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A woman signs “I love you” in American sign language toward a deaf person in prison. Between them is a stream of “DOC”-branded paperwork, letters and money that signify how deaf people in prison without access to video calls and video relay services also lose access to information and communication with loved ones.
News March 21
‘Prison Within a Prison’: New Mandate Offers Lifeline for Deaf People in Custody
The new rule, which goes in effect in January 2024, applies to phone companies serving prisons, jails and detention facilities nationwide.
By Christie Thompson
Khayr Muhammad leaps in the air with a cape in his right hand, streaming behind him.
The Frame January 14, 2022
“Wild: Bird of Paradise” Envisions a World Without Prisons or Police
The final installment of Jeremy McQueen’s dance film explores the challenges and fears of being a young Black man in New York City.
By Celina Fang
An incarcerated person received a COVID-19 vaccination at the Bolivar County Regional Correctional Facility in Cleveland, Miss., in April.
News December 22, 2021
Omicron Has Arrived. Many Prisons and Jails Are Not Ready.
Experts fear “another potential tinderbox scenario” akin to the early days of the pandemic.
By Beth Schwartzapfel and Keri Blakinger
Inside Out August 12, 2021
‘They Should Have Been Watching’: Suicides Rise in Texas Prisons During Pandemic
Prison suicides have been rising for years. Experts fear the pandemic has made it worse.
By Keri Blakinger
Inside Out July 1, 2021
Prisons Have a Health Care Issue — And It Starts at the Top, Critics Say
When coronavirus hit federal prisons, the top officials had no health care experience.
By Keri Blakinger
Feature March 24, 2021
A Bestselling Author Became Obsessed With Freeing a Man From Prison. It Nearly Ruined Her Life.
After the success of her novel Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen spent years trying to prove a man's innocence. Now she’s “absolutely broke” and “seriously ill,” and her next book is “years past deadline.”
By Abbott Kahler
Photographs by DeSean McClinton-Holland
Christian Millett gets the first of two COVID-19 vaccine shots from Alyssa Dobbs, a contractor in the medical department at the Worcester County House of Corrections in West Boylston, Mass., in January.
One Year Later: The Pandemic Behind Bars March 1, 2021
We Asked People Behind Bars How They Feel About Getting Vaccinated
A Marshall Project survey of the incarcerated showed widespread interest in the coronavirus vaccine as well as pervasive distrust of the prison medical system.
By Nicole Lewis
News October 21, 2020
Prisoners Won The Right To Stimulus Checks. Some Prisons Are Standing In The Way.
A federal judge ruled prisoners can get the $1,200 checks many Americans received in the spring. Some prison systems are putting up roadblocks, lawyers and prisoners say.
By Joseph Neff and Keri Blakinger
Life Inside August 13, 2020
During the Pandemic, a Prison Funeral for Our Angel
Despite coronavirus-related lockdown and a skittish staff, prisoners at California Women’s Facility pulled off a full-fledged memorial service for a beloved long-termer.
By Michele Scott
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
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