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An illustration shows Aaron Kinzer, who is currently incarcerated, facing his head up with his eyes closed in meditation. An outline of his face overlaps his body and an outline of the brain overlaps his head. Various silhouettes in exercising positions are displayed in the background.
Life Inside April 8
Surviving Prison is 90% Mental. That’s Why I Teach Workouts That Strengthen the Mind
The sessions I lead are intense enough to match the mental strain that we endure daily: the rejected phone calls, denied visits, humiliating random pat-downs and other microaggressions.
By Aaron M. Kinzer
Life Inside February 4
How I Went From Gangster to Geek
Prison forced me to be still and start my mental metamorphosis.
By Jy'Aire Smith-Pennick
A man from a nearby prison was shackled to the bed in a Rhode Island hospital while being treated with a ventilator for COVID-19 in the intensive care unit in December.
Coronavirus June 30, 2021
A Half-Million People Got COVID-19 in Prison. Are Officials Ready for the Next Pandemic?
People who live and work in prisons worry they remain vulnerable, even as life behind bars returns to business as usual.
By Katie Park, Keri Blakinger and Claudia Lauer
Life Inside June 10, 2021
I Hate to Admit It, but Prison Is a Blessing in Disguise.
Jy’Aire Smith-Pennick suffered multiple traumas before age 18. He masked his pain with Percocet, weed and drug-selling. Now, at a Pennsylvania prison with the right programs, he’s finally starting to heal.
By Jy'Aire Smith-Pennick
Life Inside May 13, 2021
Parole Is Better Than Prison. But That Doesn’t Mean I’m Free.
At age 17, I was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. I got out due to Supreme Court decisions, but there was one catch: Parole for the rest of my life.
By Abd’allah Lateef
Coronavirus December 18, 2020
1 in 5 Prisoners in the U.S. Has Had COVID-19
Even as the first Americans begin to receive vaccines, the spread of coronavirus behind bars shows no sign of slowing.
By Beth Schwartzapfel, Katie Park and Andrew Demillo
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
The execution chamber at the Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas.
Coronavirus March 23, 2020
How Coronavirus is Disrupting the Death Penalty
Colorado abolished capital punishment. But COVID-19 is pausing it everywhere else.
By Maurice Chammah and Keri Blakinger
Eisha Love is a plaintiff in a federal suit challenging an Illinois law that restricts those with felony convictions from changing their name.
News January 27, 2020
What’s in a Name?
New lawsuits by transgender people challenge bans on name changes for those convicted of crimes.
By Beth Schwartzapfel
Melissa Gass is a plaintiff in a lawsuit by the ACLU of Pennsylvania against the Lebanon County district court over its decision to bar people on probation and parole from using legal medical marijuana.
News January 17, 2020
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
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