Sentencing and Corrections
Vera's Center on Sentencing and Corrections (CSC) works to drive change in the criminal justice system through research, practice innovation, testing new ideas, and policy development assistance to criminal justice practitioners at the local, state, and national level. The Center’s work focuses on developing and supporting balanced, fair and humane sentencing and corrections policies to reduce the overall use of incarceration; to transform the in-custody experience into one that can improve the lives of those incarcerated so that they return home to support their families and communities; and to ensure that prisons and jails are safe for those incarcerated and as well as those who work there. Most recently, CSC has embarked on Reimagining Prison, an ambitious 18-month initiative that aims to drive a national conversation on the purpose of incarceration and arrive at a truly transformative vision for jails and prison in an America that uses these institutions dramatically less than we currently do.
Featured
Reimagining Prison Report
Prison in America causes individual, community, and generational pain and deprivation. Built on a system of racist policies and practices that has disproportionately impacted people of color, mass incarceration has decimated communities and families. But the harsh conditions within prisons neither ensure safety behind the walls nor prevent crime an...
Rethinking Restrictive Housing
Lessons from Five U.S. Jail and Prison Systems
In recent years, the practice of restrictive housing (otherwise known as solitary confinement or segregation) in U.S. prisons and jails has been the subject of increased scrutiny from researchers, advocates, policymakers, media, and the government agencies responsible for people who are incarcerated. Originally intended to manage people who committ...
In Our Backyards
Ending Mass Incarceration Where It Begins
Related Work
Broken Ground
Why America Keeps Building More Jails and What It Can Do Instead
Jail construction has vastly expanded America’s capacity to incarcerate people. In 1970, there were 243,000 jail beds in the United States, but by 2017, there were 915,100. This report explores the persistence of jail expansion by examining a convenience sample of 77 counties in 31 states that considered or pursued jail expansion between 2000 and 2...
Voters in Battleground States Favor Restoring Pell Grants for People in Prison
These battleground state voters seem to understand that reinstating Pell eligibility for the greatest number of people in prison is a sound investment in our future. Plenty of other influential voices agree. Bipartisan momentum to get rid of the Pell ban for people in prison has been growing steadily: Since early 2019, the Association of State Co...
Blog Post
Margaret diZerega
New York, New York
Highlights of the 2019 Bail Reform Law
In April 2019, New York passed legislation on bail reform to update a set of state pretrial laws that had remained largely untouched since 1971. The relative lack of fanfare over the passage of New York’s new bail law belies its historic and transformative potential to end mass incarceration at the local level. What exactly comprises New York’s new...
A Piece of the Puzzle
State Financial Aid for Incarcerated Students
Postsecondary education in prison puts people on a path toward a brighter future by disrupting the cycle of poverty and incarceration. But it has not been offered at scale due to the numerous barriers—including the 1994 ban on Pell Grants to people in prison—that prevent students and postsecondary institutions from accessing state and federal fundi...
Rural Jails Research and Policy Network
The local jail populations in rural counties have grown dramatically over the past 45 years, both in absolute numbers and as a driver of mass incarceration nationally. Data that would shed light on the source of this growth, however, are limited and research rarely focuses on rural justice systems. Further, their small size, large number and geogra...
Investing in Futures - Los Angeles
Benefits to business community of postsecondary education for people in prison
Access to postsecondary education for people in prison and Fair Chance Hiring have the power to change individual lives and entire communities. On May 14, 2019, The Bank of America, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, Corrections to College California, and the Vera Institute of Justice held a briefing on the importance of and significant benefits ...
Paid in Full
A Plan to End Money Injustice in New Orleans
The role that money—in the form of bail, fines and fees—plays in criminal justice systems has come under increased focus. These practices have long plagued New Orleans, driving jail incarceration and costing struggling families—most of them black—millions. Two federal courts recently ruled that judges cannot lawfully impose money bail or enforce co...
Safe Prisons, Safe Communities
From Isolation to Dignity and Wellness Behind Bars
Vera is working to end the use of restrictive housing (also called solitary confinement or segregation) by partnering with states and local corrections agencies to implement safe and effective alternative strategies. Increasing evidence shows that restrictive housing—where people are held in a cell for 22-24 hours per day—is harmful to incarcerated...
Project
Sara Sullivan
Safe Alternatives to Segregation Initiative
Findings and Recommendations to Partner Agencies
After decades of misuse and overuse, the role of solitary confinement in United States jails and prisons is now being addressed. In recent years, this practice—also known as restrictive housing or segregation—has been the subject of increased scrutiny from researchers, advocates, policymakers, media, and the government agencies responsible for peop...
Embracing Human Dignity
Gala 2019 event video
Vera Institute of Justice's 13th Annual Gala event video, featuring Restoring Promise, SAFE Network, and College in Prison initiatives.
Embracing Human Dignity
Highlights from Vera's 13th Annual Gala
People in Prison in 2018
Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) researchers collected year-end 2017 and 2018 prison population data directly from state departments of corrections and the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) on the number of people in state and federal prisons on December 31, 2018, in order to provide timely information on how prison incarceration is changing in the U...