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Domestic Violence

A photograph of the Georgia State Capitol building.
Closing Argument April 12
The Bipartisan Push to Rethink Long Sentences for Abuse Survivors
A Georgia bill offers a model for other states looking to protect people who are accused or convicted of crimes stemming from their abuse.
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A collage of, clockwise from top left: a photo of a woman with two children in their home; drawings of the faces of judicial candidates in circles with the text “Judicial Election Guide” in the center; an illustration of a surveillance device with a projection of a car coming out of a camera; drawings of four trans people, and above them an audio waveform; a collage of pictures, a gun, a police baton and helmet for The Marshall Project's story on the Black Shield organization; and a drawing of a school chair, with the words “The Hardest Case for Mercy” around it.
Analysis December 16, 2024
Some of Our Best Work for 2024
Online, in print, and on radio and TV, we delved into prison health care, political views of people behind bars, arrests of women who miscarry and more.
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A woman, who left her home because of intimate partner violence, stares outside a window at The Dream Center, a residential recovery facility, in Jackson, Tennessee, in 2023.
Closing Argument September 14, 2024
The Domestic Abuse Survivor to Prison Pipeline
Researchers surveyed people who kill their abusers. They found several complicated reasons why survivors end up in prison because of abuse.
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Analysis August 28, 2024
5 Things to Know About How Survivors Get Incarcerated for Their Abusers’ Crimes
Little-known laws allow people to be punished for crimes they didn’t directly commit. Survivors of domestic violence are especially vulnerable.
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Feature June 13, 2024
Serving Time for Their Abusers’ Crimes
The Marshall Project found nearly 100 people who were punished for the actions of their abusers under little-known laws like “accomplice liability.”
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Demonstrators, dressed in black clothing, hold large posters of women and signs that read "OK Survivor Justice Coalition" while standing outside the Oklahoma State Capitol.
Closing Argument April 27, 2024
They Killed Their Abusive Partners. Now Their Sentences Could Be Reconsidered.
Oklahoma could re-examine how it punishes people whose crimes came after years of domestic abuse. Other states may follow.
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A woman, wearing a blue "March for Our Lives" shirt and black blazer, holds a sign that reads, "If my domestic abuser had a gun, I'd be dead." Standing to her left is a person holding a sign that reads, "Disarm domestic violence."
Closing Argument November 11, 2023
Supreme Court Takes on Gun Cases as State Laws Shift
The court is considering the safety of victims of domestic violence, bump stocks and more.
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A photo of Leon Jacob, a White middle-aged man wearing a blue dress shirt and glasses, sits in the center of a paper cutting. The paper cutting shows two women on either side of the photo of Leon, with the lower half of their bodies shredded into paper strips.
Feature September 28, 2023
How Wealth and Privilege Helped One Man Hide His Serial Abuse
Life seemed golden for Leon Jacob. Then he hired a hit man to kill his ex-girlfriend. His classmate exposes how the system repeatedly failed to stop him.
By Stephanie Clifford
Melissa Lucio, who has long brown hair and is wearing a white prison uniform, sits behind glass at a prison.
Death Sentences February 24, 2022
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.
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Life Inside January 6, 2022
The Criminal Justice Issue Nobody Talks About: Brain Injuries
I know firsthand what it’s like to navigate the criminal justice system with a brain injury caused by domestic violence. I also live with the fact that an injury like mine can turn a victim into a perpetrator.
By Melissa Bickford as told to
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