With bipartisan momentum for change in Congress, presidential attention, and the Association of State Correctional Administrators calling for a reduction in its use, the time is now for addressing the overuse of solitary confinement and its adverse effects on individuals and public safety. Join the Vera Institute of Justice and members of the advisory council for its Safe Alternatives to Segregation Initiative to hear about critical “on the ground” change strategies and reform efforts being tested and implemented by correctional leaders around the country—and the reasons behind them.
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 ...
Last fall, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, with support from the Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation, convened a colloquium including 15 corrections agency heads and a like number of experts from the community of those seeking to reform the use of social isolation, often called “solitary confinement,” in U.S. prisons and jails. The pur ...
Findings from Research with Women Detained in Buncombe County and Recommendations for Reducing the Use of Jail
This report presents an analysis of women’s experiences with the local criminal legal system in Buncombe County, North Carolina: their pathways into and out of the jail, their living conditions and concerns during detention, and their perspectives on how services and systems in the county can improve. This study occurred in September 2021 at a time ...