Tim Ballard’s Reputation is in Shambles. The Americans He Helped Arrest Want Answers.

The change has brought hope to those who fear dying in prison, while others worry it won’t save them from such a fate.

The first ruling of its kind in the country could give people convicted based on SBS testimony a new shot at freedom.

Police face allegations of violating laws meant to protect immigrants from DC to Oregon to Colorado and beyond.

FCI Dublin was shut down in 2024 after revelations of abuse against prisoners. Residents want it to stay closed.

Fresh investigative reporting, media from other independent outlets, and stories from the archives.

Before ICE descended on New Orleans, GOP lawmakers made it a crime to interfere with immigration enforcement.

Tim Ballard, the disgraced “anti-sex-trafficking” expert, was the subject of a hit 2023 biographical film and serial sexual misconduct allegations in the same year. After Ballard’s fall, the people he helped arrest in Washington want to know why no one seems willing to take a second look at their cases.

Local communities resist ICE by reaching inside jails and building networks of support.

We’re thrilled to share that Truthout is taking over The Appeal’s journalism.

Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center often makes news for the celebrities detained there, but hundreds of other people at the jail face inhumane conditions.

Abelardo Avellaneda-Delgado was healthy when he entered Lowndes County Jail. He died while en route to ICE’s Stewart Detention Center less than four weeks later, leaving his family in shock.

Strip searches serve as weapons of humiliation rather than security measures.

New Jersey has one of the largest immigrant populations in the country. We asked candidates in the Democratic primary what they’ll do to keep immigrants safe.

The Appeal—and much of the media—has been misspelling Tyré Nichols’ name for years.

State and federal governments have moved to criminalize trans people, parents of trans children, and healthcare providers.

Creating a pretrial system that prioritizes community safety, equity, and liberty requires more than small tweaks—we need a ground-up transformation.

In prison, bad days don’t come cheap.

After mystery illnesses and toxic reports, prisoners at California’s Mule Creek State Prison worry their water is killing them.

James Carver spent 36 years in prison after he was convicted of setting one of the deadliest fires in Massachusetts history. But after reviewing new scientific evidence, a judge set him free.

As Portland weighs expansion of an alternative crisis-response program, new data from a MindSite News-Medill investigation shows police often deploy force on residents who are unhoused or grappling with mental illness.

In a quarterly earnings call, the private prison company told investors that it plans to expand its operations across the country.

CEO tells investors the Trump administration represents an “unprecedented opportunity.”

“Scared straight” programs don’t work. But that doesn’t mean incarcerated people shouldn’t mentor at-risk kids.

The Justice Department has removed questions about gender identity from the National Crime Victimization Survey, the Survey on Sexual Victimization, and the Survey of Inmates in Local Jails.

According to a wrongful death lawsuit, staff at the Angelina County Jail stood by as 33-year-old Glenn Smallwood vomited and died in front of them.

Investigators found the Jackson Parish Jail violated state rules 83 times between July and February—almost 12 times more than the second-worst lockup.

A letter obtained exclusively by The Appeal says Trump’s Department of Justice has cut all funding to the Prison Rape Elimination Act Resource Center.

In half the country, sex offense civil commitment incarcerates people after they complete their prison sentences.

In five jurisdictions reviewed by The Appeal, prosecutors have filed or are considering filing 187 charges against 66 protesters—including alleged hate crimes on cops, mob action, and attempted ethnic intimidation.

At least six people at Red Onion intentionally lit themselves on fire last year. Now, prisoners say staff are forcing people to comply—or cutting their electricity.

Madison Sheahan’s Wildlife and Fisheries officers sent unhoused people to a New Orleans warehouse. What does that mean for the future?

“We are not just training dogs — we are training ourselves to be better humans.”

People detained in Vermont’s prisons for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection struggle to call their families and have been exposed to physical violence.

“Individuals increasingly find themselves in cages unfit for lab mice and subjected to conditions with less scrutiny than that of invertebrate species kept in aquariums.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi called the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson “an act of political violence.”

Alabama’s attorney general said he would charge abortion funds for helping people end their pregnancies in other states. On Monday, a federal judge said doing so would violate the U.S. Constitution.

Texas state prisons incarcerate more than 4,500 people in two-person cells the size of a parking space for nearly 24 hours a day.

The “crime panic” was a myth. But an analysis by The Appeal shows the narrative helped local police buy facial recognition software, drones, license plate readers, social media surveillance tech, and more.

I’ve been in prison for 42 years. After New York State closed my facility, it sent me to Sing Sing—a prison filled with tension and violence.

Federal prosecutors have filed charges against at least three people for allegedly damaging Tesla property.