The Appeal Named Finalist for 2024 Nonprofit News Awards

“Locked In, Priced Out,” a multi-part project that included the first-ever national database of prices at prison commissaries, was shortlisted for a Best Investigative Journalism Award and Insight Award for Explanatory Journalism by the Nonprofit News Awards.

“Locked In, Priced Out” was the end result of a nine-month investigation that involved parsing more than 10,000 records on commissary prices, wages, and policy details in almost every state prison system.

Senior Report Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg and Research & Projects Editor Ethan Corey uncovered prices that are significantly—up to five times—higher than in the community; markups as high as 600 percent; and that exorbitant prices are exacerbated by low wages where, in one state, it would take 100 days of wages to afford a fan.

Journalists, researchers, and advocacy organizations are now using our findings and the database to further their work.