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
Making the Grade
Developing Quality Postsecondary Education Programs in Prison
With its July 2015 announcement of the Second Chance Pell Pilot Program, the U.S. Department of Education ushered in what could be a new era of expanded opportunities for postsecondary education in our nation’s prisons. The Second Chance Pell Pilot makes students incarcerated in state and federal prisons eligible for need-based financial aid in a l...
Incarceration Trends
Data tool on jail and prison populations in every U.S. county
In 2014, the nationwide jail incarceration rate of 326 per 100,000 county residents exceeded the highest county rates registered in the 1970s, which rarely exceeded 300 per 100,000.
Incarceration's Front Door
The Misuse of Jails in America
Local jails exist in nearly every town and city in America. Intended to house only people deemed to be a danger to society or a flight risk, jails have become massive warehouses primarily for those too poor to post even low bail or too sick for existing community resources to help. And the burden of jail incarceration doesn’t fall on everyone equal...
Related Work
Understanding Jail Growth in Rural America
If You Build It, They Will Come
Private prisons—which hold fewer than 9 percent of state and federal prisoners—are economically incentivized to fill their jail beds, a fact that has understandably fueled public outrage, investigative journalism, and even airtime in last year’s presidential debates. But jails confront similar financial incentives when they are reimbursed for peopl...
Blog Post
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Scarlet Neath
Out of Sight
The Growth of Jails in Rural America
America’s 3,283 jails are the “front door” to mass incarceration. But for too long, county jail systems have operated and grown outside of public view. Vera’s Incarceration Trends data tool, launched in 2015, illuminated the growth in local jail populations over the last 40 years. This report and accompanying data visualization explores one of the ...
The Price of Prisons
Examining State Spending Trends, 2010 - 2015
From the early 1970s into the new millennium, the U.S. prison population experienced unprecedented growth, which had a direct influence on state budgets. In recent years, however, lawmakers in nearly every state and from across the political spectrum have enacted new laws to reduce prison populations and spending. This report, which builds upon the...
Shrinking the Financial—and Human—Cost of Jail in New York City
Many jurisdictions find it challenging to downsize their operations despite a decrease in the number of people held in the jail. The aging infrastructure of Rikers Island, as well as persistently high rates of violence in the jail, may have made the city hesitant to downsize in lockstep with the decline in the jail population. But the proposed clos...
Blog Post
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Chris Mai
Families Will Be Negatively Affected by the FCC’s New Stance on Phone Calls Behind Bars
“Can you hear me now?” That’s the iconic catch phrase used during Verizon’s promotion campaign from 2002 to 2011. A familiar call-back to youth, it is also becoming a commonly asked question behind the walls of prisons and jails throughout the country. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has recently begun to backtrack on its position to e...
Blog Post
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Nuno Pereira
"Bringing Light (Re-entry)” Groundswell © 2017
A Direction Home
In Recognition of National Reentry Week
How Should Probation and Parole Define Success?
For over a decade, Vera has worked with the city of New Orleans to reduce their jail population. As a program associate with Vera New Orleans, I’m proud to be a part of this effort. Before joining Vera’s New Orleans team, I was a probation and parole officer with the State of Louisiana’s Department of Corrections. During this time, I amassed countl...
Blog Post
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Jonathan Varnado
Jail in New York City
Evidence-Based Opportunities for Reform
Jail in New York City: Evidence-Based Opportunities for Reform examines the key decision points within New York City’s criminal justice system that drive people into the jail. The report uses rich data on case processing, pretrial decision-making, bail decisions, and case disposition to understand how decision makers can impact the size of the jail...
The Community Reimagines
Vera @ Chicago Ideas - Part III
The Vera Institute of Justice teamed up with Chicago Ideas to reenvision the American prison system and imagine a society in which prisons serve as rehabilitation facilities for communities and citizens, rather than as crippling institutions. The conversations combined performance, first-person testimony, and compelling dialogue that looked into no...
It Doesn't Have to Be This Way
Vera @ Chicago Ideas - Part II
The Vera Institute of Justice teamed up with Chicago Ideas to reenvision the American prison system, and imagine a society in which prisons serve as rehabilitation facilities for communities and citizens, rather than as crippling institutions. The conversation combined performance, first-person testimony, and compelling dialogue that all looked int...
Designed to Dehumanize
Vera @ Chicago Ideas - Part I
The Vera Institute of Justice teamed up with Chicago Ideas to reenvision the American prison system, and imagine a society in which prisons serve as rehabilitation facilities for communities and citizens, rather than as crippling institutions. The event combined performance, first-person testimony, and compelling dialogue that all looked into not o...
Report to the New York City Housing Authority
Applying and Lifting Permanent Exclusions for Criminal Conduct
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is conducting an internal review of its policies related to permanent exclusions for criminal conduct on NYCHA property. Permanent exclusion (PE) occurs when a NYCHA tenant—rather than risk eviction—enters into a stipulation that those associated with the resident who have engaged in non-desirable behavi...