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Life Inside May 13, 2021
Parole Is Better Than Prison. But That Doesn’t Mean I’m Free.
At age 17, I was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. I got out due to Supreme Court decisions, but there was one catch: Parole for the rest of my life.
By Abd’Allah Lateef
Feature July 10, 2015
Life Without Parole
Inside the secretive world of parole boards, where your freedom may depend on politics and whim.
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Violation April 5, 2023
‘A Trap for the Unwary’: The Power and Paradox of Parole Boards
Part Three of the “Violation” podcast examines America’s opaque parole system and how Jacob Wideman prepared to argue for his release.
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The room where parole board hearings are held at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men in Concord, N.H.
Investigate Your State July 10, 2015
How to Investigate Parole Release Rates in Your State
Help us localize our national story on parole.
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Prisoners at the Algoa Correctional Center in Jefferson City, Mo.
News February 11, 2019
Want to Shrink the Prison Population? Look at Parole.
Missouri lawsuit says that the state’s parole process puts too many people back behind bars.
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News May 19, 2016
When Parole Boards Trump the Supreme Court
The high court has said most kids shouldn't be sentenced to life without parole, but some prisoners' fate are in the hands of politics.
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News April 17, 2019
Took a Plea? Brooklyn's District Attorney Will Support Your Parole
Most prosecutors automatically oppose parole requests. Not Eric Gonzalez.
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An illustration shows a bird's-eye view of a light-skinned person in an orange prison suit handcuffed, sitting at a table with a courtroom microphone.
Life Inside June 17, 2022
I Joined the Parole Board to Make a Difference. Now I Call It ‘Conveyor Belt Justice.’
Between the grueling schedule, copious paperwork, abrupt hearings and risk-averse colleagues, prison reformer Carol Shapiro realized the New York parole system was dysfunctional by design.
By Carol Shapiro as told to
A Black man with square-framed glasses and a thin, slightly graying beard, sits in a Florida prison wearing a blue uniform and looking down.
Inside Story March 16, 2023
The Rise of Life-Without-Parole Sentences
We explore sentences that imprison people for life without parole, and comedian Ali Siddiq unpacks his behind-bars beginning in comedy.
By and
An illustration shows a yellow silhouette of a person laid out against a green and yellow background. Yellow and green squiggly lines overlap the silhouette.
Violation April 26, 2023
The Parole Violation That Sent Jacob Wideman Back to Prison
Part Six of the “Violation” podcast explores: Was Jake a master manipulator, the victim of a misunderstanding — or something worse?
By
News July 10, 2015
Nine Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Parole
For example: Most states don’t require board members to have any experience with the criminal justice system.
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News January 25, 2016
The Secret Hints for Winning Parole
Brush your teeth, sit up straight, and prepare for disappointment.
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Feature May 22, 2021
Life Without Parole Is Replacing the Death Penalty — But the Legal Defense System Hasn’t Kept Up
Just ask a Dallas woman who spent a year in jail without talking to a lawyer.
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Demonstrators in Nyack, N.Y., protested when Kathy Boudin’s 20-years-to-life sentence was up for review by the state parole board for the first time in 2001.
News January 5, 2017
A Parole Hearing in New York, With a Governor’s Blessing This Time
A ‘60s radical faces very different political atmosphere than her co-defendant did a decade ago.
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As of May 3, there were 826 people in New York City jails because of a probation or parole violation, according to city data.
Coronavirus May 6, 2020
A Dangerous Limbo: Probation and Parole in the Time of COVID-19
Closed courts, faulty technology and delays in post-release programs are among a range of barriers keeping a population prime for release behind bars.
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Parole agents in California arrest a man for violating his parole in 2012. California currently has no technical parole violators in its prisons, but many are incarcerated at the local level.
News April 23, 2017
At Least 61,000 Nationwide Are in Prison for Minor Parole Violations
But the number is probably far higher, Marshall Project survey shows.
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News September 22, 2015
Life Without Parole: For Juveniles, 5 Tough Counties
New study places a quarter of the sentences in a handful of urban areas.
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More than 1,000 people have been released because of coronavirus concerns from jails around New York state, including from the Rikers Island facilities.
Coronavirus April 3, 2020
Probation and Parole Officers Are Rethinking Their Rules As Coronavirus Spreads
Social distancing is pressing officials across the country to skip traditional methods such as jailing people for “technical violations” like missing check-ins.
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Michelle-Lael Norsworthy after being granted parole at Mule Creek State Prison in May 21, 2015 in Ione, Ca.
News October 8, 2015
Were These Transgender Prisoners Paroled — Or Just Kicked Out?
Three prisons were ordered to provide transgender health care. Three prisoners were suddenly set free.
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Melissa Gass is a plaintiff in a lawsuit by the ACLU of Pennsylvania against the Lebanon County district court over its decision to bar people on probation and parole from using legal medical marijuana.
News January 17, 2020
People on Probation and Parole Are Being Denied Perfectly Legal Medical Weed
Despite statewide legalization, some counties ban probationers and parolees from using medical marijuana. So the chronically ill turn to less effective and more addictive prescription drugs.
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Thirty-two-year-old Anthony Kent, wearing a sports cap and black shirt, stands at a park. His mom, Teri Quintana, stands behind him on his left.
Analysis March 24, 2022
Paroled People Can Vote in Colorado. Why Did Forms Say They Couldn’t?
More than two years after a reform bill, outdated government messaging still causes confusion.
By , , and
News March 12, 2017
Was Evan Miller ‘The Rare Juvenile’ Who Deserved Life Without Parole?
Now 28, he’ll be re-sentenced, unless the court finds him ‘irreparably corrupt.’
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After years of being rejected by a parole board, William Palmer was released from prison after filing a court appeal. If he loses at the California Supreme Court, he could go back to prison.
Case in Point November 18, 2019
He Was 17 When He Went To Prison. How Much Should That Matter To The Parole Board?
If William Palmer wins in court, thousands could get closer to exiting California prisons.
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Taurus Buchanan, then 19, at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola.
News October 2, 2018
Louisiana’s Taurus Buchanan Wins Parole After 25 Years
At 16, one deadly punch sent him away for life. The Supreme Court gave him a second chance at freedom.
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Life Inside April 26, 2018
How I’m Preparing for Parole After 27 Years in Prison
“With my new lease on life, I still remember the one I took.”
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