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Prison Health

An incarcerated person wearing food preparation gloves adds French fries to a food tray that contains a hamburger and a small bag of baby carrots.
Closing Argument March 8
The Big Business of Bad Prison Food
A market analysis said the food service industry in U.S. prisons and jails is worth billions — and is forecasted to grow.
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President Donald Trump, a White man wearing a dark suit, gestures with his hands out while sitting at a desk with a presidential seal on it. On the left, a man holds a stack of executive orders. In front of the president, photographers take pictures of him.
Analysis January 23
Trump’s Order Takes Aim at Transgender People in Prison
Few trans people receive gender-affirming housing and care in the federal prison system. This executive order would make it even harder.
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A collage of, clockwise from top left: a photo of a woman with two children in their home; drawings of the faces of judicial candidates in circles with the text “Judicial Election Guide” in the center; an illustration of a surveillance device with a projection of a car coming out of a camera; drawings of four trans people, and above them an audio waveform; a collage of pictures, a gun, a police baton and helmet for The Marshall Project's story on the Black Shield organization; and a drawing of a school chair, with the words “The Hardest Case for Mercy” around it.
Analysis December 16, 2024
Some of Our Best Work for 2024
Online, in print, and on radio and TV, we delved into prison health care, political views of people behind bars, arrests of women who miscarry and more.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a White man in a navy suit and red tie, speaks into a microphone while standing at a podium with the seal of Florida. Flags of the United States and the state of Florida are in the background.
News December 10, 2024
New Florida Prison Policy on Trans Health Care ‘Like Conversion Therapy’
With new restrictions on gender-affirming care, prisons confiscate underwear from trans people and compel them to cut their hair.
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A gray chain-link fence topped with barbed wire outside an Oklahoma jail.
Inside Story October 24, 2024
Effort to Provide Low-Cost Health Care Behind Bars Stirs Controversy
Examining a company providing low-cost health care services at jails across the U.S., and a formerly incarcerated person shares how a mentor behind bars saved his life.
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An illustration featuring a series of prisoners, dressed in orange uniforms, in varying poses of illness, such as hands cupping a face, coughing into a closed fist, bending over with hands on their knees for support.
Investigate This July 25, 2024
How to Investigate COVID’s Deadly Toll in Your State Prisons
Our toolkit helps you report on deadly systemic failures and analyze the pandemic as a case study of how facilities can prepare for the next crisis.
By The Marshall Project
A sheriff’s deputy and a nurse stand in front of a prison door to give medication to an incarcerated person.
Closing Argument June 8, 2024
Why Some States are Trying to Get People Medicaid Before They Leave Prison
People leaving prisons and jails are at greater risk of illness and death, but for years they couldn’t use the government health insurance program.
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A collage illustration shows the Corizon headquarters sign underneath three circular photographs of people. One circle features a young man, smiling. Another circle shows a woman posing next to a young man. In the third, a couple smiles against a backdrop of palm trees. Floating around these three images are cut-out pieces of text from a court filing that contains words like “bankruptcy,” “harm,” “wrongdoing” and “incarcerated people.” Red illustrated bars lay over a corner of the Corizon headquarters.
News September 19, 2023
A Prison Medical Company Faced Lawsuits From Incarcerated People. Then It Went ‘Bankrupt.’
The prison giant Corizon spun off a new company, which could allow it to pay pennies on the dollar for medical malpractice and civil rights claims.
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An illustration shows an incarcerated man laid on a hospital bed with one arm covering their face and one leg propped up. The patient's silhouette is colored in brown, and the rest of the room is in grayscale. Orange, white, blue and orange squiggly lines represent a tingling sensation inside the patient's body.
Life Inside August 18, 2023
Prison Healthcare Means Not Knowing What’s Slowly Destroying My Body
For over two years, a mystery illness has made it hard for James Keown to walk, sit up and eat. Now he wonders if he has to die to be diagnosed.
By James Keown
An illustration shows a man shouting behind the window of a prison cell, while smoke and fire billows out of it. The window forms the eyepiece of a set of blinders being worn by a prison guard. Static is shown coming out of a walkie talkie worn by the prison guard.
News January 9, 2023
After Deadly Prison Fires, Will the Texas Legislature Fund Safety Fixes?
Our investigations spotlighted rampant violations, like thousands of broken fire alarms and smoke detectors.
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