The Vera Institute of Justice hosted this conversation between two people on the front lines of the movement to rethink solitary confinement in the U.S.—and the potential for reform.
Moderator
Bill Keller, The Marshall Project
Speakers
Commissioner W. David Guice
Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice, North Carolina Department of Public Safety
Danny Murillo
Soros Justice Advocacy Fellow, The Opportunity Institute
Common Misconceptions and Emerging Safe Alternatives
While the precise number of people held on any given day in what’s commonly called solitary confinement—though also known as segregated or restricted housing—is not known with any certainty, estimates run between 80,000 to 100,000 in state and federal prisons. However, evidence mounts that the practice produces many unwanted and harmful outcomes—fo ...
Twenty-two 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 ...
As Pride Month highlights the ongoing fight for LGBTQ+ rights, transgender people in prison continue to face denials of medically necessary care despite court orders protecting access.
Dee Farmer sees great risk if the federal government succeeds in its efforts to end critical health care for incarcerated people with gender-affirming care needs. “People will die,” Farmer told the Vera Institute of Justice (Vera), she herself a formerly incarcerated transgender woman who has been fighting for the rights of people in prison for dec ...