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Filed 6:00 a.m. EST

12.15.2025

Analysis

Some of the Ways We Brought the Criminal Justice System to Life Through Visuals in 2025

Through evocative illustrations and photography, we tackled themes of deplorable prison conditions, healing after gun violence and deaths in custody.

In 2025, through evocative illustrations and photography, The Marshall Project’s visual storytelling tackled themes of deplorable jail conditions, judicial power, the racist origins of the juvenile justice system, love behind bars, deaths in custody and healing after gun violence.

Here are some examples of our work from the last year:

An illustration shows the back of a judge sitting on a chair. The head is a white, hollow silhouette. A paper stack is placed in the bottom right corner.

Illustration by Kaylynn Kim for Judges in Missouri Can Levy Death if Juries Deadlock. Some Say the Law Is Unconstitutional. Art direction by Marci Suela.

A collage illustration with muted green and orange tones shows details of black mold on a bathroom floor, a closeup of a cockroach, a broken toilet bowl, trash, a closeup of a person covering their nose and mouth, a closeup of a person clenching their fist, and the obscured figure of a man.

Illustration by Isabel Seliger for No Showers, Black Mold and Clogged Toilets: America’s Jails Are Disgusting. Art direction by Jovelle Tamayo.

A photo shows a group of Black men and women holding hands, closing their eyes, and bowing their heads in prayer in a forest.

Photo by Maansi Srivastava for Finding the Racist Roots of Maryland’s Juvenile Justice System. Art direction by Jovelle Tamayo.

Larry Moses, a Black man wearing an olive green T-shirt and pants, sits in a blue Adirondack chair, while Gloria Armour, a Black woman wearing dark patchwork jeans and a white midriff shirt with a chest cutout, leans against a door on the porch of their apartment.

Moses lifts up a gold necklace hanging around Armour’s neck, which has a ring hanging from it.

Moses stands on a deck, smiling at and carrying Armour’s great-niece, a Black toddler wearing a small white bow and braids in her hair.

A group picture shows Moses, Armour, and her smiling family and friends standing on a deck and the deck stairs.

Photos by Camille Farrah Lenain for Love Beyond Bars: Larry and Gloria. Art direction by Celina Fang.

A portrait of a young Black woman named Whitney Brown with voluminous dark brown and golden hair, looking over her right shoulder and smiling. In her right shoulder is an inset drawing of her son, on a green background, with light green hearts encircling his face. The words “The caregiver, the fix-everything-when-I-couldn’t” and “Dance” frame Whitney’s face. In the dark green background is a silhouette of a little girl dancing, and in the foreground at the bottom right corner of the frame is a cartoon-style cardinal from which emerges four light green butterflies. Alongside her name at the bottom of the frame is “1990-2015.” corresponding to the years of her birth and death respectively.

A portrait of a young Black man named Tyrin Williams with his head tilted slightly to the side and a small smile. He is wearing light-colored earrings, and a basketball jersey that has “23” on the fabric over his right shoulder. The words “style”, and “‘Imma score yo’ age,” and “fun” frame his face in block lettering. The bottom left corner includes the years 1994 and 2016, the years of his birth and death, respectively.

A portrait of a young Black man named Mario Fox looking at the viewer. He’s wearing a black knit cap and a black jacket with a red and white striped collar. Framing his face is a street grid-like background where the words “Brain”, “Science”, “Dad”, “Bro”, “Son”, and “Faith”, are incorporated into the city blocks. On his left shoulder is written 1991-2018, the years of his birth and death respectively.

A portrait of a young Black man named Jared Elam, with a slender mustache, a broad smile, and wearing a dark blue jacket, which features the words “We Belong Together” in a slightly lighter shade of blue. His face is framed by the words “Infectious Smile”, “His bigger purpose in life was to get his family together”, “funny laugh” and “old soul.” Over his right shoulder is a drawing of Chicago’s Bean statue with the numbers 4-5-6 written on it. Over his left shoulder are two white butterflies, and on the left side of his head is a drawing of his dog in which his name “Pablo” is written. At the bottom, next to his name, are written 1996-2014, the years of his birth and death respectively.

A portrait of a young Black woman named Isis Mahr, her hair pulled back into a curly puff, and wearing a dark blue jacket with a lighter blue zipper. She’s smiling toward the viewer as the words “I Am Somebody”, “Don’t hold back your love”, “Heart”, “Care”, and “Passionate” frame her face, on a peach-colored background. At the bottom of the frame is her name, “Isis Mahr” and “2002-2021”, denoting her years of birth and death, respectively.

A portrait of a young Black man named Courtney Williams with a broad smile and short reddish-brown hair, wears a white v-neck T-shirt. On a background of muted aqua are words “Brave,” “Loyal,” “No Quit’n,” “Courage,” “Resilient,” “Unstoppable,” “Fearless,” and a sketch of a football. Over his left shoulder is a quote: “You better get yourself together. You got some place to be. And when I get there, I’m gonna see everyone I know” and “Heaven, Mary Mary.” Next to his name at the bottom of the frame are 1993-2014, the years of his birth and death, respectively.

Illustrations by Cbabi Bayoc for Remember Me. Art direction by Raghu Vadarevu.

Five white sinks are visible in a bathroom that has metal mirrors above them. There is debris on the floor.

Handwriting on an off-white wall reads "Don't be friendly."

A worn-down and cracked wooden chair sits among twigs and overgrown greenery.

A photo showing a dark interior of a room with a window looking out onto a school campus is overlaid on a photo of plants with green leaves against a frosted window.

Photos and collage by Alicia Vera for Dozens of Teens Who Spent Time at Abusive Florida Reform School Ended Up on Death Row. Art direction by Celina Fang.

A photo shows an older Black woman with grey hair looking into the camera for a portrait. The woman is wearing a blue jacket and a white blouse, and is standing in the middle of an outdoor plaza.

Photo by Justin Hardiman for DOJ Shakeup May Put Civil Rights Probe of 1970 Jackson State, Mississippi, Killings At Risk. Art direction by Jovelle Tamayo.

Video by Stephanie Rose Figgins for DOJ Shakeup May Put Civil Rights Probe of 1970 Jackson State, Mississippi, Killings At Risk. Art direction by Jovelle Tamayo.

A blurry photo of trees in a forest.

An aerial photo shows the campus of a residential treatment facility with a light green roof during sunset. The facility is surrounded by forest and hills.

A photo of a shadow falling on a topographic map showing trails in a state forest and the location of a youth camp.

Photos by Nate Smallwood for ‘It Was Chaos’: How an Ohio Youth Treatment Center Tried to Put an End to Rising Violence. Art direction by Jovelle Tamayo.

A Black woman in a blouse with ruffled sleeves stands with her back to the camera facing a gravestone that has a vase of flowers set upon it.

A Black man wearing a T-shirt over a long-sleeved shirt holds a framed picture of his son when he was a small boy. His son is wearing a football jersey in the photo.

Barbed wire outside the facility.

A sign on the wall between two doors has the letters “HCSO” printed on it. A man in a suit, seen from behind, stands in front of the door on the right.

Photos by Rahim Fortune for Who Answers for a Death in Custody? Art direction by Celina Fang.

An illustration shows Ralph Marcus, a White man wearing a white baseball cap and t-shirt, and a fingerless glove in pale blue. The illustration shows his body dissipating into oblong shapes in white, orange and red into the air. In the foreground are green plants with flowers blooming among them in orange, red and yellow.

Illustration by Diana Nguyễn for The Last Words of a Man Who Died in Prison From a Treatable Cancer. Art direction by Celina Fang.

An illustration shows a floating white cloth in front of a teal background. A person in an orange outfit exits from within the white cloth, pushing the fabric to the side like a curtain.

An illustration shows, on the left side, a woman running on a dark red line extending from a ball of tangled lines, with a line extending from the right, from which a person is shown standing upside down. The background of the illustration looks like a sky, with pale blue and white patches.

A illustration shows two hands with fingers interlaced against an orange background. The hand on the left is solid and off-white colored, and the hand on the right is translucent. A necklace in teal, black and orange is wrapped around the hands.

Illustrations by Juan Bernabeu, collage by Da'Shaunae Marisa and Juan Bernabeu for An Overlooked Source of Information in Missouri Prison Deaths: The Coroner; These Families Wanted to Lay Their Loved Ones to Rest. They Had to Bring Them Home From Prison First; When Their Loved Ones Died Behind Bars, These Families Had to Sleuth for the Truth; and Their Loved Ones Died Behind Bars. These Keepsakes Are All They Have Left. Art direction by, clockwise from top left: Marci Suela, Celina Fang, Jovelle Tamayo, and Celina Fang.

Video by Michael Indriolo for The Unbearable Darkness of Jail. Art direction by Jovelle Tamayo.

An illustration shows a grid of different jail cells with small or narrow windows, or no windows at all.

Illustration by Grace J. Kim for The Unbearable Darkness of Jail. Art direction by Jovelle Tamayo.

A collage with ripped paper-style cutouts of silhouettes of police officers in orange and green over a black-and-white background photo of two police officers standing next to each other.

Collage by Mark Harris for Trump’s Anti-DEI Push Raises Concerns Among Black Officers in Local Police Departments. Art direction by Hannah Yoon.

An illustration shows a transparent silhouette of a person sitting down, surrounded by outlines of faces and smaller drawings of people sitting down.

Illustration by Mary Ainza for 'Lost' in Missouri jail cells. Art direction by Marci Suela.

An illustration shows a transparent silhouette of a mother hugging her child. Inside the silhouette, a White woman in a blue prison uniform sits on the bottom bunk of a bunk bed.

Illustration by Kailey Whitman for Motherhood Made Me Even More of a Prison and Police Abolitionist. Art direction by Marci Suela.

An illustration shows a man with medium skin tone and black hair wearing a blue prison uniform in four scenarios. Clockwise from the top left: The man raises his fists in front of a White man in a prison uniform who is yelling and pointing at him; the man sits on his bed with his head down, looking at a piece of paper; the man sits at a table in front of a woman with a ponytail and medium-dark skin tone; the man stands in an office in front of a laptop, where a woman on a screen is speaking to him. There are four quotes around the figures that read: “It’s a dangerous place here. It got to the point where I had to defend myself.” - Giovanni Lee, “Long story short, they never investigated what happened. They just found me guilty.” - Lamont Clark, “You all had my fate sealed before I even got in the room.” - Edward Navone, and “I’m about to go home. They ended up maxing me out, giving me my whole time.’”- Giovanni Lee

Illustration by Julia Kuo for How Ohio’s Reagan Tokes Law Keeps People in Prison Longer. Art direction by Jovelle Tamayo.

Illustrations by Olivia Kim and Lucid Clairvoyant for An Illustrated Resource Guide for Families of Homicide Victims in St. Louis. Art direction by Marci Suela. Booklet design by Mara Corbett.

A man wearing blue pants and a white T-shirt dangles from and holds onto the threads of an American flag against a city skyline.

Illustration by Owen Gent for What, to the American Incarcerated Person, Is Your Fourth of July? Art direction by Hannah Yoon.

An illustration shows two correction officers holding down an incarcerated man wearing an orange jumpsuit while nurses stand outside in the hallway.

An illustration shows an infirmary room with a hospital bed with orange blood splattered on it; a chair, a desk with a computer on it; a sink and a countertop; and broken glass on the floor.

Illustrations by Dion MBD for When Prison Nurses Must Choose Between Loyalty to Abusive Guards and Devotion to Patients and In Some New York Prisons, Infirmaries Are Dens of Hidden Violence. Art direction by Hannah Yoon.

An illustration shows a Black woman in a cream-colored prison uniform looking at a silhouette of a guard.

Illustration by Laura Lannes for At My Texas Prison, Solitary Confinement All But Guarantees Sexual Exploitation by Guards. Art direction by Marci Suela.

Rahsheek Hill protested at Greene Correctional Facility on the one-year anniversary of his brother’s death.

Photo and videos by Angus Mordant for In New York Prisons, Lack of Medical Care Led to Preventable Deaths. Art direction by Hannah Yoon and Celina Fang.

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