- About Us
- Services
-
Programs
- Programs Home
- Center on Immigration and Justice
- Center on Sentencing and Corrections
- Center on Victimization and Safety
- Center on Youth Justice
- Cost-Benefit Analysis Unit
- Family Justice Program
- International Program
- Prosecution and Racial Justice Program
- Substance Use and Mental Health Program
- Adolescent Portable Therapy
- Common Justice
- The Guardianship Project
- Experts
- Topics
- Blog
- Resources
- Newsroom
Home / Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons
HomeCommission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons
Home / Centers & Programs / Center on Sentencing and Corrections / Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons
Home
Home
Home
Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons
Projects
- Accessing Safety Initiative
- Adolescent Portable Therapy
- Anatomy of Discretion Project
- A Natural Experiment in Reform: Analyzing Drug Policy Change in New York
- Child Welfare Case Processing in New York City Family Courts
- Close to Home
- Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons
- Common Justice
- Comprehensive Transition Planning Project
- Corrections Support and Accountability Project
- Cost-Benefit Analysis of Programs for Court-Involved Youth in New York
- Cost-Benefit Analysis of Raising the Age of Juvenile Jurisdiction in North Carolina
- Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Center for Employment Opportunities
- Developing and Sharing Juvenile Justice Data in New York State
- Educational Neglect
- Engaging Police in Immigrant Communities (EPIC)
- Federal Sentencing Reporter
- Governor Paterson's Task Force on Juvenile Justice
- Guardianship Project
- Justice Reinvestment Initiative
- Juvenile and Criminal Justice System Data Indicators Project
- Knowledge Bank for Cost-Benefit Analysis in Criminal Justice
- Legal Orientation Program
- Legal Reform in China
- Los Angeles Jail to Community Reentry Project
- Models for Change Initiative
- National Immigrant Victims' Access to Justice Partnership
- National Prison Rape Elimination Commission
- New Mexico Promise for Success Initiative
- New Orleans Office
- New York City Detention Reform
- New York State Detention Assistance Program
- New York State Detention Reform 2011
- New York State Parole Project
- Ohio Green Prison Project
- Performance Incentive Funding
- Performance Incentive Funding
- Promising Practices Initiative
- Prosecution and Racial Justice
- Raising the Age of Juvenile Jurisdiction in Connecticut
- Redefining Community Supervision in Alabama
- Reducing Jail Overcrowding in Los Angeles
- Reentry Is Relational
- Segregation Reduction Project
- Sentencing and Corrections Reform in Illinois
- Sexual Violence Prevention Project
- Supervised Visitation Initiative
- The Sexual Assault Forensic Protocol
- The True Cost of Prisons
- Translating Justice
- U.N. Rule of Law
- Unaccompanied Children Program
- United Communities
- Vera-Altus Justice Indicators
- Vision 21: Transforming Victim Services
Archived Project
About

Vera established the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons in 2005 to identify and recommend solutions to the most serious challenges facing America’s jails and prisons. The commission was co-chaired by former United States Attorney General Nicholas de B. Katzenbach and the Honorable John Gibbons.
Over the course of four public hearings held in 2005 in cities throughout the United States, commissioners collected voluminous testimony and supporting information from a broad and diverse array of experts and stakeholders.
In June 2006, the commission published Confronting Confinement, a comprehensive report of its findings, along with 30 practical recommendations for operating safe and effective correctional facilities. A report summary is also available.
Based on several of the recommendations, Vera launched the Segregation Reduction Project and the Corrections Support and Accountability Project, which partnered with two states and three large counties to create systems of oversight for correctional facilities that are tailored to meet each jurisdiction’s needs.
For more information about the Segregation Reduction Project, contact Angela Browne. For more information about Vera's work on prison oversight, contact Juliene James.
Blog
-
It's been three years since the release of the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons' final report and recommendations. The release itself was a moment of promise for those of us who worked in it. This year's anniversary is a good reminder to seek cause for optimism in our work...
This week marks the third anniversary of the culmination of Vera’s Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons. On June 8, 2006, the Commission released its final report, Confronting Confinement, to a standing-room only crowd at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Corrections and Rehabilitation.
topics:Sentencing and Corrections
Featured Expert
-
Director, Center on Sentencing and Corrections

