“May her memory be a blessing.” This is the phrase that many Jewish people pass on to share in times of mourning, and maybe the most graceful in a circumstance where language often becomes clumsy. It is particularly apt in talking about Susan Rai, a Vera legend who had a profound relationship with the organization’s memory and who is inextricably w ...

Twenty-nine 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 ...

Through research, mentorship, and hands-on learning, Vera’s Justice Scholars are exploring the criminal justice system—and discovering their own power to change it.

The U.S. criminal justice system is vast and opaque; imagining new ways of doing things­—and knowing where to start­—can be a daunting task. The Vera Institute of Justice (Vera)’s Justice Scholars program is a paid summer internship for rising high school juniors and seniors interested in the history of policing, prosecution, and corrections. But t ...