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Centers & Programs

Sentencing and Corrections

  • Margaret diZerega - Director, Center on Sentencing and Corrections
    Margaret diZerega
Projects
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COVID-19

Criminal Justice Responses to the Coronavirus Pandemic

America has become a global epicenter in the COVID-19 pandemic, and some of the country’s most vulnerable people are in jails, prisons, and detention centers—places where they are at extreme risk of infection and have no ability to protect themselves. This moment highlights the vital need to shift away from punitive practices that funnel people int ...

Project
Project

Advancing Transgender Justice

Illuminating Trans Lives Behind and Beyond Bars

While transgender and gender non conforming (TGNC) people are extremely vulnerable to heightened policing, surveillance, and targeted victimization by the state, there is little research on the experiences of incarcerated TGNC people, and almost no policy explicitly protecting them. Upon release from prison, transgender individuals often find thems ...

Project
  • David Pitts
    David Pitts
Project
Didier Weemaels_Unsplash

Justice Fines and Fees

People trapped in the criminal justice system are typically poor and struggling to provide basic necessities for themselves and their families. Yet an arrest can lead to many and varied fines, fees, and court costs resulting in a bill of hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Vera’s Justice Fines and Fees Project will explore just how much fine and ...

Project
  • Chris Mai
    Chris Mai
Project

Bail Assessment Pilot

A primary goal of the bail reform movement is to eliminate money bail—a practice that is fundamentally unfair and disproportionately burdens people of color and those with low incomes. But before this goal is reached—and while the vast majority of courts across the country still use money bail—what can be done to mitigate the harm it causes? In ...

Project
  • Insha Rahman
    Insha Rahman
Project

Rural Jails Research and Policy Network

Since 2017, the Vera Institute of Justice has documented a surprising and dramatic shift in the geography of mass incarceration: while big cities and urban areas have started to curb the number of people entering their local jails, rural counties and small cities are experiencing a staggering rise in their jail populations. Although research on the ...

Project
Project

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
    Sara Sullivan
Project

In Our Backyards

Ending Mass Incarceration Where It Begins

A little known fact imperils our nation’s collective efforts to end mass incarceration: Major cities such as New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles are no longer bearing the heaviest burden. Instead, thousands of smaller cities and towns are now grappling with the nation’s highest incarceration rates. It is time for criminal justice reformers to take n ...

Project
  • Jasmine Heiss
    Jasmine Heiss
Project

Examining the Use of Restrictive Housing and its Impact on Officer Wellbeing

While research is growing on the effects of restrictive housing—more commonly known as solitary confinement—there are still many questions about who is housed in these units and why they are there. Moreover, while many studies have investigated the impact of placement in restrictive housing on incarcerated people, there is very little research on t ...

Project
  • David Pitts
    David Pitts
Project

Collaborating with Local Governments and Communities to Reduce Jail Populations

Vera is helping cities and counties around the country end their overreliance on jails and create new pathways to community safety and health that prioritize racial equity and repairing harm caused by mass incarceration. Vera works collaboratively with local governments and communities to study jail use and jail population trends and to provide rec ...

Project
Project

Opening Doors to Public Housing

Expanding Access for People with Conviction Histories

Access to safe, affordable housing is essential to the success of people in reentry and their families. For people leaving prison or jail or those with conviction histories who want to reunify with their family members in public housing or apply for housing themselves, admissions criteria can be a serious barrier. Federal guidelines leave many poli ...

Project
  • Margaret diZerega
    Margaret diZerega
Project

Improving Responses to Hate Crime

Validating a Bias-Crime Victim Assessment Tool

Vera is studying experiences of hate crime (also known as bias crime) among Latino, immigrant, youth, and LGBT communities in New Jersey and Los Angeles County, California. We aim to develop a practical tool to help communities and law enforcement improve responses to hate crime, with the ultimate goal of ensuring access to equal justice for people ...

Project
  • Laura Simich
    Laura Simich
Project

Safety and Justice Challenge

Reducing the Overuse of Jails

The Safety and Justice Challenge is an initiative of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to reduce mass incarceration by changing the way America thinks about and uses jails. As part of the initiative, a network of competitively selected local jurisdictions are developing and modeling effective ways to reduce the misuse of jail. Vera ...

Project
  • Elizabeth  Swavola
    Elizabeth Swavola
Project
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