Prison Nursery Program
Doctoral research focusing on the transition of mothers from prison with their prison-born babies from the mothers’ perception.
Family Separation & Reunification
Annie E. Casey Foundation – Parental Incarceration & Child Welfare
Research on the relationship between incarceration, foster care placement, and family separation.
Child Welfare Information Gateway – Parental Incarceration
Federal resources for caregivers, courts, and child welfare professionals navigating incarceration-related family disruption.
Trauma, Mental Health, & Long-Term Impact
National Institute of Justice: Hidden Consequences
Details how parental incarceration impacts children’s mental health, educational attainment, behavior, economics, attachment, risk profiles, and the role of social support systems in mitigating the harm that affects up to 10 million U.S. children.
Behavioral, Health, and Developmental Effects (PRB)
Research showing associations between parental incarceration and children’s behavioral problems, anxiety, learning challenges, and developmental impacts.
National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN)
Resources for schools on childhood trauma, attachment disruption, and resilience related to family separation.
CDC – Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Research on the long-term health, mental health, and social impacts of childhood trauma and family instability.
Zero to Three – Trauma & Early Development
Evidence-based resources on how caregiver separation affects infants and young children.
Mental health resources addressing anxiety, grief, behavior changes, and trauma in children.
Sentencing Alternatives & Caregiver-Focused Policy
Alternatives to Incarceration for Parents
BMJ scoping review that aims to map concepts, document evidence and identify knowledge gaps about parent and caregiver-focused alternatives to incarceration in the USA.
Data, Research, & System Context
The Sentencing Project – Children of Incarcerated Parents
National statistics and research documenting the scope of parental incarceration.
Vera Institute of Justice – Family Justice
Research on incarceration’s impact on families and community stability.
Youth Voice & Identity + Mentoring & Education Support
Youth.gov – COIP Tools & Guides
Downloadable guides for caregivers and professionals navigating arrest, incarceration, visitation, and reentry.
National organization led by and for children and young adults with incarcerated parents, focused on empowerment, storytelling, and policy change.
We Got Us Now Resource Library
Lists books and resources for youth facing parental incarceration appropriate for many ages.
Sesame Workshop – Incarceration Resources
Free, bilingual, trauma-informed child-friendly tools such as age-appropriate videos, stories, and activities to help young children understand incarceration, separation, and emotions and cope with a loved one’s incarceration.
National Mentoring Resource Center – Children of Incarcerated Parents
Evidence-based mentoring resources and program guidance for youth affected by parental incarceration.
Creates community, mentorship, and leadership opportunities for children with incarcerated parents to build resilience and connection.
EdTrust
Research on educational disruption, stigma, and academic outcomes for children impacted by incarceration.
Policy research on trauma-informed education and student support systems.
National Education Association
Information about supporting students with incarcerated parents by removing stigma and letting students know that they are not alone in their experience.
Justice Center
Procedural Fairness & Injustice
Resources to support system understanding and provide context of the legal process, transparency, charging practices, sentencing, and fairness safeguards.
How the Criminal Legal Process Is Supposed to Work
National Center for State Courts (NCSC)
Plain-language explanations of court processes, roles, and procedural safeguards.
American Bar Association – Criminal Justice Standards
Authoritative standards on fairness, due process, charging, plea practices, and sentencing.
Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law)
Accessible explanations of constitutional protections, criminal procedure, and defendants’ rights.
Charging Decisions, Prosecutorial Discretion, & Transparency
Brennan Center for Justice – Prosecutorial Power
Research on charging discretion, plea leverage, and lack of transparency in prosecutorial decision-making.
Network of prosecutors committed to transparency, accountability, and restraint.
The Nature and Function of Prosecutorial Power
Explains the structural role of prosecutorial discretion, including how much authority prosecutors have, why that authority exists, and how it shapes almost every stage of a criminal case.
Prosecution and Unchecked Discretion (NACDL)
Discusses how broad prosecutorial discretion operates with minimal accountability and how these decisions influence disparities.
The Power and Discretion of the American Prosecutor
Explains why prosecutors are considered “the most powerful officials” in the criminal justice system and explores consequences of that power for case outcomes and defendants’ rights.
Plea Bargaining, Coercion, & Informational Imbalance
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL)
Resources on plea bargaining pressure, discovery practices, and defense rights.
Innocence Project – Plea Deals & Wrongful Convictions
Documentation of how coercive pleas contribute to wrongful convictions.
Criminal Legal System and Coercion of Guilty Pleas (Vera Institute)
Report explains why defendants often plead guilty, including pressure from longer potential sentences, mandatory minimums, “exploding” offers, and pretrial detention tactics that create coercive incentives.
Plea Bargaining Issue Brief — Fair and Just Prosecution
Outline how plea bargaining’s structure and prosecutorial discretion combine to create imbalances, powerful incentives to accept deals, and pressures that exceed formal legal rules.
Victims of Coercive Plea Bargaining — American University Law Review
Surveys research on how coercive plea practices can lead even innocent people to plead guilty, summarizing effects of informational and power imbalances in plea negotiations.
Discovery Abuse, Brady Violations, Evidence Suppression, & Disclosure Failures
Brady Center / Brady Disclosure Resources
Information on prosecutors’ obligations to disclose exculpatory evidence.
National Registry of Exonerations
Data showing how often prosecutors withhold or distort evidence, and cases highlighting discovery failures, withheld evidence, and procedural breakdowns.
Research and case studies on systemic failures in evidence handling.
NACDL reform suggestions for exculpatory evidence and required by statute or rule disclosure.
Whistleblowers, Qui Tam, & Retaliatory Charging
Department of Justice – Qui Tam (False Claims Act) Overview
Explains whistleblower protections, relator rights, and DOJ discretion — including gaps that leave whistleblowers vulnerable.
National organization supporting False Claims Act whistleblowers.
Government Accountability Project (GAP)
Whistleblower protection organization documenting retaliation across federal systems, including prosecutorial misuse of power.
Senate Judiciary Committee – Whistleblower Protections
Oversight materials and hearings addressing failures in federal whistleblower protections.
Project On Government Oversight (POGO)
Investigative reporting and advocacy on government abuse, retaliation, and lack of accountability.
U.S. Department of Justice — Justice Manual (Principles of Federal Prosecution)
Internal DOJ guidance outlining when federal charges should be brought, evidentiary thresholds, and factors prosecutors are instructed to consider.
Misconduct: Oversight, Ethics, & Accountability Mechanisms
Department of Justice (DOJ) – Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR)
The internal federal DOJ oversight body that investigates federal prosecutorial misconduct. Note: OPR investigations are opaque, slow, and rarely result in public discipline, but they create a formal record.
State Bar Disciplinary Authorities (for AUSAs licensed in states)
Professional oversight of prosecutors and defense counsel (varies by state). Prosecutors are subject to state ethical rules, even in federal court.
Judicial Conduct Commissions (by state)
Oversight bodies for judicial ethics and conduct.
Judicial Conduct & Disability Act (federal judges)
Formal mechanism to report judicial misconduct or bias.
The House Judiciary Committee receives constituent complaints and conducts investigations.
The Senate Judiciary Committee receives constituent complaints and conducts invesigations.
Office of Special Counsel (Whistleblower Retaliation)
Limited jurisdiction but relevant for some federal retaliation claims.
Media and investigative journalism.
Federal System Fairness, Injustice, & Reform
U.S. Sentencing Commission – Federal Sentencing Data
Shows disparity, cooperation credit issues, and sentencing outcomes.
The Sentencing Project – Federal Justice Issues
Research on sentencing severity, charging disparities, and prosecutorial influence.
Prison Policy Initiative – Federal Justice Analysis
Context on pretrial detention, sentence length, and leverage points.
ACLU – Federal Criminal Justice Reform
Litigation and research on due process and prosecutorial abuse.
Prosecutorial Accountability and Reform
NACDL resolution for systemic reform to render prosecutors accountable for misconduct.
Reforming the Prosecutorial System
This Brookings Institutions article critiques systemic imbalance and gives policy context on the need for reform based on current prosecutorial discretion and how it impacts plea bargaining and the right to a fair trial — especially given that most cases never see a jury trial.
Justice Center
Accountability & Lived Experience
Resources explaining research, data, investigative journalism, oversight bodies, and lived-experience–led organizations with perspective and impact of what it feels like going through the justice system — and what survives afterward.
Lived Experience–Led Organizations
Advocacy and leadership by formerly incarcerated women addressing sentencing harm and family impact.
Youth- and family-led organization amplifying lived experience of parental incarceration.
Families for Justice as Healing
Centers caregivers’ lived experience in sentencing reform and alternatives to incarceration.
Research, Accountability, & Outcomes
The Marshall Project
In-depth reporting on failures in prosecution, courts, incarceration, and reentry.
Research on system outcomes, family harm, and community impact.
Urban Institute – Justice Policy Center
Analysis of justice system effects on families, health, and economic stability.
National Academies of Sciences – Incarceration Outcomes
Authoritative research on long-term societal impacts of incarceration.
Convictions, Collateral Consequences, & Systemic Effects
Collateral Consequences Resource Center (CCRC)
Tracks civil penalties affecting housing, employment, parenting, and voting.
Council of State Governments – Justice Center
Research on reentry barriers and system-imposed consequences.
National Registry of Exonerations
Data showing how often prosecutors withhold or distort evidence, and cases highlighting discovery failures, withheld evidence, and procedural breakdowns.
Research and case studies on systemic failures in evidence handling.
Research and advocacy highlighting wrongful convictions and system failures.
Accountability, Oversight & Reform Pathways
Department of Justice – Civil Rights Division
Federal oversight of systemic constitutional violations.
Litigation and advocacy addressing systemic rights violations.
First-Person Accounts: Defendants & the Legal System
Innocence Project – Exoneree Stories
First-person narratives from individuals wrongfully charged or convicted, including plea coercion and prosecutorial misconduct.
National Registry of Exonerations – Individual Case Narratives
Detailed case stories documenting how prosecutorial decisions, evidence suppression, and systemic failures unfolded.
The Marshall Project – Life Inside the System
First-person essays from people navigating arrest, plea negotiations, sentencing, incarceration, and reentry.
Voices of Formerly Incarcerated People & Their Children
The Fortune Society Reentry Reality Check Podcast
First-person narrative podcasts on incarceration, reentry, and long-term consequences.
Ear Hustle — Inside Prison Stories
Podcast created by formerly incarcerated people featuring conversations with people currently serving time or recently released about daily life in prison and effects on identity, family, and community.
Prison Audio: Phone Calls from Prison
Incarcerated individuals speak unfiltered by phone about their lives, childhoods, and feelings about being separated from family.
Voices of The Returned: Life After Incarceration
Formerly incarcerated people and others impacted by incarceration discuss life after release and how incarceration shaped relationships and family roles.
Youth Perspectives & Panels — SUSU/Pathfinders Network
A collection of videos and podcasts where children and young adults with incarcerated parents speak about their experiences, advocacy, coping, identity, and community needs in live panel discussions and personal storytelling.
The Resilient Children of Incarcerated Parents: Interviews
Interviews adult children of incarcerated parents — including how parental incarceration shaped their lives, advocacy work, and identities.
Growing Up with an Incarcerated Parent
Personal video featuring a daughter sharing her lived experience of her father’s incarceration and its effects on her childhood.
First-Person Narrative from a Daughter of an Incarcerated Father
Describes childhood and the emotional experience of living with the realities of parental incarceration.
I Am Not My Parent’s Mistakes: Stories from Children of Incarcerated Parents
Centers the voices of youth directly affected by parental incarceration with personal reflections and a podcast that humanizes their experiences beyond statistics.
Filmmaker and brother of a young mother incarcerated with a 15-year sentence due to mandatory minimums discusses the reason for making his film and his feelings about his family’s human experience through the process of mass incarceration, the family it threatened to destroy, and the children it left behind.
Share an Experience
If you or your family have been impacted by the criminal justice system, you are not alone.
Some individuals choose to share their experiences navigating the federal justice system. Your story can be shared anonymously. We do not publish identifying details without your consent. This space is designed to safely document real experiences within the justice system. You are not alone.
Tell your story. Be Heard.
