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News
December 20, 2015
Spotting the ‘Red Flags’ of Abusive Prison Guards
Under pressure, New York says it will better track correctional officers
By
Tom Robbins
Commentary
May 28, 2015
How Nebraska Repealed the Death Penalty
A deep-red state shows the way, with conservatives in the lead.
By
Shari Silberstein
Life Inside
July 8, 2022
‘You Shouldn’t Have Used the D-Word’
Saying “I’m depressed” to jail staff landed Nicholas Brooks in solitary. But with his peers, he has found a way to speak freely.
By
Nicholas Brooks
Jackson
June 20
Mississippi Wants to Allow Some Votes From Jails and Prisons. Red Tape May Stop It.
A new state law will allow more people in jails and prisons to cast absentee ballots, but many obstacles remain.
By
Caleb Bedillion
The Frame
June 13, 2020
Shining a Light on Life Behind Bars
“The Writing on the Wall” art installation lets incarcerated people speak for themselves.
By
Adria Watson
Inside Story
February 23, 2023
Police Shootings in Rural America
We investigate police shootings in rural areas and speak with music executive Jason Flom about his work with people who were wrongfully convicted.
By
Lawrence Bartley
and
Donald Washington, Jr.
Life Inside
February 25, 2022
The Genius Speech That Changed My Life
Words like “junkie,” “destitute” and “criminal” have applied to me at some point in my life. Hearing the formerly incarcerated voting rights activist Desmond Meade speak at my prison reminded me that my sky is full of stars, my heart is full of hope and my future is full of promise.
By
Ryan M. Moser
Life Inside
January 26, 2017
The Implications of Trying to Kill Yourself on Death Row
Is dying sooner better than being executed later?
By
George T. Wilkerson
Analysis
August 28, 2019
Is It Time to Remove Immigration Courts From Presidential Control?
Calls grow to create an independent court system that protects immigration judges from political pressure.
By
Julia Preston
Life Inside
May 17, 2018
Why We Can’t Have Nice Things on Death Row
Not even an extra boiled egg.
By
Timothy White
Life Inside
August 4, 2022
Prison Money Diaries: What People Really Make (and Spend) Behind Bars
We asked people in prison to track their earning and spending — and bartering and side hustles — for 30 days. Their accounts reveal a thriving underground economy behind bars.
By
Beth Schwartzapfel
Life Inside
January 11, 2018
The Curious Case of the Prisoners in the Wrong Cellblock
A mystery unfolds during an urgent phone call.
By
Sterling R. Cunio
News
November 20, 2018
The Jerry Brown Way of Pardoning
Former inmates facing deportation place their hope in California's outgoing governor.
By
Abbie VanSickle
Violation
December 11, 2023
The Court Ruling Jacob Wideman Was Waiting For
A “Violation” podcast update brings listeners the latest news in Wideman’s case, including his reaction to a ruling that leaves him few paths to freedom.
By
Beth Schwartzapfel
Life Inside
April 8, 2021
“Nobody Wants to Be Identified as a Victim”
Oakland activist Carl Chan reveals how fear of retaliation, mistrust of police, language barriers and technology gaps fuel underreporting of anti-Asian violence.
By
Carl Chan
as told to
Michelle Pitcher
Analysis
July 18, 2016
Two Parties, Two Platforms on Criminal Justice
The Republicans nod to reforms, then take a sharp right turn.
By
Maurice Chammah
Commentary
June 26, 2015
Fact-Checking Season 3 of Orange Is the New Black
A former CO — and first-time OITNB-watcher — weighs in.
By
Carl Stoffers
Commentary
July 21, 2015
What Harper Lee Got Right
“Go Set a Watchman” puts the “white savior” notion in its place.
By
Gilbert King
News
December 14, 2016
Let’s Go to Prison!
A national field trip to Incarceration Nation, under the shadow of Donald Trump
By
Eli Hager
News
December 13, 2020
Prisoners Are Setting Fires To Protest Pandemic Conditions
But many Texas prisons don’t have working fire alarms.
By
Keri Blakinger
Feature
December 17, 2019
Chuck Coma Comes Home
He was one of the thousands of people assaulted in federal prisons each year. After his cellmate nearly killed him, he returned to his family a broken man.
By
Christie Thompson
News
February 2, 2017
Watch: A New Documentary’s Rare Access Inside Solitary
A filmmaker spends a year inside a Virginia supermax facility.
By
Celina Fang
Commentary
May 22, 2016
Pretty in Pink Handcuffs
We’re going to shackle you while you give birth, but you’ll look great.
By
Bill Keller
Death Sentences
April 15, 2021
Can The Death Penalty Be Fixed? These Republicans Think So
A growing number of conservative lawmakers want to overhaul capital punishment, or end it.
By
Maurice Chammah
and
Keri Blakinger
Feature
April 21, 2022
Crime Stoppers of Houston Has a Tip: Vote Out These Judges
The historically nonpartisan nonprofit took millions of dollars from the Republican governor. Now it’s targeting Democratic judges.
By
David Fahrenthold
, The New York Times, and
Keri Blakinger
, The Marshall Project
Life Inside
February 10
I Write About Bad Prison Conditions. That Doesn’t Mean I Hate All Cops.
As a kid in Pakistan, police treated Tariq MaQbool like a nephew. As an adult in solitary confinement, the kindness of one New Jersey corrections officer made him feel human.
By
Tariq MaQbool
Election 2020
March 12, 2020
Trump's Surprising Popularity in Prison
Many incarcerated white people said they'd re-elect the president—if given the chance.
By
Nicole Lewis
and
Christina Cauterucci
with data analysis by
Anna Flagg
Closing Argument
November 11, 2023
Supreme Court Takes on Gun Cases as State Laws Shift
The court is considering the safety of victims of domestic violence, bump stocks and more.
By
Jamiles Lartey
Feature
December 12, 2016
America’s Toughest Immigration Court
Welcome to Stewart Detention Center, the black hole of the immigration system.
By
Christie Thompson
Feature
January 7, 2016
How to Get Out of Solitary — One Step at a Time
New programs are easing inmates out of years of solitary confinement with surprising outcomes for both prisoners and corrections officers.
By
Maurice Chammah
Feature
May 8, 2018
The Connecticut Experiment
Young brains are still evolving. One prison is trying to take advantage of that.
By
Maurice Chammah
The Frame
March 13, 2016
The Radio Show That Reunited Inmates and Families
“Shout outs” on the air led to van rides to the supermax.
by
Lisa Iaboni
Violation
May 3, 2023
‘No Safe Place’: On Memory, Trauma and Truth
Part Seven of the “Violation” podcast reveals new information about Jake Wideman’s past and explains what happens next in his legal case.
By
Beth Schwartzapfel
Feature
December 10, 2014
Our Jury Is In on “Serial”
The lawyers favor acquittal.
By
Eli Hager
Life Inside
June 2, 2015
A Night with the NYPD
In which the rookie learns what police really think.
By
Bob Henderson
Feature
June 23, 2021
Violent Encounters With Police Send Thousands of People to the ER Every Year
That's probably an undercount. But data from San Jose offers a glimpse of what the national scale of police violence might be.
By
Simone Weichselbaum
,
Lisa Riordan Seville
,
Emily Siegel
,
Joseph Neff
and
Abbie VanSickle
Feature
December 15, 2021
Essential but Excluded
Immigrants put seafood on America’s tables. But many have been shut out of pandemic aid — and so have their U.S. citizen children.
By
Julia Preston
and
Ariel Goodman
Feature
October 3, 2018
Banished
After passing a series of restrictive housing laws, Miami-Dade County faces an odd predicament: bands of nomadic sex offenders and a cat-and-mouse game to move them.
By
Beth Schwartzapfel
and
Emily Kassie
News
August 14, 2017
Crowdsourcing the Charlottesville Investigation
The mixed blessing of an internet posse.
By
Maurice Chammah
and
Simone Weichselbaum
Feature
July 21, 2020
They Agreed to Meet Their Mother’s Killer. Then Tragedy Struck Again.
A Florida family opted for restorative justice over the death penalty for the man who murdered their mom. What happened next made them question the very meaning of justice.
By
Eli Hager
The Frame
December 22, 2014
A Summer in Camden
Andrew Renneisen captures the collateral damage of street violence.
Photographs by
Andrew Renneisen
News
March 20, 2019
Immigration Courts Getting Lost in Translation
Dial-an-interpreter services rankle judges who want in-person translators.
By
Joseph Darius Jaafari
Looking Back
May 28, 2018
Defending Al Capone
How the most notorious gangster of all got railroaded in Philadelphia.
By
Marc Bookman
Southside
November 2, 2018
Cellmates
Lee Harris spent years in prison without hope, until an unlikely friendship led to a years-long crusade to prove his innocence.
By
Tori Marlan
Life Inside
October 6, 2016
How a Phone Changed My Life on Death Row
“I felt like a virgin on my wedding night — eager to put this thing to use, not sure if it’ll hurt.”
By
George T. Wilkerson
Life Inside
October 25, 2018
Freaky Friday, Prison-Style
At a Kentucky prison, inmates and staff switch places during a “re-entry to society” role-playing game.
By
Derek R. Trumbo, Sr.
News
December 23, 2014
PowerPoint Justice
When prosecutors slide around the law.
By
Ken Armstrong
Life Inside
December 6, 2018
Should I Have Let My Friend on Death Row Kill Himself?
“We don’t live on death row; we wait to die.”
By
Paul Brown
Feature
May 23
Out of the Blue: The Rise and Fall of a Black Cop
After Cleveland officer Vincent Montague shot a Black man, he got promoted. Then he allied with Black Lives Matter, and his life went off the rails.
By
Wilbert L. Cooper
Commentary
January 26, 2016
Were You or a Loved One the Victim of a Crime? Was the Perpetrator Later Exonerated?
If so, we want to hear from you.
By
Blair Hickman
Feature
August 20, 2020
Two Families, Two Fates: When the Misdiagnosis Is Child Abuse
The power of child-abuse pediatric specialists and parents’ unequal journey toward justice
By
Stephanie Clifford
Violation
March 22, 2023
A Summer Camp Murder. Two Sons, Lost.
The premiere of “Violation,” a podcast from The Marshall Project and WBUR, examines the decades-long ripple effects of an inexplicable crime.
By
Beth Schwartzapfel
Feature
November 27, 2018
Why Is Karl Taylor Dead?
Our prisons are our mental wards. One fatal case in New York shows where that can lead.
By
Tom Robbins
Feature
August 1, 2019
The King of Dreams
A Texas con artist made millions promising prisoners' families the thing they wanted most: To bring their children home.
By
Christie Thompson
The Lowdown
November 19, 2014
Fakeup
How women in prison remake makeup.
By
Simone Weichselbaum
News
January 20, 2015
The Near Death of Mark Christeson
He was nearly executed because his lawyers missed a filing deadline. Now the Supreme Court has weighed in on what should happen next.
By
Ken Armstrong
Crime on the Ballot
November 9, 2016
Law and Order Trumps Reform
There’s a new sheriff in town.
By
Bill Keller
Commentary
November 13, 2018
Voters Want Criminal Justice Reform. Are Politicians Listening?
Midterms show wide support across party lines for changing the system.
Daniel Gotoff
and
Celinda Lake
Commentary
May 21, 2015
The ‘South Texas Family Residential Center’ Is No Haven
It’s an internment camp.
By
Carl Takei
Life Inside
January 22, 2016
How I Experience Female Contact in Prison
On being pent up.
By
Rahsaan Thomas
Life Inside
January 10, 2019
Why Showering in Prison Is Hell
“Step by step, I shuffle forward amid the mass of bodies, waiting to get inside.”
By
Jason Wright
Commentary
May 10, 2019
Let’s Make It Easier for Kids to Visit Incarcerated Parents
Nonprofits in a handful of states provide transportation to help children visit their imprisoned parents. Now New York may revive a state-funded free busing program.
By
Jaime Joyce
News
August 7, 2015
No Pets for Pariahs
Postscript on the travails of a teenage sex offender.
By
Maura Ewing
Feature
February 3, 2016
Policing the Future
In the aftermath of Michael Brown's death, St. Louis cops embrace crime-predicting software.
By
Maurice Chammah
, with additional reporting by
Mark Hansen
Feature
February 28, 2015
Attica’s Ghosts
A savage beating, a culture “beyond repair.”
By
Tom Robbins
Life Inside
September 22, 2022
The Art of Bidding, or How I Survived Federal Prison
When Eric Borsuk went to prison with his two best friends, they found their ‘bid’ — their purpose — together. Then one day, everything changed.
By
Eric Borsuk
Life Inside
December 3, 2020
Coronavirus Has Sparked Another Epidemic in My Prison: Anti-Asian Racism
The racial slurs, dumb comments and news reports of hate violence have me on edge.
By
Felix Sitthivong
Commentary
May 15, 2017
Give Juveniles Their Due
Fifty years after a landmark Supreme Court case, juvenile courts still lack due process.
By
Prya Murad
Feature
June 28, 2015
This is Rikers
From the people who live and work there.
By
The Marshall Project
Español
March 5, 2021
Lo que las personas en prisión deben saber sobre la vacuna contra el COVID-19
Más de 100 personas encarceladas en todo el país nos plantearon sus preguntas sobre la vacuna. A continuación explicamos si es segura, cuándo estará disponible y más
Por
Ariel Goodman
.
Life Inside
July 19, 2018
It’s Surprisingly Tough to Avoid Snitching in Prison
How hard could it be not to betray your friends?
By
George T. Wilkerson
Life Inside
November 15, 2018
Even My Dreams Are Behind Bars
After being locked up for years, a prisoner’s ability to see freedom fades.
By
Felix Rosado
Q&A
February 17, 2016
What Kalief Browder’s Mother Thinks Should Happen to Rikers
‘There was nothing I could do with him being in there.’
By
Alysia Santo
News
March 12, 2015
Why Is the FBI so White?
The nation diversifies. The bureau, not so much.
By
Simone Weichselbaum
Analysis
July 13, 2015
The President Goes to Prison
But Congress is the place to watch.
By
Andrew Cohen
News
July 1, 2015
How the Law Will Adapt to Oregon’s Legalized Pot
Expunged arrest records, and new jobs for police dogs.
By
Maura Ewing
,
Carl Stoffers
,
Simone Seiver
and
Eli Hager
Analysis
November 6, 2020
“Law and Order” Still Reigns in State Supreme Court Elections
A Nevada state supreme court candidate was one of very few nationwide to run on a message of reform. Most campaigns leaned on “tough on crime” strategy yet again.
By
Christie Thompson
News and Awards
May 26, 2020
The Marshall Project and Sundance Institute Announce Short Film Grantees
Films offering new perspectives on criminal justice in the United States to be made through a new initiative from The Sundance Institute and The Marshall Project
By
The Marshall Project
Analysis
December 16, 2016
Why Congress May Bring Criminal Justice Reform Back to Life
Four reasons a bipartisan bill has a better chance than you think
By
Bill Keller
Life Inside
January 12, 2017
My Best Friends in Prison are Frogs, Turtles, and Raccoons
Sharing space with open-minded visitors from beyond the walls.
By
Joseph Dole
Feature
September 24, 2017
How Conservatives Learned to Love Free Lawyers for the Poor
By reframing the issue around the evils of big government, Republicans are notching victories that have eluded more liberal legislatures.
By
Alysia Santo
News
October 24, 2017
Innocent, Disabled and Vulnerable
A judge protects an exonerated man from his lawyer.
By
Joseph Neff
Life Inside
January 29, 2016
What It’s Like to Be Moved From Cell to Cell, Prison to Prison
An endless shuffle takes a toll.
By
Arthur Longworth
News
March 29, 2016
DOJ Tells Prisons to Put Safety First in Housing Transgender Inmates
Rules from 2012 are too often ignored, advocates say.
By
Beth Schwartzapfel
Life Inside
May 5, 2016
My Father Killed Two People
On living with, and sharing, that information for a lifetime.
By
Pamela Brunskill
Q&A
March 2, 2016
The Rev. Jesse Jackson Remembers Rodney King and the L.A. Riots
‘Rodney King is in the lineage of Emmett Till, Medgar Evers, Trayvon Martin — that lineage of violation.’
By
Bill Keller
Commentary
August 12, 2016
End Prisons-for-Profit
A scathing report calls for “better oversight.” That’s not enough.
By
Carl Takei
Life Inside
August 25, 2016
What I've Learned Cutting Hair in Jail
“They look tired, ragged, and sick, more so than they thought they would.”
By
Andre Lyons
News
January 4, 2018
The Latest Big Win for Prison Privatization
It just got a lot harder to send a care package to New York prisoners.
By
Taylor Elizabeth Eldridge
Commentary
July 3, 2018
Revolutionary Moments in Law Enforcement
Had British authorities and their soldiers exercised de-escalation tactics, would the United States exist today?
By
Robin Washington
News
August 6, 2018
Senators Take Aim at Bail Industry Backers
Cory Booker and Sherrod Brown, both Democrats, want answers from the insurance industry.
By
Joseph Neff
Commentary
August 15, 2018
What ‘Enemies Of The People’ Truly Means — And Why The Media Are Not
Journalists expose systems that don’t work, and officials often agree.
By
Carroll Bogert
Jackson Newsletter
June 20
Mississippi Court Elections: What Do You Want to Know?
Two Mississippi Supreme Court seats and other posts are up for election on Nov. 5. What would you ask the candidates?
By
The Marshall Project - Jackson
News
December 2, 2014
Therapists in Blue
Can New York’s police learn to handle the mentally ill?
By
Dana Goldstein
The Marshall Project Inside
March 11, 2021
The Making of “Superpredators”
The first edition of The Marshall Project’s new video series, designed for audiences inside and outside of prison, examines a toxic media myth that damaged a generation of Black youth.
By
Donald Washington, Jr.
and
Lawrence Bartley
News and Awards
August 3, 2022
Raghuram Vadarevu Joins The Marshall Project as Senior Editor, Storytelling
The new role will oversee multimedia storytelling to engage new audiences and reach more people affected by the criminal justice system.
error in byline
Life Inside
April 28, 2016
How I Break Prison Rules to Keep in Touch with My Family
“Sometimes I won’t hear from my family in years.”
By
Anonymous
News
September 4, 2015
A Phone Call From Jail? Better Watch What You Say
A confession, a threat—it’s probably taped. And admissible.
By
Ken Armstrong
Analysis
March 2, 2017
Trump’s Radical Departure on Immigration
A softer tone from the White House belies a harsher reality.
By
Julia Preston