Eradicating a Stain on Our City

“A stain on human dignity and decency.” - Melissa Mark-Viverito, Speaker, NYC Council “A mass incarceration model that stains everything and everyone it touches.” - Honorable Jonathan Lippman, Former New York State Chief Judge and Of Counsel, Latham & Watkins LLP  At a time when the streets of New York City are as safe as they’ve ever been ...

Vera’s Chief Advocacy Officer, Ellen Flenniken, explains why being serious about public safety requires moving beyond failed “tough-on-crime” policies.

Public safety is rarely measured by crime statistics alone: it is defined by how people actually feel about their communities and the country as a whole. To address public concerns effectively, we must first understand how perceptions—and misperceptions—of crime are formed. Vera’s Chief Advocacy Officer Ellen Flenniken and Senior Writer Alex Pareen ...

Thirty-one people have died in county jails so far this year.

How are people dying?It typically takes months for Los Angeles County to publicly issue causes of death for people who have died in LA County jails. And even once autopsy reports are finalized, they don’t tell the whole story. When the coroner rules that a death is the result of “natural causes,” jail conditions can still be to blame. Researchers h ...