Think Justice Blog
SubscribeClosing Rikers Island
In support of a yes vote on October 17
These five commitments, along with a vote to move forward with new construction, give us a fighting chance to seize the opportunity to end mass incarceration in New York City. This is not a moment to be squandered or to be taken for granted. New York City has tried to close Rikers Island twice before—once in the late 1970s, and once again in the mi...
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Insha Rahman
All Posts
Colin Hernandez
We Need More Data to Understand the Impact of Mass Incarceration on Latinx Communities
Latinx Heritage Month, which runs from September 15 through October 15, is a time to celebrate the history, achievements, contributions, and heritage of Latinx people in the United States. September 15 is the day when five Latin American countries—Costa Rica,...
Jamila Hodge
Governors Should Embrace—Not Hinder—Reform-Minded Prosecutors
Two weeks ago, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan issued a letter directing state Attorney General Brian Frosh to begin prosecuting more violent crime cases from the city of Baltimore. This directive—which was made to supersede the authority of the city State’s Att...
Nicholas Turner
A New View
I’m writing this having pulled my laptop out of the boxes piled up around my new desk in Vera’s new headquarters. Over my shoulder, you can see the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. We’ve moved, and today is day one. After almost two decades of working nea...
Hayne Yoon
Back to School: A Common-Sense Strategy to Lower Recidivism
The United States makes up just 5 percent of the global population but is home to 20 percent of the world’s incarcerated people. More than 95 percent of the 1.5 million people in U.S. prisons will eventually be released, regardless of whether they are ready to...
Margaret diZerega
Kindred Motes
“I Can’t Imagine Babies Being Kept from Their Mom”
Editors’ note: Edited and abridged for clarity Last month, the WNBA All-Star and Phoenix Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner accompanied Vera project director Margaret diZerega and digital strategy director Kindred Motes on a tour of the Estrella Jail—a women’s-o...
Leah Pope
Karina Schroeder
Bringing Back Mental Institutions Won't Stop Mass Shootings
Last month—following horrific mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio—President Donald Trump made statements supporting an increase in institutionalization for people with mental illness as a means of reducing gun violence. This equation of gun vio...
Dan Slepian
A Producer's Notebook: The story behind 'Justice For All'
Editor's note: Last year, Vera led a group of corrections leaders, government officials, activists, and others on a tour of prisons in Germany and Norway, to see what a criminal justice system rooted in human dignity looks like. Dateline NBC producer Dan Slepi...
Nissa Rhee
Improving the Health and Wellbeing of Incarcerated Mothers
The United States has the highest maternal death rate in the developed world, with 26 women dying out of every 100,000 live births. For Black mothers, this danger is even more acute, with a maternal death rate that is three to four timesthat of non-Hispanic w...
Carolina Hidalgo
In St. Louis, It Takes a Small Army to Close a Notorious Jail
Local organizers have galvanized an entire region in favor of shutting down the Workhouse, a place they see as emblematic of official indifference towards the plight of needy residents.
Vera Staff
A Vision for Change
Earlier this year, Kica Matos, a lawyer, community organizer, and advocate for immigrant communities for decades joined Vera as the new director for the Center on Immigration and Justice. At the same time, Insha Rahman—former director of Vera's project Greater...
Small Details for the Big Picture
For years, we’ve known that the jail incarceration rate in the United States is higher than the global average, and that incarceration inflicts enormous financial and social costs on individuals, families, and communities. But we know less about one of the bi...
Leah Pope
Racial Disparities In Mental Health And Criminal Justice
July is Minority Mental Health Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness about the unique challenges that underrepresented communities face in accessing mental health treatment in the U.S. As a mental health researcher at Vera, I also see this awareness mon...
Blog Series
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Dispatches from T.R.U.E. -
Dispatches from W.O.R.T.H. -
Dispatches from Germany -
Addressing the Overuse of Segregation in U.S. Prisons and Jails -
Beyond Innocence -
Breaking Point: New York's Mental Health Crisis -
Gender and Justice in America -
It Takes a Village -
Justice in Katrina's Wake -
My Brother's Keeper -
Police Perspectives: Building Community Trust -
Unlocking Potential: Perspectives on Education in Prison -
Two Societies: The Haunting Relevance of the Kerner Commission’s Report -
Eliminating Money Injustice in New Orleans