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Ronnie Peterson, a man with short brown hair, light-toned skin and wearing a turquoise polo shirt, and Bridget Peterson, a woman with medium-length blonde hair, light-toned skin and wearing a navy blue T-shirt, kneel at the grave of their son, with their hands resting on the gravestone.
News June 22
Louisiana Limits Solitary Confinement for Youth
The governor signed the state’s first law restricting isolation for youth after two suicides and an investigation by The Marshall Project, ProPublica and NBC News into harsh conditions in a new juvenile facility.
By Beth Schwartzapfel, Erin Einhorn, and Annie Waldman
A group of people walk through a dark hallway with prison cells on either side.
Feature June 9
Rethinking Prison Tourism
Many former prison sites draw on the spooky and salacious to entertain visitors. But some are having second thoughts.
By Hope Corrigan
A photo illustration shows a photo of Reginald Reddick in the center, with a black and white photo of a jury to the left, and a sign saying "Criminal Court" on the right. At the top right there is a jury slip that says "Is this your verdict?" with a checkmark next to "No."
News May 10
Their Sentences Are Unconstitutional — But They’re Still In Prison.
Louisiana’s high court considers the fate of more than 1,000 people serving sentences handed down by “Jim Crow juries.”
By Beth Schwartzapfel
A photo illustration shows the silhouettes of four dark-skinned teens facing a door in a solitary confinement unit. Light shines through a window in the door. As the viewer scrolls up on the story, the light from the window gets brighter.
Feature March 10
“No Light. No Nothing.” Inside Louisiana’s Harshest Juvenile Lockup
Teens at the Acadiana Center for Youth at St. Martinville were held in solitary confinement around the clock, shackled with leg irons and deprived of an education. “This is child abuse,” one expert said.
Beth Schwartzapfel, The Marshall Project; Erin Einhorn, NBC News; and Annie Waldman, ProPublica
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
Life Inside July 29, 2021
A Filthy New Orleans Jail Made My Son Sick. The ‘Cruel and Unusual’ Medical Treatment at Angola Prison Killed Him.
This spring, a judge ruled that the healthcare at the Louisiana State Penitentiary violated prisoners’ Eighth Amendment rights. Lois Ratcliff tells the horrifying story of her son Farrell’s decline and death.
By Lois Ratcliff as told by Jamiles Lartey
Prisoners from the Ferguson Unit picking cotton outside of Huntsville, Texas, in 1968. The unit was named after James E. Ferguson, a governor in the 1910s with a troubled record of condoning anti-Mexican violence.
News July 29, 2020
Will The Reckoning Over Racist Names Include These Prisons?
Many prisons, especially in the South, are named after racist officials and former plantations.
By Keri Blakinger
News July 1, 2020
Did “Live PD” Let Police Censor Footage?
Police asked the show to edit out officers using violence or bad language. The company says it had other reasons for not airing the footage.
By Cary Aspinwall and Sachi Mcclendon
At the Marion Correctional Institution in Ohio, nearly 80 percent of prisoners tested positive for COVID-19.
Coronavirus June 1, 2020
What COVID-19 Prison Outbreaks Could Teach Us About Herd Immunity
Prisons turn out to be a key place to study how coronavirus spreads and how immunity to it works.
By Jamiles Lartey
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