Think Justice Blog

Manafort’s Sentencing Highlights Problems in the Criminal Justice System—But Not In the Way Many Claim

There has been widespread outcry over Paul Manafort’s sentencing. Earlier today, Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Manafort to three and a half years in prison for two conspiracy charges. In another case last week, Judge T.S. Ellis III sentenced Manafort—con...

We will Not Settle in Our Pursuit of Racial Equity

“Something is better than nothing.” This is what we say to ourselves when we know the remedy provided is not enough. For many black people, myself included, the celebration of Black History Month falls squarely in this unsatisfying space. I am overwhelmed w...

“Don’t Steal These”

I’m outside a coffee shop taking a work call on my laptop. I have headphones in my ears and I am wearing a buttoned-up shirt, slacks, and dress shoes. A white lady, also dressed up in business clothes, comes out with lots of to-go boxes and stacks them on a w...

Acknowledging Black History Requires Uncomfortable Honesty

At the Vera Institute of Justice, we are committed to ending mass incarceration and ensuring equal justice for all. However, achieving these commitments—and ensuring we don’t simply repeat past mistakes—cannot be done without an explicit commitment to ad...

Vera’s Policing Program Releases Sixth Volume of “Emerging Issues in American Policing” Quarterly Digest

Emerging Issues in American Policing is a quarterly digest tailored to practitioners and community members interested in policing. It is designed to elevate new and innovative research on policing practices and strategies by providing readers with succinct su...

Iowa Governor Proposes to Restore Voting Rights for People with Felony Convictions

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced today that she will propose a constitutional amendment to restore voting rights for people with felony conviction histories. The decision was formally announced during Reynolds’ Condition of the State address to the Iowa Le...

(Returning) Home for the Holidays

More people are traveling these days for the holidays than ever before. For many, the trek home is a welcome occasion to reflect on the past year, make resolutions to live better lives, and celebrate with friends and family. But, for the 11.6 million me...

Expanding our Knowledge on Local Incarceration Trends

Take a Look at Mass Incarceration in Your Own Backyard By Christian Henrichson

Why a Michigan Law Enforcement Agency Employs Formerly Incarcerated People to Bridge the Police-Community Divide

A key goal of the Policing Program at Vera is to elevate innovative approaches to policing that employ alternatives to enforcement. The Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) in Michigan is doing just that in its community outreach program employing formerl...

To Ensure a Bright Future for LGBTQ Germans, Germany Acknowledges its Dark Past

When he was 19, Sergei fled from his home country of Russia to France, and then went to Oxford University in Britain. It was at Oxford that Sergei fell in love with literature, and he followed that love back to Paris after completing his studies. There, he wor...

Vera Schweitzer – the Vera Institute’s Worthy Namesake

“Events of stupendous magnitude have happened during these past 35 years. Fortunes have been lost and won; our dear ones have prematurely departed from us; our individual happiness has been subjected to trying ordeals. Yet somehow we carry on. And we carry on ...

Series: Dispatches from T.R.U.E.

Dream Chasers

Shyquinn is a basketball player at the University of Maine in Presque Isle, where he is pursuing a bachelor's degree in sociology. He is also a former mentee at the TRUE unit in the Cheshire Correctional Institution in Connecticut.