I have collected several original datasets that may be available upon request and with citation:
1. Private Prisons.
Variables in this dataset include: my original data on the location and capacity of private prisons in the United States from 1986 to 2016 (see figure above), proportion of inmates held in private facilities (post 1999), the year each state privatized, an original measure of the approximate number of corrections officers that are unionized in each state, among other demographic, political, and social variables. Some of these variables are available from 1984 forward, while others are only available post 1999. This is the dataset included in my book project and is available publicly through the Perspectives on Politics Dataverse here. Use of the dataset is recommended, however attribution is required. The codebook for the facility database is located here.
2. Prisoner Litigation.
All prisoner petitions filed (regardless of outcome) in the federal district courts from 1986 to 2016 with judge names attached, where available.
3. Corrections Expenditures in the American States.
Variables in this dataset include: corrections expenditures, institutional corrections expenditures, community corrections expenditures, and other demographic, political, and social variables for the states from 1983 to 2011.
4. Ballot Measures Database.
A cleaned and streamlined dataset collected from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), found here. This dataset contains ballot measures for the last century.
5. County prosecutors in 2001 and 2007.
A list of all county prosecutors in the country in 2001 and 2007, linked with the Bureau of Justice Statistics' National Prosecutors Survey.