Dispatches from Germany
Since 2013, the Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) has organized high-level study delegations composed of diverse justice practitioners and leaders to visit Germany—where the conditions of incarceration are designed to promote safety, dignity, and rehabilitation. The goal of these tours is to stimulate breakthrough thinking and ambitious criminal justice reform here in the United States by learning about the German system’s operations, underpinnings, and philosophy. The articles collected here include observations from Vera staff and partners that demonstrate how international exchanges like these can inform efforts to transform prison culture and living and working conditions in U.S. jails and prisons.
