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An illustration shows a side-profile silhouette of a long-haired man against a yellow and green gradient background. The man looks toward a window that displays nature and has prairie animals coming out of it.
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
Analysis December 21, 2021
Some of Our Best Work of 2021
From police use of force to life without parole to troubling prison conditions, our reporters told groundbreaking stories this year.
By Terri Troncale
Feature December 17, 2021
‘The Only Way We Get Out of There Is in a Pine Box’
Elderly, ailing and expensive, lifetime prisoners cost Louisiana taxpayers millions a year.
By John Simerman
Feature December 16, 2021
Her Baby Died After Hurricane Katrina. Was It a Crime?
An expansive definition of murder in Louisiana leaves many behind bars forever.
By Cary Aspinwall, Lea Skene and Ilica Mahajan
Feature November 11, 2021
He Got a Life Sentence When He Was 22 — For Robbery
Black men are most affected by Florida’s two-strikes law.
By Dan Sullivan, Cary Aspinwall and Weihua Li
Feature November 11, 2021
Two Strikes and You’re in Prison Forever
Why Florida leads the nation in people serving life without chance of parole.
By Cary Aspinwall, Weihua Li and Dan Sullivan
Life Inside May 13, 2021
Parole Is Better Than Prison. But That Doesn’t Mean I’m Free.
At age 17, I was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. I got out due to Supreme Court decisions, but there was one catch: Parole for the rest of my life.
By Abd’allah Lateef
Evan Miller, right, was escorted to the Lawrence County Courthouse in Moulton, Ala., in 2006. In April 2021, he was resentenced to life without parole for the 2003 murder of Cole Cannon.
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
Life Inside September 17, 2020
How COVID-19 Tested the Family Bonds I Was Building When I Got Out
After serving more than 21 years for a crime he committed at age 15, Angel Alejandro was reintroducing himself to his family. Then the virus took three relatives.
By Angel Alejandro
Darnell Johnson in 1996 in Glendale, Arizona, when he was visiting his brother at Christmas.
Coronavirus June 3, 2020
“Juvenile Lifers” Were Meant to Get a Second Chance. COVID-19 Could Get Them First.
The Supreme Court gave teens sentenced to life in prison a shot at freedom. Many are still waiting.
By Eli Hager
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