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An illustration shows a Black man next to a Black power symbol in a blue graduation cap and gown, holding an orange diploma cover, as paper cranes fly around him.
Life Inside September 2
My Wild and Winding Path to a College Degree Behind Bars
Rahsaan “New York” Thomas was proud to finally earn his associate’s degree in San Quentin State Prison. But repeated COVID-19 lockdowns turned his graduation ceremony into a two-year ordeal.
By Rahsaan “New York” Thomas
Analysis June 14
What Can FBI Data Say About Crime in 2021? It’s Too Unreliable to Tell
The transition to a new data system creates huge gaps in national crime stats sure to be exploited by politicians in this election year.
By Weihua Li
Life Inside January 14
People in the Scandal-Plagued Federal Prison System Reveal What They Need in a New Director
“This is kind of like AA: To move forward, first you have to admit there’s a problem.”
By Keri Blakinger
An incarcerated person received a COVID-19 vaccination at the Bolivar County Regional Correctional Facility in Cleveland, Miss., in April.
News December 22, 2021
Omicron Has Arrived. Many Prisons and Jails Are Not Ready.
Experts fear “another potential tinderbox scenario” akin to the early days of the pandemic.
By Beth Schwartzapfel and Keri Blakinger
An annual festival for a growing community of Guatemalan immigrants in New Bedford, Mass. took place in September. Members of the musical group, Soñando por Mañana, which means Dreaming for Tomorrow in Spanish, sang both the U.S. and Guatemalan national anthems.
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
Lance Lowry, who recently retired after 20 years as a corrections officer, outside the Huntsville Unit in Texas.
News November 1, 2021
As Corrections Officers Quit in Droves, Prisons Get Even More Dangerous
Fewer guards lead to more lockdowns, rising tensions and scant access to healthcare.
By Keri Blakinger, Jamiles Lartey, Beth Schwartzapfel, Mike Sisak and Christie Thompson
Police officers in Denver, Colo., in March 2021. From 2019 to 2020, the number of people working at local police departments and sheriffs’ offices decreased by less than 1%, according to monthly data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
News September 1, 2021
Police Say Demoralized Officers Are Quitting In Droves. Labor Data Says No.
While other industries were devastated by the pandemic last year, police departments felt a much smaller impact.
By Weihua Li and Ilica Mahajan
Life Inside August 26, 2021
My Uncle Died the Day He Was Released From Jail. I’m Still Trying to Understand Why.
“Sudden cardiac death,” is the cause listed on my uncle Bryan’s death certificate. But it didn’t feel sudden at all — not when you factor in his underlying mental and physical health problems, years of poor prison medical care and the fact that he caught COVID-19 in his Arizona jail.
By Mia Armstrong
Inside Out August 12, 2021
‘They Should Have Been Watching’: Suicides Rise in Texas Prisons During Pandemic
Prison suicides have been rising for years. Experts fear the pandemic has made it worse.
By Keri Blakinger
A man from a nearby prison was shackled to the bed in a Rhode Island hospital while being treated with a ventilator for COVID-19 in the intensive care unit in December.
Coronavirus June 30, 2021
A Half-Million People Got COVID-19 in Prison. Are Officials Ready for the Next Pandemic?
People who live and work in prisons worry they remain vulnerable, even as life behind bars returns to business as usual.
By Katie Park, Keri Blakinger and Claudia Lauer
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