Special Housing Unit (SHU) | The Marshall Project

What are records? Since 2014, The Marshall Project has been curating some of the best criminal justice reporting from around the web. In these records you will find the most recent and the most authoritative articles on the topics, people and events that are shaping the criminal justice conversation. The Marshall Project does not endorse the viewpoints or vouch for the accuracy of reports other than its own.

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Echoes of Isolation

A 2013 prison hunger strike in California led to a dramatic decline in the use of solitary confinement. More than a decade later, people impacted by solitary reflect on the toll of separation.

Feature • 01.28.2026

Dozens of Prisoners Allege a Culture of Violence by Guards at Federal Facility in Virginia

In lawsuits and interviews, people held at Lee penitentiary described correctional officers breaking teeth, fracturing ribs and using the N-word.

Feature • 12.17.2024

Life Inside, Remixed: Inside the Underground Economy of Solitary Confinement

Here’s how people in “the box” use their ingenuity, collaboration skills and a form of “fishing” to get the goods they need.

Life Inside • 10.25.2024

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