Coronavirus

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How we survived COVID-19 in prison. Our staff writer Nicole Lewis began corresponding with incarcerated people last spring to understand how they were enduring the pandemic behind bars. Over the following months they wrote in detail about their grim lives in lockdown, the coronavirus outbreaks that sickened them, and the isolation and fear they felt as the death toll around them mounted. We selected four of these special correspondents, housed in prisons across the country, and asked artists to illustrate their stories. Here is the latest in our series, “The Pandemic Behind Bars.” Read our story.

People who live and work in the justice system face unique challenges.

Mia Armstrong read the reports that say her beloved uncle Brian died of “sudden cardiac arrest” hours after he was released from jail. She knows he tested positive for COVID-19 when he died. But she also knows there was nothing sudden about her uncle’s health problems, or the way he couldn’t get the care he needed as he cycled through hospital and jail cells. Read more.

We’re watching how the criminal justice system responds to the crisis.

As the highly-contagious Omicron variant bears down on the nation’s prisons and jails, corrections officials, experts, and prisoner advocates worry that uncertain access to booster shots and expected staffing shortages will make life even more dire than it already is for those behind bars. Read more.