Seventy-two people have died in LA County jails since the start of 2023.

How are people dying? Los Angeles County has not yet publicly issued causes of death for everyone who has died in county jails in recent months. However, 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 ...

New Vera research raises the alarm about stalling progress and warns that recent gains can’t be taken for granted.

The number of people held in jails and prisons has fallen by approximately 250,000 over the past five years, thanks in part to dramatic drops in the incarcerated population during the COVID pandemic. Yet recent trends indicate some backsliding on that number, suggesting that progress can’t be taken for granted. People in Jail and Prison in 2024, ...

A staffing crisis has created dangerous conditions in prisons. To create safety, reduce the number of people entering prison, and release people who can safely return home.

By prioritizing punishment as a public safety strategy, the United States has created dangerous prisons that harm the people who live and work in them. Eighty-five percent of corrections officers report having seen someone seriously injured or killed in the workplace, and conditions are worsening as prisons struggle to keep enough staff to operate ...