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Reducing Segregation

  • Sara Sullivan - Project Director
    Sara Sullivan
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Safe Alternatives to Segregation Initiative

Findings and Recommendations to Partner Agencies

After decades of misuse and overuse, the role of solitary confinement in United States jails and prisons is now being addressed. In recent years, this practice—also known as restrictive housing or segregation—has been the subject of increased scrutiny from researchers, advocates, policymakers, media, and the government agencies responsible for peop ...

Publication
  • Sara Sullivan, Vedan Anthony-North, David Cloud, Léon Digard, Lauren Galarza, Allison Hastings, Jacob Kang-Brown, Byron Kline, Jessi LaChance, Stephen Roberts, Lionel Smith, Elena Vanko, Jessa Wilcox
May 15, 2019
Publication

Embracing Human Dignity

Annual Report 2018

Special Report
December 20, 2018
Special Report

Embracing Human Dignity

Annual Report 2018

The Vera Institute of Justice is working to radically transform incarceration in America by replacing punishing practices with an approach that prioritizes compassion, true accountability, healing, restoration, opportunity, and hope. Learn more about our commitment to human dignity in our annual report 2018.

Publication
December 14, 2018
Publication

Revealing the Prisons within Prisons

Isolation is at the core of incarceration.  Prisons—often located in remote corners of the country—are surrounded by high walls that visibly separate those who are incarcerated from the community. Prisons also employ a wide range of housing practices to limit incarcerated people’s physical freedom, contact with others, and access to privileges and ...

Blog Post
  • Meg Osborn
    Meg Osborn
October 08, 2018
Blog Post

Women in Segregation

Many efforts to understand and reform the use of segregation—also commonly called solitary confinement or restrictive housing—focus on incarcerated men. However, what is often ignored are women’s unique pathways into segregation and the differential impact that its restrictive conditions can have on them. Through the Safe Alternatives to Segregatio ...

Publication
  • Jessi LaChance
June 21, 2018
Publication

Rethinking Restrictive Housing

Lessons from Five U.S. Jail and Prison Systems

Special Report
  • Léon Digard, Sara Sullivan, Elena Vanko
May 23, 2018
Special Report

Rethinking Restrictive Housing

Lessons from Five U.S. Jail and Prison Systems

In recent years, the practice of restrictive housing (otherwise known as solitary confinement or segregation) in U.S. prisons and jails has been the subject of increased scrutiny from researchers, advocates, policymakers, media, and the government agencies responsible for people who are incarcerated. Originally intended to manage people who committ ...

Publication
  • Sara Sullivan, Léon Digard, Elena Vanko
May 01, 2018
Publication

Series: Addressing the Overuse of Segregation in U.S. Prisons and Jails

Momentum Builds in 2017 to Reduce the Use of Solitary Confinement

The path continued when Vera launched its Safe Alternatives to Segregation Initiative, generously funded by the Robert W. Wilson Charitable Trust and the Bureau of Justice Assistance, in 2015. Numerous states and counties applied to partner with us and examine their practices with an aim to reform. Details of what we learned is outlined in the five ...

Blog Post
  • Sara Sullivan
    Sara Sullivan
  • Mary Crowley
    Mary Crowley
December 20, 2017
Blog Post
Photo Credit: CBS / 60 Minutes

Series: Addressing the Overuse of Segregation in U.S. Prisons and Jails

Oprah Spotlights Solitary Confinement as Movement to Rethink its Use Picks Up Steam

Two members of the SAS Initiative Advisory Council, Dr. Craig Haney and Danny Murillo, are prominently featured in Winfrey’s report. Both Murillo and Haney speak to the trauma of long-term restrictive housing, and both also have intimate knowledge of the impacts of solitary confinement at Pelican Bay—Dr. Haney as a social psychologist, and Danny Mu ...

Blog Post
  • Matthew Lowen
    Matthew Lowen
October 23, 2017
Blog Post

Reimagine Justice

Vera Institute Eleventh Annual Gala

On Thursday, April 20, 2017, justice reform leaders and supporters joined the Vera Institute of Justice for Vera’s 11th Annual Gala, Reimagine Justice.  Honorees discussed approaches to criminal justice reform and the future of the movement in a very different federal climate. Samuel David Flores Murillo, a client of Vera’s recently expanded New Yo ...

Video Playlist
April 21, 2017
Video Playlist

Reimagine Justice

Vera Institute Eleventh Annual Gala

Gala
April 21, 2017
Gala

Reimagine Justice

The Fight of Our Lives

With law and order rhetoric coming from our nation's capitol, we're in the fight of our lives to keep the promise of criminal justice reform alive and strong.  From working to keep immigrant families together, to reforming a bail system that criminalizes poverty, to ending the use of solitary confinement and reimagining justice with human dignity a ...

Video
April 21, 2017
Video
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In the News

Researchers Figure Out How to Calm Inmates in Solitary Confinement: Nature Videos

The Los Angeles Times September 01, 2017

New Policy Limits Solitary Confinement Time For Inmates

WUNC July 24, 2017

Amid Outcry, N.C. To Limit Use of Solitary Confinement For Prisoners

Charlotte Observer July 20, 2017

Ranked High in Suicides, Utah State Prison Seeks to Reduce Solitary Confinement

The Salt Lake Tribune May 06, 2017

Does Solitary Confinement Make Inmates More Likely To Reoffend?

PBS Frontline April 19, 2017

NE Prisons Must Move Away From Solitary Confinement

The Daily Nebraskan March 28, 2017

Year of Big Changes Ahead for Nevada’s Prison System, Corrections Chief Says

Las Vegas Review-Journal March 06, 2017

New Mexico Lawmakers Eye Plan to Curb Solitary Confinement

The Associated Press March 03, 2017

A Look Inside Solitary Confinement at Nevada State Prison

KSNV News March 01, 2017

A Look Inside Solitary Confinement at Nevada State Prison

KSNV News March 01, 2017

ACLU Studies Solitary Confinement In Nevada's Prisons

NPR February 13, 2017

Legislators Push to Limit Solitary Confinement, Ban it For Mentally Ill

Minneapolis Star Tribune February 03, 2017

Op-ed: Justice Reform is Making Real Progress in Utah and Elsewhere

The Salt Lake Tribune January 26, 2017

Virginia Aims to Reduce Prisons' Use of Restrictive Housing

The Associated Press January 05, 2017

Nev. Hopes Inmate Programs Yield Post-Prison Success

The Associated Press January 01, 2017

Five States Join Initiative to Reduce Use of Solitary Confinement

Philanthropy News Digest December 31, 2016

Virginia Prisons in Solitary Confinement Reduction Effort

The Roanoke Times December 31, 2016

Louisiana Prisons to be Subject of Two-Year Effort to Reduce Use of Solitary Confinement

New Orleans Advocate December 29, 2016

National Effort to Reduce Use of Solitary Confinement Expands

Correctional News December 28, 2016

Utah Prison Joins Initiative To Curb Solitary Confinement

KUER December 23, 2016

NDOC to Participate in Study to Help Lower Solitary Confinement

KVTN December 22, 2016

Nevada to Join Study on Solitary Confinement in Prisons

KRNV - Nevada December 21, 2016

Nevada Chosen for Program to Reduce Solitary Confinement Use in Prisons

Las Vegas Review-Journal December 21, 2016

Finding Alternatives to Solitary Confinement

The Christian Science Monitor December 21, 2016
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