The U.S. Criminal Justice Fund has three core priorities: reducing mass incarceration, eliminating harsh punishment, and eliminating racial disparities and securing a fair system of justice. Through its programming, grantmaking, and fellowships, the fund seeks to reduce the destructive impact of current criminal justice policies on the lives of individuals, families, and communities in the United States.

The fund supports organizations working to:

• Attack the excessive and economically destructive costs of incarceration.
• Eliminate harsh and unjust sentencing practices, including prosecuting children as adults and punitive school disciplinary practices.
• Reform parole, probation, police, and prosecution policies and practices.
• Combat the criminalization of people with mental illness, young people, immigrants, and the homeless.
• Challenge the stigmatization of people with criminal records and eliminate unreasonable barriers to social, economic, and political participation.
• Abolish the death penalty.

Through the Soros Justice Fellowships, the fund also supports the work of outstanding established and emerging leaders, including lawyers, advocates, grassroots organizers, activist academics, journalists, and filmmakers to implement innovative projects that address problems with the U.S. criminal justice system.