Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Lauds the Important Work of Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons

Everyday more than 3 million people – 2.2 million inmates and 750,000 officers – are directly affected by problems in America’s prisons. To begin to address this, today the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons will begin a year-long national inquiry into the most serious problems inside U.S. correctional facilities and their impact on the incarcerated, the people who guard them and society at large.

The diverse 21-member Commission is co-chaired by former United States Attorney General Nicholas de B. Katzenbach and the Honorable John J. Gibbons, former Chief Judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The hearing today and tomorrow in Tampa are the first of four public hearings; the second is slated for July in New Jersey. For more information, see the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons or the Vera Institute of Justice.

Wade Henderson, Executive Director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the nation’s oldest, largest, and most diverse civil and human rights coalition said the following about the Commission’s important work:

“This is the right time for this Commission. There is compelling evidence of widespread abuse and lack of safety in America’s prisons, and it’s time we bring people together to discuss this issue.”