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Families of the Incarcerated

Inside Story September 22
What Happens When Prisons Take Away Conjugal Visits?
Once allowed in 17 states, only four still offer family visits. Host Lawrence Bartley examines how isolating loved ones impacts prison safety.
By and
A diamond with a transparent slide held up by a hand against the sky depicting a hand opening a doorknob with a key.
Sending Kites September 15
How to Prepare for a Release Date From Prison
Leaving prison can be logistically, financially and emotionally complicated. Incarcerated readers share ways they’re preparing themselves.
By and
Sending Kites August 18
How to Prepare for a Prison Visit
Incarcerated readers share how they get ready for visits, and what they want their loved ones to know before walking through the doors.
By and
Sending Kites June 16
How to Parent From Prison
Incarcerated people from around the country share their advice.
By and
An illustration shows the head and shoulders of Kwaneta Harris, a Black woman with long hair. She is wearing a white shirt, and several images surround her. Clockwise from the bottom left are: a child on the phone, some pink flowers, a flower with petals made of newspaper articles and letters, another young person on the phone, and a window with a white lace curtain. Birds are visible through the window. The background of the illustration is peach-colored.
Life Inside May 8
For This Mom in Prison, Mother’s Day Is a Blessing and a Curse
Kwaneta Harris has missed every single Mother’s Day with her 19-year-old. That means walking on eggshells, icy politeness and the occasional mom joke.
By Kwaneta Harris
An illustration shows a bearded man with medium skin tone, wearing a white T-shirt and blue pants, sitting in the shadow of prison bars from a window. He is looking at two people of differing skin color holding hands in front of him.
Life Inside February 20
In Prison, Optics Are Everything
Assumptions and rumors determine the social hierarchy and the wrong friendship can be dangerous.
By Joseph Wilson
A combination of four photos shows, clockwise from left, a man facing away from the camera, with medium-toned skin and short dark hair, wearing a black tank top, and with tattoos on his right arm; a woman with medium-toned skin and long dark hair, wearing a peach-colored top, sitting at a table while writing on a card; a woman facing away from the camera with medium-length brown hair and sunglasses on her head; a white house with green trimming and shutters; and a person's hand over a griddle folding a tortilla.
Feature December 5, 2025
In the Shadow of an Immigrant Detention Center, a Small House Offers Refuge
Amid rising ICE arrests, volunteers provide aid — a meal, a bed, gas money — to anyone visiting someone detained in remote rural Georgia.
By and Julieta Martinelli
A illustration shows, on the right side, a woman running on a dark red line that leads to a tangled ball made from that line in the center, which then leads out of the tangled ball to a single line which a person in pale blue and white upside down on. The background of the illustration looks like a sky, with pale blue and white patches.
Feature October 29, 2025
These Families Wanted to Lay Their Loved Ones to Rest. They Had to Bring Them Home From Prison First.
Policies that dictate what happens after a death behind bars often add new layers of pain — and financial and logistical challenges — for those left behind.
By
A Black woman in a blouse with ruffled sleeves stands with her back to the camera facing a gravestone that has a vase of flowers set upon it.
Feature August 6, 2025
Who Answers for a Death in Custody?
A Houston mother is one of many nationwide left with grief and unanswered questions when a loved one dies behind bars.
By , and
A man stands in silhouette in front of glass doors of a video visitation area at the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department.
Cleveland December 17, 2024
You Can See Who Is in Many Ohio Jails With a Few Clicks — Just Not in Cuyahoga County
The sheriff’s department lags behind other agencies by failing to offer a website to help the public quickly learn who’s inside its notorious county jail.
By , The Marshall Project, and Nora McKeown, Spectrum News 1
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