Ending Mass Incarceration / Bringing Dignity to Life Behind Bars

Reimagining Prison

In June 2006, Vera published Confronting Confinement, the final report of the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons. As the first prison commission since the one created in the wake of the 1971 uprising at Attica, it helped to make life behind bars once again a subject of national concern. 

A decade later in context of a widespread movement to end mass incarceration, the challenge is to envision the possibility of something different: a human-scale system, rooted in dignity, and dedicated to thriving individuals and safe communities. Reimagining Prison, launched in June 2016, is exploring with experts, formerly incarcerated people, and leading practitioners around the country what such a system would look like.

Related Work

Vera mourns the loss of our colleague and justice champion Fred Patrick, and honors his life and legacy

We lost a good man this weekend. It is with profound sadness that we share news of the passing of our beloved colleague and friend Fred Patrick, director of our Center on Sentencing and Corrections (CSC). A mentor to many staff at Vera, Fred was a passionate and tireless advocate for a more just and humane criminal justice system. A son of Baton R ...

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  • Vera Institute of Justice
    Vera Institute of Justice
July 02, 2019
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