The Appeal’s Most Impactful Reporting in 2024
From changing policy to helping people get a shot at freedom, we’re proud of the vital work we published in 2024.
Locked In, Priced Out
Locked In, Priced Out is The Appeal’s investigation into prison commissary prices across the country that uncovered an exploitative, inconsistent system.
The project includes a first-of-its-kind database of prison commissary lists from nearly every state. It also examines the availability, prices, and markups of products.
Credits
Reporters: Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg and Ethan Corey
Story Editors: Tara Francis Chan and Jerry Iannelli
Fact Checker: Ethan Corey
Copy Editor: Nick Wing
Visualization Developer: Ethan Corey
Illustrations: Tara Francis Chan
General Counsel: Molly Greene
Project Manager: Tara Francis Chan
Tara Francis Chan
Locked In, Priced Out: How Prison Commissary Price-Gouging Preys on the Incarcerated
The Appeal’s 9-month investigation uncovered prison commissaries’ exploitative, inconsistent systems with inside prices up to five times higher than in the community and markups as high as 600 percent.
How We Built a Database of Prison Commissary Prices
Inside The Appeal’s 9-month investigation.
Locked In, Priced Out: Commissary Database
The Appeal has published the first national database of prison commissary lists. This project took nine months to execute and includes prices from nearly all U.S. states.