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
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.
Inside The Appeal’s 9-month investigation.
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.