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Dangerous Conditions in Prisons/Jails
Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times
Investigate This
How to Investigate COVID’s Deadly Toll in Your State Prisons
Our toolkit helps you report on deadly systemic failures and analyze the pandemic as a case study of how facilities can prepare for the next crisis.
Investigate This
July 25
How to Investigate the Trend of Declining Prison Staff and Deteriorating Conditions Behind Bars
Our toolkit helps you report on how this employment crisis impacts safety and local budgets in your state.
By
The Marshall Project
News and Awards
May 21
The Marshall Project Wins Prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for Criminal Justice
The award recognizes our 2023 investigation exposing lax prison discipline for abusive guards in New York state prisons.
By
The Marshall Project
Life Inside
April 12
I Had a Tough Job at My Brooklyn Jail: Keeping Men From Taking Their Own Lives
As a suicide prevention aide, I had to make sure my fellow detainees didn’t harm themselves. It was surprisingly easy to get such a complex job.
By
Rashon Venable
Closing Argument
March 2
How Federal Prisons Are Getting Worse
Government watchdog agencies found hundreds of preventable deaths and excessive use of solitary confinement.
By
Jamiles Lartey
and
Christie Thompson
Feature
October 24, 2023
In Harm’s Way
How decades-old decisions to build two California prisons in a dry lakebed and a chaotic climate left 8,000 incarcerated people at risk.
By
Susie Cagle
Life Inside
October 20, 2023
Here’s How I Use My Story to Teach Incarcerated Kids That Writing Matters
At 18, Bobby Bostic was sentenced to 241 years in prison. Now out on parole, he’s sharing the healing power of writing in juvenile detention centers.
By
Bobby Bostic
Closing Argument
July 22
‘Concrete Coffins’: Surviving Extreme Heat Behind Bars
Record temperatures in much of the U.S. threatening more people in prisons.
By
Jamiles Lartey
Closing Argument
February 25
Fighting the High Cost of Prison Phone Calls
Tired of exorbitant phone bills, prisoners and their families are pushing to lower costs.
By
Christie Thompson
Closing Argument
February 18
How ‘Cruel and Not Unusual’ Conditions Persist in Many Lockups
Insight from a discussion with journalists, formerly incarcerated people and experts.
By
Jamiles Lartey