Vera Institute of Justice

America — Home to five percent of the world’s population yet nearly 25 percent of all prisoners.

2.3 million people are incarcerated at any one time in America.

2.7 million American children have a parent in jail or prison.

America’s prison system is broken

How many kids have to grow up without parents before we reform our prison system?

Mass incarceration is costly, ineffective, and often inhumane. Most Americans agree that our current system isn’t working for our country or our children. In fact, 2.7 million children have a parent in jail or prison.

This is why the Vera Institute of Justice is dedicated to reducing the use of jail and focusing on rehabilitation.

Vera is a pioneer in identifying why mass incarceration persists in our society. Now, we need like-minded individuals to join our fight to cut the use of incarceration, transform life behind bars, and help people successfully return to their families and communities.

As a country that leads the world in locking up its own people, we need programs to shift the focus of incarceration to rehabilitation and affirm human dignity.

About Vera

We work with local, state, and national governments to create change from within — building a society that respects the dignity of every person and safeguards justice for everyone.

Our Commitments

Securing Equal Justice

Ending Mass Incarceration

Strengthening Families and Communities

Some of Our Recent Successes

Reducing the use of solitary confinement

Partnering with states and cities like New Jersey, New York City, Nebraska, and Oregon, we have helped some jurisdictions to safely decrease the number of people held in solitary by more than 50% over the last two years. Other sites have eliminated solitary for incarcerated young people and reduced the maximum time allowed in solitary.

Partnering with law enforcement on de-escalation and use of force policies in North Carolina

We helped the Asheville, North Carolina, police department work with community representatives to revise their use of force and de-escalation policies, setting an example that can be adopted by other communities.

Ensuring due process for immigrants

Through our SAFE (Safety and Fairness for Everyone) Network, we are working to ensure that immigrants will not be detained and permanently separated from their families solely because of their inability to afford a lawyer. Eleven cities and counties across the nation have joined us so far.