Think Justice Blog

What Can A Police Beating in Pittsburgh Teach Us About Racial Bias and Use Of Force?

We sat down to discuss what drives violent confrontations between police and the citizens they serve with Professor David Harris whose new book, “A City Divided”, examines the 2010 police beating of Jordan Miles, an 18-year-old high school student with no poli...

Series: Addressing the Overuse of Segregation in U.S. Prisons and Jails

Corrections at a Crossroads

Halden Prison, universally considered the world’s “most humane” correctional institution, is located in a Norwegian town of the same name. For a casual observer from the United States, Halden may as well be on another planet.

Understanding Law Enforcement Practice in Your Community: An Exploration of 911 Open Data Sets

How long does it take the police to respond to people calling 911 in New Orleans, compared to in Seattle? What about in the wealthier areas of those cities, compared to their poorer areas? How often do people call the police about suspicious activity in Detroi...

Series: Target 2020

Getting Rid of Private Prisons Isn’t Enough

As the field of presidential nominees narrows, the candidates have been honing their policy recommendations. Across most issues, we’re seeing the shift from high-level talking points to more detailed, tangible ideas.

Lesson Plans for Justice Reform: A Call to Action for Students and Teachers

Whether you’re a teacher or student—and whether you’re preparing for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Black Lives Matter at School Week (Feb. 3–7, 2020), or Women’s History Month (March), —it’s time to develop a lesson plan on justice reform.

The Arrest-Jail Admission Gap

More than 10 million arrests were made across the United States in 2016. Although the numbers have decreased since 1997, roughly 28,000 arrests still happen every day. This means one arrest every three seconds. Moreover, arrests continue to disproportionately ...

Series: Target 2020

Federal Leadership Needed to Transform Conditions of Confinement

Six hundred thousand—that’s the approximate number of people in the United States who will return to their community from prison every year. Another way to look at it is that 95 percent of those who are currently incarcerated will be released. How then are pri...

Series: Target 2020

The Shocking Lack of Due Process for Immigrants

After Mariana, a mother of three, was detained by ICE, she described the experience as “horrible, so, so stressful. . . . When I was first detained with ICE there were so many thoughts in my mind. . . . I was so, so stressed out . . . because I put my whole li...

A Sentinel Review Process Could Help Washington D.C.

When mistakes happen in the criminal justice system, we often seek to cast blame, quickly, on a single actor. But we can do better, collectively.

Series: Target 2020

Time for a New Federal Commitment on Rural Jail Incarceration

Across America, in rural communities and small cities, jail incarceration is rising at an alarming rate. We are learning more and more about the federal role in local jail growth. Yet this crisis at mass incarceration’s front door—local jails—has failed to cap...

Study Links Solitary Confinement to Increased Risk of Death After Release

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) recently published a study finding that people placed in restrictive housing (also known as solitary confinement) are more likely than their peers to die or be re-incarcerated in the first year after their...

Vera’s Incarceration Trends State Fact Sheets

This week we released Incarceration Trends in Local Jails and State Prisons fact sheets for each state.