Investors on CoreCivic and GEO Group’s quarterly earnings calls expressed frustration that ICE’s record immigration detention numbers aren’t high enough.

Find out if your representatives have taken cash from the companies fueling ICE’s mass deportation efforts.

Families are asking questions about their loved ones’ deaths in custody. The state isn’t answering them.

Immigrant rights activists and elected officials are calling to shut down Camp East Montana.

Subjects of The Alabama Solution have led protests for years, using cell phones to expose brutality and forced labor.

Everett Palmer, Jr.’s 2018 death in a York County restraint chair prompted a $1.5 million legal settlement, but the jail used restraint chairs more than 1,000 times in the years after his death.

A 2021 incident in a Missouri prison illustrates the barriers Muslims face practicing their religion behind bars.

At least 32 people died in ICE jails in 2025, and six more have already died in ICE custody this year.

Those of us who see ourselves in Renee Good can take this moment to deepen our solidarities with all who are policed.

As Phoenix PD rushed to fill open positions, the department may have overlooked red flags in recruits’ backgrounds.

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.