Within months of entering the Security Threat Group Management Unit at SCI Fayette, one man says he smeared, “Kill me, I’m ready to go,” on the cell in his own blood.
By signing the Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act into law, Governor Kathy Hochul can set a model of good policy for other progressive states seeking to serve as a bulwark against the conservative Supreme Court.
Placement in a halfway house can significantly improve someone’s chances of reintegrating into society after prison. But numerous people imprisoned in Georgia told The Appeal that they were denied access to the state’s transitional housing programs because of their medical conditions.
A judge sentenced 17-year-old Celeste Burgess to 90 days in jail after she ended her pregnancy at 29 weeks. Further criminalization of abortion and dwindling reproductive healthcare options will only make cases like these more common, experts say.
Legal experts who spoke with The Appeal warned the criminal justice system will continue to target pregnant people in the coming years.
California prison canteens currently sell essential items—such as snacks and medication—at a markup of between 65 and 200 percent.
State officials have appealed a federal judge’s removal order and are continuing their fight to lock up children on the grounds of the maximum security prison.
A horrific death and the high-profile booking of former President Donald Trump propelled Georgia’s Fulton County Jail into the national spotlight. But heightened scrutiny has done nothing to improve conditions.
Jacob Harris’s father is heading to appeals court on Wednesday. Federal judges will decide the fate of his wrongful death suit against the city of Phoenix.
The state argues there would be a “near certainty” of “serious bodily injury” to children, staff, and the public if kids are transferred out of the prison.
Children in the former death row unit at Angola, one of the nation’s most infamous prisons, have been locked in solitary confinement, shackled while they eat and play, and attacked by guards.
A controversial death in Los Angeles this year underscores the broader failure of law enforcement agencies to keep accurate data on people who die in their custody.
Flom and Riley bring decades of experience in criminal legal reform advocacy and will serve as invaluable advisers to The Appeal’s staff.
Despite the frequency of in-custody deaths, their exact scope remains unknown and data is often intentionally obfuscated.
Organizers with the movement say the charges are meant to “send the chilling message that any dissent to Cop City will be punished with the full power and violence of the government.”
Police pretextual stops, in which traffic police pull people over as an excuse to search them, should no longer be allowed.
As advocates fight to provide relief to incarcerated people, officials are resisting many measures that could help prisoners combat the heat.
Officials asserted that the puzzle, which appears next to the crossword, “may be used to create coded messages indecipherable by staff.”
The Appeal’s Contributing Editor Christopher Blackwell received the Breaking Barriers Award at the Nonprofit News Awards in Philadelphia.
Police say they need pay raises to help with hiring and retention. But crime has been falling in LA, even as the department reports having its lowest number of officers in decades.
In her new book, “They Killed Freddie Gray”, Justine Barron reveals much of what the public has believed about Gray’s death is incorrect.
Advocates say there is more work to be done to ensure public defenders don’t come with a price tag.
Legislation targeting transgender people behind bars is part of a much broader campaign against LGBTQ rights. Advocates say the measures could preview future attacks by the anti-trans movement.
A law originally set up to provide humane treatment to mentally ill people in crisis has became a terrifying dragnet for kids, with Black children under 10 greatly overrepresented.
This excerpt from Survivor Injustice asks us to reconsider what justice really looks like for crime victims.
Outdated stereotypes and crimes that never occurred create unique challenges for women seeking exoneration.
Jimenez is one of more than 1,300 people who have been exonerated of crimes that never occurred. Countless others remain incarcerated, despite overwhelming evidence of their innocence.
The birds quickly became the talk of the unit. Suddenly, everyone was an ornithologist, claiming to know whether barn swallows were endangered.
Reform-minded prosecutors across the country have faced efforts to remove them from office or limit their powers.
The Appeal’s investigation into the Phoenix police killing of Jacob Harris was shortlisted for the Award for Feature by a small newsroom.
For the past seven summers, I have lived in solitary confinement without air conditioning. A trip to medical during a heat wave helped put the climate crisis into perspective.
Organizers say they’ve collected thousands of signatures for a referendum to put Cop City on the November ballot. But local officials seem intent on making sure it doesn’t reach a vote.
Municipal Court officials refuse to comment on efforts to cancel JusticePoint’s contract without lining up an alternative provider. A legal ruling allows the services to continue—for now.
Ten years ago this month, nearly 29,000 people in California prisons staged a hunger strike to protest solitary confinement.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, in some instances, incarcerated people can be barred from filing multiple claims of innocence, even if they did not commit the crime for which they’re in prison. Federal defense attorneys told The Appeal the ruling is already causing harm.
The blame game against trans people is just one of the many diversionary tactics the right has used in our intractable gun violence debate.
With heat indexes in the area regularly hitting triple digits, children incarcerated at Louisiana’s Angola prison have been locked in windowless cells for nearly 24 hours a day. One medical expert says the conditions put lives at risk.
Two years after its relaunch as a worker-led nonprofit newsroom, The Appeal reflects on its successes, challenges, and hopes for the future.
The conditions I faced were outrageous. But the prison administration’s justification for keeping me in the hole was even worse.
Lacino Hamilton spent 26 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit before being exonerated in 2020 after DNA evidence cleared him.