Emails show Virginia Department of Corrections officials discussing how to punish people at Red Onion State Prison who self-immolated.
From changing policy to helping people get a shot at freedom, we’re proud of the vital work we published in 2024.
The spike in deaths coincides with multiple federal probes into prisons and jails across Georgia.
At least six people incarcerated at Red Onion State Prison intentionally burned themselves to get transferred out of the notorious facility.
After 3.5 years co-leading The Appeal as Managing Editor & Operations Director, Tara Francis Chan is stepping down at the end of 2024.
The toolkit is a practical resource for news organizations who want to better support their journalists and include them in key decisions.
Policing Alternatives & Diversion Initiative is still waiting on Mayor Andre Dickens to approve the organization’s contract.
Public records reveal how Washington Department of Corrections uses a nebulous victim rights policy to bar incarcerated people from participating in public debates.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker tried to use the state’s parole board to safely free more people from prison. But after Republican backlash, the board’s work has essentially been frozen.
I spent years visiting prisons and courts. At every turn, facilities forced me to comply with invasive searches that left me feeling sexually violated.
Multiple groups have now urged President Biden to spare the people on federal death row before Trump returns to power.
Gregory Sharkey spent 15 years in prison for a crime he says he didn’t commit. He was finally freed last month—but will those responsible for caging him be held accountable?
Idaho already bans almost all abortions. On Monday, a panel of federal judges ruled that the state can enforce portions of its draconian “abortion trafficking” law.
As we face a second Trump presidency, our dedication to community-centered reporting that holds powerful people accountable remains unchanged.
Formerly incarcerated Californians say that if Gavin Newsom wants to keep touting his record as a “progressive,” he should stop vetoing bills that ban or restrict solitary confinement.
A state spokesperson confirmed six men at Red Onion State Prison in Western Virginia used “improvised devices” to give themselves electrical burns.
As many as half of all prisoners have ADHD. Research suggests treatment can help reduce recidivism and ease the reentry process.
A group of congress members says Joe Biden should pardon people or commute sentences before his term ends.
Billie Allen says he is an innocent man on death row. Allen and his supporters want President Biden to pardon him before Trump takes office.
Advocates say Atlanta mayor is trying to sabotage the city’s contract with a diversion services provider—and the City Council is letting him.
The report comes after The Appeal and other news outlets spent years reporting on dangerous conditions inside the facility, leading to attacks on teenagers and LGBTQ+ people, malnutrition, and death.
Mayor Andre Dickens’s office initiated a secret bidding process for community responders—that left out the current beloved program.
Democrats spent the last four years running away from police reform. “Funding the police” didn’t just help them lose the presidency—it handed a dangerous man an even stronger police and surveillance state.
After a moral panic about crime, San Francisco’s billionaires and political leaders demanded more arrests. Pretrial detainees are now seeing the harmful effects.
Even though the United Nations considers more than 15 days of solitary confinement a form of torture, American prisons still use the practice liberally. Prolonged isolation makes imprisoned people more violent and less likely to reintegrate into society.
A second Trump term is not only more dangerous for undocumented people and asylum seekers than life under a Democratic president. It’s poised to be catastrophic.
The Appeal reviewed 935 arrests that occurred on 22 campuses last Spring. Prosecutors—all of whom are running for reelection—charged students with felonies, including assaults on police officers, wearing disguises, mob action, and attempted ethnic intimidation.
Changes in state law mean that many more people with felony convictions will be voting in 2024 than in previous elections.
Most people in prison can’t vote. This is what they want you to think about when you cast your ballot.
Most people in prison can’t vote. That doesn’t mean they aren’t paying attention.
For people trapped in prison for decades, simple things like book clubs can be a lifeline and help people cope with the realities of the prison system. Sing Sing Correctional Facility’s club has helped give me and others a sense of purpose and belonging.
In Georgia, a person can be charged as a “party to a crime” for simple acts like answering a phone or loaning gas money. I—and many women incarcerated alongside me—are trapped in prison for crimes committed by men or abusive partners.
Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna said that, as of Oct. 18, deputies can no longer join internal gangs. But after stonewalling and hiding footage from my family for more than a year, I don’t believe Luna’s words mean much.
Staff at Philadelphia’s Curran Fromhold Correctional Facility allegedly did not give Louis Jung Jr. his insulin for six straight days. Jung’s family says his treatment exemplifies how the jail treats everyone.
New rules from the Federal Communications Commission are putting the brakes on the prison telecom industry’s exploitative practices.
State legislators subpoenaed Robert Roberson one day before the state was set to kill him—an act that delayed the execution. Lawmakers are fighting to let Roberson testify before the state House despite objections from the attorney general and governor.
Despite pleas from state lawmakers, Texas will execute Roberson on Oct. 17 unless Governor Greg Abbott grants a reprieve in his case.
Violence interrupters work. But D.C.’s police union is trying to capitalize on a scandal to eliminate them.
Tasha Shelby was sentenced to life in prison for allegedly shaking her fiance’s two-year-old son to death. But the science around “shaken baby syndrome” has unraveled, and the lead witness against her recanted his testimony.
More than 20,000 people are incarcerated in Florida jails and prisons located in counties subject to evacuation orders. Many officials are refusing to evacuate them.