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Looking Back

Stories about, and excerpts from, the history of criminal justice.

A collage illustration shows a vinyl record at the center of the frame with various cutouts of black-and-white images overtop. On the left edge of the vinyl record, the 1950s musical group The Prisonaires is singing over a microphone. Toward the center, a group of musicians called The Outlaws poses with instruments in a yard. On the right side of the vinyl record, a man with a goatee listens to music through a pair of headphones. His eyes are closed. A soundwave connects all of these collaged photographs. Splashes of teal and purple paint lay beneath all these elements.
Looking Back August 3
Redemption Songs: The Forgotten History of American Prison Music
From blues to gospel, country to rap, people have been making music behind bars for decades. Here’s why we should all tune in.
By
A black and white photo of an empty electric chair through a doorway.
Death Sentences June 29, 2022
The Supreme Court Let The Death Penalty Flourish. Now Americans are Ending It Themselves.
As Roe v. Wade ends, a look back at how the court reversed itself on capital punishment — spurring an anti-death penalty movement.
By
During the 1971 uprising at Attica State Prison, prisoners wearing cloaks and football helmets, some of them with makeshift weapons, waited to negotiate their demands with state officials.
Looking Back September 14, 2021
Revisiting the Attica Riot in Real-Time 50 Years Later
The infamous 1971 prison revolt ended with a bloody police siege. We retell the story, minute-by-minute.
By and
Jerry Jurek was convicted of killing 10-year-old Wendy Adams in 1973. His case went to the Supreme Court as one of several testing new death penalty laws around the country. Pictured here in 1979, left, and 2015, right.
Looking Back January 26, 2021
The Case That Made Texas the Death Penalty Capital
In an excerpt from his new book, ‘Let the Lord Sort Them,’ Marshall Project staff writer Maurice Chammah explains where a 1970s legal team fighting the death penalty went wrong.
By
Eric Lander, left, who was just appointed to be President Biden’s science adviser, showing Peter Neufeld, right, who went on to co-found the Innocence Project, how to look at DNA in 1988.
Looking Back January 26, 2021
This Scientist Helped Free the Innocent Using DNA. Now Biden Wants Him in the Cabinet.
Some experts hope Eric Lander, the president’s choice for new science adviser, will crack down on bad forensics in courtrooms.
By
Looking Back August 19, 2019
In Sickness, In Health—and In Prison
A Nebraska couple fighting to marry behind bars wouldn’t be the first: Three decades ago, two prisoners took their bid to marry all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
By
The visitation room of the Kinross Correctional Facility in Michigan.
Looking Back April 9, 2019
When Prisons Cut Off Visits—Indefinitely
It’s been nearly 25 years since Michigan adopted a controversial visitation policy. Families have been fighting it ever since.
By
Portland Police Chief Penny Harrington, center, in 1986 with her husband, Officer Bruce Gary Harrington, and her sister, police Capt. Roberta Webber.
Looking Back September 5, 2018
A Police Pioneer on Her Unfinished Business
Portland’s first female chief, Penny Harrington, recalls the steep climb to the top.
By
Looking Back June 24, 2018
“An Odd, Almost Senseless Series of Events”
Every law student knows John Brady’s name. But few know the story of the bumbling murder that ended in a landmark legal ruling.
By Thomas L. Dybdahl
Al Capone and his bodyguard were arrested in Philadelphia in May 1929 for carrying concealed deadly weapons.
Looking Back May 28, 2018
Defending Al Capone
How the most notorious gangster of all got railroaded in Philadelphia.
By Marc Bookman
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