Search About Newsletters Donate
Life Inside October 28
I Spent Over 40 Years Working in Corrections. I Wasn’t Ready for Rikers.
Rikers Island jail complex “reflects our nation’s racist and destructive fixation on imprisonment,” writes former New York City jails commissioner Vincent Schiraldi. “It’s Exhibit A for why we need to end mass incarceration.”
By Vincent Schiraldi
The entrance to a Texas prison facility, a gray rectangular building with a detached teal shaded structure in front of it. A black car is parked to the right. There are wired fences and buildings in the background.
Closing Argument September 10
Why Record Heat Can Be Deadlier in Prisons
Corrections officials across most of the nation have not prepared for warmer summers and record heat waves.
By Jamiles Lartey
A woman with medium-dark skin tone stands during a protest, raising her fist and holding a sign that says, "I can't breathe." Hundreds of individuals also are raising their fists in the background.
Closing Argument August 6
How Policing Has — and Hasn’t — Changed Since George Floyd
More than two years after millions took to the streets to protest police violence, the problem persists. That doesn’t mean nothing has changed.
By Jamiles Lartey
An illustration shows a bird's-eye view of a light-skinned person in an orange prison suit handcuffed, sitting at a table with a courtroom microphone.
Life Inside June 17
I Joined the Parole Board to Make a Difference. Now I Call It ‘Conveyor Belt Justice.’
Between the grueling schedule, copious paperwork, abrupt hearings and risk-averse colleagues, prison reformer Carol Shapiro realized the New York parole system was dysfunctional by design.
By Carol Shapiro as told to Beth Schwartzapfel
Feature June 7
A Tupperware of Heroin, Or How I Ended Up in Prison
In an excerpt from her new memoir, ‘Corrections in Ink,’ Keri Blakinger puts us at the scene of her drug arrest — and her path to becoming The Marshall Project’s first formerly incarcerated staff writer.
By Keri Blakinger
Images of people at the Moriah Shock Incarceration Facility and Lakeview Shock Correctional Facility are layered in an orange, blue and black photo collage.
Inside Out February 24
‘A Humiliating Experience’: Prisoners Allege Abuse at Discipline-focused ‘Shock’ Camps
New York is closing one of its last ‘shock’ camps, a move some experts and former prisoners say is a long time coming.
By Keri Blakinger
Life Inside February 18
Inside the Underground Economy of Solitary Confinement
Goods are scarce in any correctional facility, but the circumstances are especially dire for those in isolation. Here’s how people in “the box” use their ingenuity, collaboration skills and a form of “fishing” to get what they need.
By Matthew Azzano
Analysis September 27, 2021
There Are Fewer People Behind Bars Now Than 10 Years Ago. Will It Last?
Census data show incarceration rates are down. It may have more to do with the pandemic than broad reforms.
By Weihua Li, David Eads and Jamiles Lartey
Feature June 29, 2021
Lost Opportunity, Lost Lives
During the pandemic, prison officials could have prevented sickness and death by releasing those who were most vulnerable to coronavirus and least likely to reoffend — older incarcerated people.
By Lisa Armstrong
Feature April 23, 2021
How We Survived COVID-19 In Prison
At the start of the pandemic, we asked four incarcerated people to chronicle daily life with the coronavirus. Here, they reveal what they witnessed and how they coped with the chaos, fear, isolation and deaths.
By Nicole Lewis
About
People
Jobs
Sitemap
Funders