Intro to Criminal Justice Reform
Want to learn about criminal justice reform? Start here.
For activists starting to engage with the work to end mass incarceration, it can be difficult to navigate the complexity of systemic problems in the United States criminal legal and immigration systems, recognize their root causes, and identify what efforts show real promise in solving them.
This Intro to Criminal Justice Reform series provides entry points to help you understand the basics of justice reform—from what life looks like behind bars to who is criminalized, how to dismantle inequity, and more.
At Vera, we believe that transforming the criminal legal and immigration systems is urgent and necessary. For over 60 years, we’ve helped impacted communities, lawmakers, and system actors work together to address issues and support proven solutions backed by data and results. If you’d like to dive even deeper into this work, we invite you to explore our archive of research, analysis, and advocacy tools and learn more about how we can disrupt the devastating impacts of mass incarceration and build a future where safety, opportunity, and justice are a reality for all.
Racial Justice and Representation
- 5 Black Heroes Who Took on the Fight Against Mass Incarceration
- AAPI Heroes Who’ve Fought for Change in the Criminal Legal and Immigration Systems
- Ending the Death Penalty Is a Step Toward Racial Justice
- Slavery Is Still Legal for Two Million People in the U.S.
The Language of Mass Incarceration
- No Person Is Illegal—the Language We Use for Immigration Matters
- Words Matter: Don’t Call People Felons, Convicts, or Inmates
Criminalization and Policing
- Fifty Years Ago Today, President Nixon Declared the War on Drugs
- How “Collateral Consequences” Keep People Trapped in the Legal System
- How the U.S. Criminalizes Homelessness
- How the United States Punishes People for Being Poor
- How Young People Become Entangled in the Juvenile Legal System
- The United States Criminalizes People Who Need Health Care and Housing
- What is Stop-and-Frisk?
Courts, Prosecution, and Sentencing
- Everything You Need to Know about Consent Decrees
- How The Criminal Legal System Coerces People into Pleading Guilty
- Research Shows That Long Prison Sentences Don’t Actually Improve Safety
- What Happens After You Get Arrested
- What Happens When We Support Parents Instead of Sending Them to Prison
Life Behind Bars
- From Fighting Wildfires to Digging Graves, Incarcerated Workers Face Danger on the Job
- Health Care Behind Bars: Missed Appointments, No Standards, and High Costs
- How College in Prison is Changing Lives
- Jail Intake Is Killing People. Decarceration Is the Way to Stop It.
- "Lockdown" is an Epidemic Plaguing U.S. Prisons
- What a Day in Prison is Really Like
- Why Punishing People in Jail and Prison Isn’t Working
- What is Cruel and Unusual Punishment?
- The Difference between Jail and Prison
Life After Incarceration
- People Need Transportation Access After Release from Jail and Prison
- Released From Prison With No Place to Live
Immigration
- Debunking the Lies Politicians Say About Immigrants
- The Immigration System is Racist; Solutions Exist
- The Risk of Deportation: What Happens When You Can’t Find a Lawyer
- Yes, It’s Legal to Seek Immigration Asylum in the United States
- What Is a Sanctuary City?