Mothers

Life Inside March 25

Losing My Mom Was Hard Enough. Prison Made It Unbearable

Between scant information, limited phone time and insensitive staff, prison compounded a profound loss.

By Julia Ann Poff

The Frame March 22

“Stranger Fruit”: Black Mothers and the Fear of Police Brutality

Jon Henry's photography project seeks to convey the impact of police violence on Black families.

By Morgan Hornsby

News and Awards March 31, 2020

“Tutwiler” Selected for Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

A new documentary from The Marshall Project and Frontline (PBS) offers a rare look at the lives of expectant mothers inside a notorious women’s prison.

By The Marshall Project

Life Inside May 9, 2019

Why Mothers Are the Unsung Heroes of Prison

“I’ve seen disasters averted because an inmate said these simple words: 'What would your mother think?'”

By Jerry Metcalf

Life Inside February 15, 2018

A Black Mother’s Survival Guide for Her Teenage Son

"The only right you have, I told him, is to make it home alive."

By Meredith Walker as told to Alysia Santo

Life Inside September 14, 2017

I Can’t Visit My Sons in Prison Because I Have Unpaid Traffic Tickets

A mother with debts — and cancer — wonders if she’ll ever see her incarcerated children again.

By Joyce Davis, as told to Eli Hager

Life Inside May 18, 2017

My Son Was Murdered on Mother’s Day

Now he’s ‘a statistic, and so am I.’

By Cheri Burks

Life Inside February 16, 2017

A Mother Visits Her Son, Who’s Condemned to Die in April

‘I can’t touch him and comfort him.’

By Marilyn Shankle-Grant as told to Maurice Chammah

Life Inside November 17, 2016

My Daughter Died After Spending Four Days in Jail

“Her eyes were slightly open, but vacant.”

By Stephanie Moyer

Commentary March 6, 2016

The First Time Texas Killed One of My Clients

An attorney pieces together a life cut short.

By Burke M. Butler