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Redemption Songs April 12
The Bootlegging, Blues Singing Star of 1930s Prison Radio
Hattie Ellis was poised for post-prison fame. Then she encountered shotcallers who didn’t value her voice.
By
A Black man wearing glasses, dark green prison pants and a tan sweater is holding a microphone as he asks a question to a woman in the foreground, who is sitting on a chair with her back turned to the camera. Alongside the man sit four other men in the same green prison pants and a variety of shirts. Members of the audience look on from their blue-colored seats.
Feature October 29, 2024
Incarcerated Men at Sing Sing’s First Film Festival Reflect on Movies, Justice, and Change
The diverse group of jurors shared how their favorite films have shaped their perspectives on community and life behind bars.
By and
Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez, a man with medium-toned skin, sits in a theater with red seats.
Life Inside February 28, 2025
‘Sing Sing’ Actor Jon-Adrian ‘JJ’ Velazquez Reflects on the Power of Prison Theater
JJ Velazquez served nearly 24 years for a murder he didn’t commit. A unique prison arts program transformed him into an actor and activist.
By Jon-Adrian Velazquez, as told to
A film festival poster reads: "Sing Sing Film Fest," in large letters at the top. The background of the poster is red, and there is a black and white image of a hand holding up a film reel in the center.
News and Awards September 19, 2024
The Marshall Project to Host Inaugural Sing Sing Prison Film Festival
Incarcerated jury will choose best criminal justice documentary.
By The Marshall Project
Incarcerated jury members interview Contessa Gayles, director of “Songs From the Hole,” and Mindy Goldberg, producer of “Daughters,” at the Sing Sing film festival.
News and Awards October 24, 2024
Documentary Film ‘Songs From the Hole’ Wins Incarcerated Jury Award at Sing Sing
The Marshall Project hosts the first-ever film festival at the historic New York prison.
By The Marshall Project
Life Inside November 10, 2017
The Singular Sorrow of Grieving Behind Bars
“I had no idea how much pain I would be forced to carry alone.”
By Dwayne Hurd
Life Inside September 24, 2020
I Hate My Prison Dorm So Much, I Enjoyed COVID-19 Quarantine in the Box
After two decades in a single-person cell, I moved to an open dorm with 30 other men. Between the smells, stress and lack of privacy, I was happy to spend time in solitary confinement.
By Corey Devon Arthur
A White man with white hair wearing dark-rimmed glasses and a black judge’s robe sits in a large black chair at the bench, with the American and Ohio flags behind him.
Cleveland November 25, 2025
Getting a Single Parking Ticket in Lorain Led Hundreds to Lose Their Driver’s Licenses
A Marshall Project - Cleveland investigation has prompted city officials to stop issuing parking citations that, for years, led to license suspensions.
By
News June 9, 2016
The Scandal-Singed DAs Who Want to Be Judges
For decades, California prosecutors covered up unethical deals with jailhouse informers.
By
A Black man wearing a green shirt and pants against a blue background sits with a notebook in his hand. Behind him, from left to right, a man in orange wears blue headphones covers his face, a woman with blonde hair sings, and a person in olive green plays the violin. There is also a gray Walkman with orange headphones on the left and an orange keyboard on the right.
Life Inside April 18, 2025
How I Became an Opera Composer in a Maximum Security Prison
I learned music theory through workshops at New York’s Sing Sing prison. I earned my stripes by singing for boisterous crowds of incarcerated critics.
By Joseph Wilson
Redemption Songs April 19
The Message Behind This ‘Hamilton’-Style Prison Rap? Pride Can Be Dangerous
Written by a man at Sing Sing prison, ‘Pride’ is a highlight of the first album by famed prison program Musicambia.
By
Feature June 28, 2015
This is Rikers
From the people who live and work there.
By The Marshall Project
Andrew Goldstein is in Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, N.Y. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison for pushing Kendra Webdale to her death on subway tracks in Manhattan and is scheduled to be released on Sept. 14.
Feature September 3, 2018
A Turbulent Mind
Andrew Goldstein’s crime set in motion a dramatic shift in how we care for the violent mentally ill. Including for himself—when he’s released this month.
By and
Feature December 16, 2015
An Unbelievable Story of Rape
An 18-year-old said she was attacked at knifepoint. Then she said she made it up. That’s where our story begins.
By and T. Christian Miller
Feature February 12, 2016
Kendrick Lamar, the Grammys and the Year in Socially Conscious Music
Black Lives Matter took center stage in 2015’s hip-hop and R&B.
By and
Life Inside June 2, 2015
A Night with the NYPD
In which the rookie learns what police really think.
By Bob Henderson
People wait at the Cook County Jail for loved ones to be released.
Southside October 31, 2018
The Waiting Room
For many released into the harsh environment outside Chicago’s Cook County Jail, it can be impossible to find their way home.
By Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve
Life Inside February 18, 2022
Inside the Underground Economy of Solitary Confinement
Goods are scarce in any correctional facility, but the circumstances are especially dire for those in isolation. Here’s how people in “the box” use their ingenuity, collaboration skills and a form of “fishing” to get what they need.
By Matthew Azzano
An illustration showcases Demetrius Buckley, who is currently incarcerated, in an orange prison suit and holding onto a phone. He looks through a window at his daughter, who is sitting alone in a park.
Life Inside March 11, 2022
The Powerlessness of Parenting From Prison
Demetrius Buckley thought his bond with his 11-year-old daughter was strong. But when he couldn’t physically protect his child from adult problems, he learned the limits of parenting via prison phone calls.
By
Inmates watch television at the Missouri River Correctional Center, a minimum-security facility in Bismarck, N.D., which has based some of its programs on those found in a prison in Norway.
News October 31, 2017
I Did It Norway
Some American prisons are singing a European tune.
By
Andrew Wilson said he was punched, kicked, smothered with a plastic bag, electrically shocked and forced against a hot radiator by Chicago police officers in 1982.
Southside October 30, 2018
Payback
Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and his crew tortured false confessions out of hundreds of black men. Decades later, the survivors fought for reparations.
By Natalie Y. Moore
In the past few years, more than a thousand cameras have been installed throughout Attica Correctional Facility.
Feature April 9, 2018
Spying on Attica
How nearly 2,000 cameras tamed America’s most notorious prison
By
A magazine called News Inside set against a grainy tan backdrop. The cover says “Sing Sing Film Fest" and features a raised hand holding a film reel. Light refracted through prison bars shines onto the magazine.
News Inside December 11, 2024
Lights, Camera, Action
News Inside Issue 18 provides a glimpse into the first-ever Sing Sing Film Festival.
By
People at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York, in 2016.
Life Inside April 14, 2020
“Covid Breached the Wall and Killed A Man Yesterday”
Trying to stay alive in Sing Sing.
By Dino Caroselli, as told to
The Language Project April 12, 2021
I Was Trained to Call Prisoners a Word They Hated
As correctional officers, we are conditioned to call prisoners ‘inmates.’ But at Sing Sing, where I worked for 25 years, that was as bad as calling them a snitch.
By Kevin Byrd, as told to
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