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A gray building with a sign that reads: "Durham County Courthouse."
Closing Argument September 16
This Homicide Victim’s Family Chose Reconciliation Over a Life Sentence
How a violent killing in North Carolina was resolved with a pioneering use of “restorative justice.”
By Jamiles Lartey
Signs and red paper hearts are taped to a green school door. The signs read as messages of support, such as: "We love you Richneck," "You are in our hearts," "We stand by you," and "Get better fast Ms. Z."
Closing Argument January 14
Virginia School Shooting Tests How Young Is Too Young to be Prosecuted
Nearly half of U.S. states have no minimum age for prosecution, unlike most nations.
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
Stephanie Parris was one of 250 people released early from Virginia prisons because of COVID-19 concerns. These early releases accounted for less than half of the state’s prison population decline in recent months.
Coronavirus July 16, 2020
Prison Populations Drop by 100,000 During Pandemic
But not because of COVID-19 releases.
By Damini Sharma, Weihua Li, Denise Lavoie AND Claudia Lauer
Feature July 10, 2020
Freed From Prison, Dead from COVID-19, Not Even Counted
Officials’ missteps at Butner made it the deadliest federal lockup.
By Joseph Neff and Dan Kane
The N.C. Supreme Court ordered relief for death row inmates if racial bias infected their case. One of the cases decided Friday was Rayford Burke, whom the prosecutor called "a big black bull" during closing arguments to an all-white jury.
News June 11, 2020
New Hope for People Who Claim Racism Tainted Their Death Sentence
The North Carolina state Supreme Court has upheld the controversial Racial Justice Act, which opponents repealed in 2013
By Joseph Neff and Beth Schwartzapfel
Melissa Ann Horn, right, died of COVID-19 while incarcerated in Virginia. She is pictured here with her daughter, Brittany Brown.
Coronavirus May 14, 2020
What Women Dying In Prison From COVID-19 Tell Us About Female Incarceration
Fatal victims illuminate women’s unique problems in prison, and the all-too-common ways they get there in the first place.
By Cary Aspinwall, Keri Blakinger and Joseph Neff
Cedric Hobbs Jr. was brought into the courtroom by deputy sheriffs in 2014. Hobbs is accused in Kyle Harris’ death. He is charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery and kidnapping.
News May 11, 2020
A Growing Number of State Courts Are Confronting Unconscious Racism In Jury Selection
“A judge who deals with prosecutors every day is not going to say, ‘You intentionally discriminated on the basis of race, and you lied about it with pretextual reasons.’”
By Beth Schwartzapfel
Arkansas hopes to reduce the spread of COVID-19 by tracking all cases in its prisons, including the Cummins Unit in Lincoln County.
Coronavirus April 24, 2020
These Prisons Are Doing Mass Testing For COVID-19—And Finding Mass Infections
Health experts say not testing staff could be a blind spot.
By Cary Aspinwall and Joseph Neff
Tyson Foods, which operates this chicken processing plant in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, and several other area facilities, employs prisoners from a nearby state prison.
Coronavirus March 19, 2020
North Carolina Prisoners Still Working in Chicken Plants, Despite Coronavirus Fears
“Kinda defeats the ban on visitation, which was to protect inmates and mainly staff,” critic says.
By Joseph Neff
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