What It Means to Spend the Holidays Behind Bars Incarcerated writers reflect on the pain, joy, and other complicated emotions associated with getting in the so-called "holiday spirit" in prison. Chris Blackwell, Antoine E. Davis, Jonathan Kirkpatrick, Aaron Edward Olson & Raymond Williams
“The Media Emboldens a Police State”: A conversation with movement lawyer Olayemi Olurin Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
How Prison Visit Restrictions Force Parents to Make Tough Decisions Patrick Stephens, a formerly incarcerated writer, explains how arbitrary, byzantine, and punitive visiting rules tear apart the families of the incarcerated—especially after the pandemic. Patrick Stephens
Trans Man Forced to Undergo Genital Exam at New York Prison: Lawsuit Prison officials allegedly used solitary confinement to get the plaintiff to submit to an invasive examination prohibited under federal law. Chris Gelardi
People Say They Languish in Texas Prisons’ ‘Mental Health’ Unit “They were destroying me,” said one person placed in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s “Program for the Aggressive Mentally Ill Offender.” Daniel Moritz-Rabson
How The Prison Food System Denies People Healthy Choices I wanted to have a better diet in prison. But when you’ve been stripped of your freedom, it can be impossible to make the “right” decisions. Michael Capers
How I Helped Fight Vaccine Misinformation While in Prison One incarcerated author used skills from an HIV/AIDS group to push imprisoned people and prison guards to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Patrick Stephens
Buying a Home Is Hard. Doing It While Incarcerated Is Nearly Impossible. Serving out a sentence in a Washington state prison, I was certain I’d never own a home. When my wife and I started the process, we found out just how difficult it would be. Christopher Blackwell
How Prison Writers Struggle to Be Heard Sky-high email and phone costs, fear of retaliation by prison staff, and isolation create roadblocks for incarcerated people to share their experience and join a growing national conversation on reforming the criminal legal system. Christopher Blackwell, Nick Hacheney
When Prisons Locked Down, Prisoners Were Denied Release Leaving prison often hinges on completing rehabilitative programming. The pandemic caused many of these required courses to be put on hold. Daniel Moritz-Rabson
Facing Life Pennsylvania’s prisons have the second-highest number of people in the country serving life without the possibility of parole. Nine people who were released after being sentenced to die behind bars share their stories. Joshua Vaughn
Federal Judges Were Once All Reliably Bad On Prisoners’ Rights Issues. COVID-19 Changed That. President Trump has appointed a quarter of active federal appellate judges, and they have decisively hampered legal efforts to force prisons and jails to address the coronavirus. Samuel Weiss
A Life Sentence Couldn’t Defeat Their Love. Now They’re Working To Change The System That Kept Them Apart. Taewon Wilson and Candace Chavez-Wilson are part of a growing movement to end life without possibility of parole and other harsh sentences. Mara Kardas-Nelson
Prisoners Face ‘Undue Punishment’ As The IRS Claws Back Their Stimulus Checks Legal experts say the IRS is illegally denying CARES Act payments to incarcerated people. Jordan Michael Smith
Pennsylvania Governor Approves Two Commutations For Men Serving Life Sentences The two men have been awaiting Tom Wolf’s signature for more than six months. Joshua Vaughn
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis
Coronavirus In Jails And Prisons Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal examines the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation. Kelly Davis
She Turned Her Life Around After A String Of DUIs. Now She Might Be Sent Back To Prison Amid A Coronavirus Outbreak The Maricopa County Attorney's Office waited four years to charge Danielle Sutherland for one of the DUIs. After serving time for the others, she received treatment for her substance use issues and pursued a degree. Meg O'Connor
A Transgender Woman’s Attorneys Fear She Won’t Survive Her 60-Month Sentence New York attorneys have launched a campaign to release transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary prisoners during the pandemic. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Three Pennsylvania Men Were Recommended for Commutations. They’re Still in Prison. Freddy Butler, Oliver Macklin, and Charles Goldblum are among the 17 people who received recommendations for commutations of life sentences in 2019, but Governor Tom Wolf has yet to sign off on their releases. Joshua Vaughn
Advocates Push New York Governor for More Releases From Jails and Prisons The governor’s requirements for release are too narrow in light of the threat from COVID-19, they say. Bryce Covert
Coalition’s Efforts Amid Coronavirus Derail Plans For New Women’s Prison The onset of COVID-19—and the need for social distancing—gave an unexpected boost to efforts against plans for a new prison in Washington. Victoria Law
Justice in America Episode 30: A Conversation with Rodney Spivey-Jones and Max Kenner In this episode, Josie Duffy Rice and her producer, Florence Barrau-Adams, travel to Fishkill Correctional Facility in Beacon, New York, to interview Rodney Spivey-Jones and Max Kenner about the Bard Prison Initiative and Bard College.
With Prison Visitation Suspended Due To COVID-19, Families Of Incarcerated People Say Phone Calls Should Be Free Telecommunications companies that serve prisons and jails, like Securus Technologies and Global Tel Link, are offering a limited number of free calls, but families say it’s not enough. Molly Minta
Justice in America Episode 26: The Privatization of Prisons Josie Duffy Rice and guest co-host Donovan Ramsey talk with Bianca Tylek, executive director of Worth Rises, about the privatization of America’s criminal legal system.
Kim Foxx Aims To Rewrite An ‘Inequitable’ Legal Justice System As Challengers Fight To Topple Her With one term under her belt as Chicago's top prosecutor, Foxx says she has more work to do to right a system that has been "unfair, and totally unjust." Mari Cohen
My Vote Was Taken Away From My Community and Given To a District Where I Was Incarcerated Prison-based gerrymandering takes political power away from Black and Latinx communities—power that could be used to push for more funding for schools, social services, infrastructure, and other important reforms. Robert Saleem Holbrook
Cancer Patient’s Prison Sentence Is A Glaring Outlier in a Pennsylvania County A review of charging dockets in Lebanon County shows Ashley Menser was the only person charged with felony retail theft in 2018 to receive a 7-year maximum sentence. Joshua Vaughn
How Dubious Science Helped Put A New Jersey Woman In Prison For Killing A Baby In Her Care The state said Michelle Heale shook the baby to death, but some experts say her conviction was based on debunked science. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
The Media’s Misguided Backlash Against Criminal Justice Reforms in D.C. and New York Many liberals support reform in theory. But when unpopular decisions need to be made, it’s back to the 1990s “Tough on Crime” playbook. Adam H. Johnson
For Many Prisoners, Mississippi’s Habitual Offender Laws Are Like ‘Death Sentences’ One man, Paul Houser, is serving 60 years on a drug conviction for purchasing cold medicine and batteries. He’s one of 2,600 people incarcerated as a result of the state’s three strikes laws. Lauren Gill
Sexual Assault Survivors Who Want Restorative Justice Have Limited Options Alternative approaches to rehabilitation and healing still face resistance, even though the criminal legal system’s reliance on punishment has done little to move the needle on addressing sexual violence. Tyler Kingkade
The Appeal Podcast: The Cruel Roadblocks to Getting Innocent People Out of Prison With Daniel Harawa, assistant professor at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. Adam H. Johnson
What Happens When Prison ‘Lifers’ Get A Chance At Healing And Redemption? In California, a prison program run by people once sentenced to life shows how even the most serious offenders are more than the worst things they’ve done. Nick Wing, Kyle C. Barry
Longtime Louisiana Prisoner Who Maintained Her Innocence Dies Less Than Two Years After Her Release The poor healthcare that Bobbie Jean Johnson received during her more than 40 years in prison contributed to her death, family members say. Roxanna Asgarian
What Does Death By Incarceration Look Like In Pennsylvania? These Elderly, Disabled Men Housed In A State Prison. More than 5,400 people in the state are sentenced to life without parole. This month, The Appeal went inside one prison that helps provide end-of-life care for men. Joshua Vaughn
Louisiana To Build New Prison For Women Displaced By 2016 Storm More than three years after heavy rains and flooding devastated the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, officials have reached an agreement to build a new facility. Lauren Gill
Exploiting New York City’s Chinatown Killings to Attack Bail Reform The New York Post used a tragedy to target bail reform activists, rather than point to the challenges of a failed mental health system and poverty. Adam H. Johnson
An Indiana Woman’s Long Fight for Justice In a rare move, a federal court vacated Anastazia Schmid’s murder conviction, saying she’d received ineffective assistance of counsel and had been mentally unfit to stand trial. But Schmid, who’d spent 18 years in prison, remained locked up for three months more. Victoria Law
San Francisco Deserves Restorative Justice Our response to crime should focus on healing and accountability, not punishment and retribution. Chesa Boudin
The Persistent History of Excluding Black Jurors in North Carolina A statewide pattern of discrimination in jury selection has gone largely uncorrected, while lives remain in the balance, advocates say. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Sanders And Warren Just Released the Most Decarceral Criminal Justice Platforms Ever The 2020 presidential candidates recently unveiled national criminal justice agendas that reimagine public safety and punishment. Aaron Morrison
Sensationalist Tale of an Elderly Killer Feeds False Narrative The New York Times’s coverage of the one-off case of a 77-year-old man omits key facts about how older adults are treated by our punitive legal system. Adam H. Johnson
Sentenced to Life Without Parole at 17 and Denied Freedom at 52 Richard Kinder thought he would die in an Alabama prison until the Supreme Court ruled mandatory juvenile life without parole unconstitutional. But last year, despite a judge concluding there was “uncontradicted evidence” that Kinder had worked to rehabilitate himself, the state parole board refused him release. Lauren Gill
Louisiana Woman Sentenced to Life for Attempting to Rob Grocery Store With Toy Gun Seeks Mercy Gloria Williams was in her 20s when she was sent to prison for her part in a robbery that turned deadly. After serving nearly five decades, including one decade in solitary confinement, Williams now has a chance at freedom. Victoria Law
In Chicago, Rethinking the Link Between Crime and Incarceration A new report shows that a progressive approach, like the one advanced by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, can help decrease jail populations—and crime. Kira Lerner
Drug Treatment Is Reaching More Prisons and Jails Recent legal victories have spurred counties and states to provide medication-assisted treatment to prisoners struggling with substance use. JB Nicholas
Media Frame: 5 Common Tactics Used to Discredit Reform D.A.s The backlash is underway against a recent wave of prosecutors who champion criminal justice reform. Here are some methods of attack. Adam H. Johnson
Trans Woman’s Death in Rikers is Still a Mystery. But Why Was She There At All? Though little is known about how Layleen Polanco died, advocates say her story highlights New York City’s flawed approach to criminal justice. Raven Rakia
Indefinite Solitary Confinement in New York Is Finally Put to the Test Court challenges and a sweeping reform bill are offering hope to men trapped in isolation for decades. Joshua Manson
New York Prisons Offer ‘Tough Love’ Boot Camp Programs. But Prisoners Say They’re ‘Torture’ And ‘Hell.’ Prisoners can shave time off their sentences by participating in shock incarceration programs. More than a dozen former shock prisoners say that comes at a steep cost. Keri Blakinger
The Appeal Podcast: Generational Harm, A Hidden Cost of Mass Incarceration With Chicago activist Celia Colón Adam H. Johnson
Justice in America Episode 20: Mariame Kaba and Prison Abolition Josie and Clint talk about prison abolition with Mariame Kaba. Josie Duffy Rice, Clint Smith
Federal Prisons Official Used Prison Labor For Work On His Church The Bureau of Prisons’ South Central regional director utilized incarcerated people from a Texas prison to work on a landscaping project at his church. Lauren Gill
After Uprising, Delaware Prison Sends Hundreds Of Prisoners Away Family members are frantic after 330 prisoners are transferred to Pennsylvania. Raven Rakia
Man Exonerated In Murder, But Diagnosed With Terminal Cancer As He Awaited Freedom William J. Richards was cleared in the death of his wife. But he says he was the victim of medical neglect while he was behind bars, which led to a cancer diagnosis becoming terminal. Now he's suing. Erika Stallings
‘I’ve Made My Share Of Wrongs, But I Haven’t Killed No One’ California amended its felony murder law, which holds accomplices responsible for murder. But reform won’t reach a man sentenced to death in a deadly robbery—even though he was never accused of firing a shot. Maura Ewing
Prisons Across the U.S. Are Quietly Building Databases of Incarcerated People’s Voice Prints The technology also allows authorities to mine call databases and cross-reference the voices of individuals prisoners have spoken with. George Joseph, Debbie Nathan
Incarcerated Transgender Women’s Lives Must Matter As Kamala Harris begins her presidential run, her move to block gender affirming surgery for an incarcerated transgender woman deserves scrutiny, especially as new cases highlighting the struggle for the rights of imprisoned trans women emerge. Zoé Samudzi
Disabled Prisoners Decry Treatment in New York’s Prison System Prisoners in the state’s Regional Medical Units allege that they are being denied access to essential programs and services like law libraries. Keri Blakinger
Overdoses, Riots, And Escapes Roil A Rural Kentucky Jail The Boyd County Detention Center has been consumed in chaos, even as the DOJ investigates it. Now, the community is pinning hopes for reform on a new jailer. Zachary A. Siegel
Oklahoma Governor Releases 21 Prisoners Shut Out Of Drug Sentencing Reform But more than 1,100 others are still serving sentences that voters decided were too harsh. Kira Lerner
Lawsuit Claims Delaware Prisoners Are Still Being Beaten, Stripped And Tortured Months After Uprising Meanwhile, the abysmal medical care that helped spark the riot persists. Raven Rakia
Communicating While Queer Is Being Punished in Prison A lawsuit accuses Illinois of cutting off LGBTQ prisoners’ lifeline to supporters. Raven Rakia
‘Worse Than Guantánamo’ Dozens of former detainees at the Gwinnett County jail in Georgia claim they were subjected to brutality at the hands of its Rapid Response Team. Kira Lerner
House of Cards ‘Cold case’ playing cards were just introduced into Delaware prisons in hopes of producing tips on unsolved homicides—but critics warn that informants cultivated behind bars can be dangerously unreliable. Lauren Gill
‘Will I Get Out Today?’ Louisiana is keeping people behind bars long after their sentences have expired, attorneys say. Victoria Law
Activists Brace For Further Retaliation In The Wake Of The National Prison Strike As media attention wanes, “this is the most dangerous period with any prisoner action,” one organizer said. Bryce Covert
Pennsylvania Prisons Hired A Private Company To Intercept And Store Prisoners’ Mail The company is being paid $4 million a year to open and scan prisoners’ mail into a searchable database. Raven Rakia
The Incalculable Costs of Mass Incarceration Prisons carry enormous, perhaps impossible to measure social costs—but when assessing the system fiscally, reformers should focus on staffing salaries instead of the number of incarcerated people. John Pfaff
As National Prison Strike Continues, Incarcerated People Face Retaliation Now in its second week, a strike staged by prisoners over poor conditions, low wages, and other issues is resulting in consequences, including harsh conduct reports and placements in solitary confinement. Raven Rakia
A Troubled Federal Prison Unit Gets New Life In A Different State Instead of changing its conditions and practices, The Bureau of Prisons is simply moving a problem-plagued federal prison unit in Pennsylvania to Illinois. Victoria Law
Caretaker Faces Deportation Over Dubious ‘Shaken Baby’ Conviction After being released from prison, her only chance is a pardon from the governor. Jessica Pishko
Against Innocence In the wake of Nia Wilson’s murder, it’s critical that calls for justice in response to anti-Black violence are not contingent upon appeals to white-approved notions of innocence and respectability. Zoé Samudzi
Failure-to-Comply Arrests Reveal Flaws in Sex Offender Registries In one Pennsylvania county, more than three times as many people on the registry were charged in 2016 with failing to follow registry requirements than were charged with a new sexual offense Joshua Vaughn
Former Baltimore Police Officer Criticizes The Department’s Gang Database A onetime gang liaison for the Baltimore Police Department writes that its database is racist and error-ridden. Larry Smith
Pretrial Detainees Are Being Billed For Their Stay in Jail In jurisdictions across the country, people incarcerated before they've ever been convicted of a crime are charged a daily fee just for sitting in jail—and several courts have ruled that the practice is legal. Steven Hale
No Mercy As worthy cases for clemency from Cyntoia Brown to Calvin Bryant mount in Tennessee, advocates decry the fact that a Tennessee governor hasn't commuted a prison sentence since 2011. Steven Hale
Florida Prisoners are on Strike to Protest Price Gouging and Their ‘Current Slave Arrangement’ Bryce Covert
For New York Prisoners, a Package Policy that Effectively Pits TV Against Books A little-known New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision policy has limited access to books in at least nine prisons for years. Rebecca McCray
Shoplifting from Wal-Mart can get you 12 years of prison time in Tennessee The price of shoplifting at Wal-Mart isn’t always low. Carimah Townes
In Mississippi, a Lost Second Chance for Gerome Moore “You look like a cold-blooded monster.” Rebecca McCray
Longtime Miami prosecutor faces criticism after failing to prosecute corrections officers Larry Hannan
