Pennsylvania

Coronavirus July 16

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

Coronavirus March 23

How Coronavirus is Disrupting the Death Penalty

Colorado abolished capital punishment. But COVID-19 is pausing it everywhere else.

By Keri Blakinger and Maurice Chammah

News January 27

What’s in a Name?

New lawsuits by transgender people challenge bans on name changes for those convicted of crimes.

By Beth Schwartzapfel

News January 17

People on Probation and Parole Are Being Denied Perfectly Legal Medical Weed

Despite statewide legalization, some counties ban probationers and parolees from using medical marijuana. So the chronically ill turn to less effective and more addictive prescription drugs.

By Eli Hager

Case in Point June 6, 2019

Mentally Ill and Languishing in Jail

A Pennsylvania case illustrates a national problem: People with psychiatric illnesses often remain incarcerated while they wait for a hospital bed.

By Christie Thompson, Leila Miller and Manuel Villa

The Frame October 4, 2018

The Prison Portraits

A Pennsylvania artist draws hundreds of fellow inmates to show the scale of mass incarceration.

By Maurice Chammah
Illustrations by Mark Loughney

Life Inside November 17, 2016

My Daughter Died After Spending Four Days in Jail

“Her eyes were slightly open, but vacant.”

By Stephanie Moyer

Feature October 26, 2016

28 Days in Chains

In this federal prison, inmates have a choice: live with a violent cellmate or end up in shackles.

By Christie Thompson and Joseph Shapiro

Case in Point September 22, 2016

Is a Life in Solitary “Cruel and Unusual?”

In Pennsylvania, the heart of solitary confinement reform, an intellectually disabled inmate says he’s been held in wretched isolation for 36 years.

By Andrew Cohen

Commentary June 9, 2016

Poster Child

How Terrance Williams became the face of the death penalty debate in Pennsylvania.

By Andrew Cohen