Articles and books on how foreign—usually European—legal systems address sentencing, corrections, and reentry abound. 1 They are deemed interesting theoretically but generally dismissed as inapplicable and irrelevant in informing US sentencing and corrections practices in light of the differences between the United States and foreign countries. 2 Not surprisingly, these publications do not spark reform, in part because they have been unsuccessful in overcoming assumptions about irreconcilable differences and noncompatibility, and in part because often detailed proposals and insights for implementation of reforms derived from practices in a foreign jurisdiction are missing. The project at the heart of this Issue is fundamentally different. Its comparative framework is based on a cross-national study visit by the corrections officials of three US states, who were accompanied by other key players in the respective states’ criminal justice systems and members of the Vera Institute of Justice. Together they visited prisons in two Central European countries and engaged German and Dutch corrections officials who share some of the same challenges, though their approaches are fundamentally different. The articles in this Issue reflect the deep impact the trip has had on all and discuss some of the changes officials have implemented in the wake of the European prison visits. The visits jump-started a cross-national dialogue, highlighted ‘‘what works in corrections’’in different regimes, and ultimately influenced the belief set of the American stakeholders. This article will discuss the origins of the project and concerns about incommensurability. It focuses on the concept of human dignity, a notion at the heart of European sentencing. The authors in this Issue note the preeminence of this concept and its practical application, not only in the form of substantially lower imprisonment rates but also within the corrections system. It is reflected in more limited collateral sanctions and in a genuine belief in giving offenders a second chance. The current plateau and even decrease in imprisonment rates in the United States raise the question, are we at the beginning of a sustained re-alignment, perhaps in conjunction with recognition of the value of human dignity? Or are we merely witnessing a short-term adjustment to budgetary realities?