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The Lowdown
May 26
The 1990s Law That Keeps People in Prison on Technicalities
How the Supreme Court expanded the most important law you’ve never heard of.
By
Keri Blakinger
and
Beth Schwartzapfel
Death Sentences
April 8
The Return of the Firing Squad?
With a scarcity of lethal injection drugs, South Carolina has brought back an archaic execution method. In other states, men on death row are asking for it.
By
Maurice Chammah
Life Inside
March 18
California’s Longest Serving Death-Row Prisoner On Pain, Survival and Native Identity
As the Monache and Cherokee 63-year-old awaits a new hearing for a 1978 murder he denies committing, Douglas Ray Stankewitz shares the cultural tools and memories he depends on to stay alive.
By
Douglas Ray Stankewitz
as told to
Richard Arlin Walker
Death Sentences
February 24
How Melissa Lucio Went From Abuse Survivor to Death Row
Why some trauma victims are more likely to take responsibility for crimes, even when they may be innocent.
By
Maurice Chammah
Feature
February 10
The Rise and Fall of a Prison Town Queen
A family feud over drugs, money and fried fish roils the heart of the Texas prison system.
By
Keri Blakinger
Death Sentences
February 1
They Went to Prison as Kids. Now They’re on Death Row.
Fight clubs, solitary confinement and neglect make juveniles angrier and more violent.
By
Keri Blakinger
and
Maurice Chammah
Death Sentences
September 7, 2021
From Last Meals to Last Words, What Can Death Row Prisoners Request Before They Die?
As a Texas man sues for his pastor to touch him during his execution, a guide to rights for the condemned.
By
Keri Blakinger
and
Maurice Chammah
Death Sentences
July 16, 2021
Everyone on Death Row Gets a Lawyer. Not Everyone Gets a Kim Kardashian.
The case of Rodney Reed — whose innocence claims were championed by the reality TV star — raises questions about celebrities’ role in the criminal justice system.
by
Keri Blakinger
and
Maurice Chammah
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.
By
Cary Aspinwall
News
April 30, 2021
Supreme Court Conservatives Just Made It Easier to Sentence Kids to Life in Prison
The new ruling could worsen existing racial disparities in states that condemn teens to die in prison.
By
Beth Schwartzapfel