In Our Backyards
New Polling and Research
At a time of unprecedented challenge, we’re fighting for justice reform built on bedrock American values and grounded in action at the state and local level.
Vera is committed to
Featured Work
People in Prison 2017
Assessing and targeting criminal justice reforms requires an up-to-date view of the number of people in state and federal prisons. The Bureau of Justice Statistics collects this data, but their reports lag prison populations by a year or more. In order to get an earlier glimpse at these numbers, Vera researchers collected information directly from ...
Reckoning with America’s History of Lynching and Racial Terrorism
As Stevenson mentions, there is much to do to recover from our history of racial inequality. Vera is committed to addressing racial disparities in the justice system, as well as ending the era of mass incarceration that has devastated communities of color. Until then, we will continue to confront our history and begin healing.
Blog Post
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Khusbu Bhakta
An Unjust Burden
The Disparate Treatment of Black Americans in the Criminal Justice System
The evidence for racial disparities in the criminal justice system is well documented. The disproportionate racial impact of certain laws and policies, as well as biased decision making by justice system actors, leads to higher rates of arrest and incarceration in low-income communities of color. However, there is no evidence that these widely disp...
