Through its programming and grantmaking the Criminal Justice Fund supports efforts to end the over-reliance on incarceration and harsh punishment in the United States. The Fund supports advocacy, litigation, strategic research and analysis, public education, communications and organizing efforts to address institutional and structural inequality and reverse the policies and practices that criminalize race, poverty, mental illness, drug and alcohol dependency and youth; expose the destructive and costly impact of current policies on individuals and communities; stimulate rethinking about the appropriate role of prosecution, punishment, and prison in the 21st century; encourage participation and leadership of people with criminal convictions in justice reform; and assure equal access to quality representation and alternatives to incarceration.

Areas of focus include:

• The Gideon Project focuses on the fair and equal administration of justice, including death penalty reform, improving public defense, and ending racial profiling;
• The Sentencing and Incarceration Alternatives Project focuses on sentencing reform, including mandatory minimums and crack-powder cocaine disparities, and limiting prison expansion and privatization;
• The After Prison Initiative focuses on reorienting policies and reinvesting resources of prison systems to maximize successful reentry and support the economic and political re-enfranchisement of high incarceration communities;
• The Soros Justice Fellowships Program provides one-year project fellowships to emerging and seasoned criminal justice advocates.