Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons. No. 456.

* On June 8, 2006, the Commission released "Confronting Confinement", a report on violence and abuse in U.S. jails and prisons, the broad impact of those problems on public safety and public health, and how correctional facilities nationwide can become safer and more effective. The report reflects the Commission's work over more than a year — an inquiry that featured four public hearings in cities around the country where nearly 100 people testified, visits to jails and prisons, conversations with people about their experience of life behind bars, discussions with current and former corrections officials and experts working outside the profession, and a thorough review of available research and data.

The report covers four areas: dangerous conditions of confinement — violence, poor health care, and inappropriate segregation — that can also endanger corrections officers and the public; the challenges facing labor and management; weak oversight of correctional facilities; and serious flaws in the available data about violence and abuse. In response to these problems, the Commission offers 30 pragmatic recommendations for reform — many of them based on good practices and exemplary leadership in particular correctional facilities around the country.
DOWNLOAD Report or Summary.