Gavin Newsom Can Sign a Bill to End Price-Gouging in California Prisons
California prison canteens currently sell essential items—such as snacks and medication—at a markup of between 65 and 200 percent.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Sep 18, 2023
More in Punishment
Louisiana Moves Kids out of Angola Prison—for Now
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.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Sep 15, 2023
Louisiana Fights to Keep Kids at Angola After Judge’s Removal Order
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.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Sep 12, 2023
Federal Judge Orders Louisiana to Move Kids out of Angola 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.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Sep 08, 2023
Unlocking the Black Box of In-Custody Deaths
Despite the frequency of in-custody deaths, their exact scope remains unknown and data is often intentionally obfuscated.
Christopher Blackwell Sep 06, 2023
Extreme Heat is Killing People in Prison. What’s Being Done About It?
As advocates fight to provide relief to incarcerated people, officials are resisting many measures that could help prisoners combat the heat.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg, Nick Wing Aug 29, 2023
Florida Prison Confiscates Newspaper Over ‘Celebrity Cipher’ Word Game
Officials asserted that the puzzle, which appears next to the crossword, “may be used to create coded messages indecipherable by staff.”
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Aug 25, 2023
As Anti-Trans Bills Target Prisoners, Some Warn of a ‘Canary in the Coal Mine’
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.
Adam M. Rhodes Aug 17, 2023
Facing the Climate Crisis From a Texas Prison Cell
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.
Kwaneta Harris Jul 28, 2023
The Two Months I Didn’t Eat: Inside the Longest Prison Hunger Strike in California History
Ten years ago this month, nearly 29,000 people in California prisons staged a hunger strike to protest solitary confinement.
Brian Quintanilla Jul 25, 2023
SCOTUS Conviction Ruling Already Harming Innocent People, Lawyers Say
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.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Jul 20, 2023
133 Degrees and No AC: Kids at Angola Prison Kept in Potentially Deadly Heat
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.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Jul 18, 2023
I Spent Over a Year in Solitary Because of One Man’s Imagination
The conditions I faced were outrageous. But the prison administration’s justification for keeping me in the hole was even worse.
Kevin Light-Roth Jul 13, 2023
In Spite of the Consequences: Prison Letters on Exoneration, Abolition, and Freedom
Lacino Hamilton spent 26 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit before being exonerated in 2020 after DNA evidence cleared him.
Lacino Hamilton Jul 12, 2023
How Missouri’s ‘Felony Murder’ Law Traps People for Defending Themselves
An investigation by The Appeal and the Yale Investigative Reporting Lab reveals how prosecutors use the state’s felony murder statute to imprison people who say they acted in self-defense. The majority of those convicted under the law since 2010 are Black. “I had to take the plea because they’re using this law to get people to stay locked up,” one man said.
Thomas Birmingham Jul 10, 2023
How Toxic Masculinity Drives Homophobia in Prison
The phrase “toxic masculinity” is ubiquitous these days, but there are few places where it’s more all-consuming than in a men’s prison
Christopher Blackwell Jul 05, 2023
LASD Says It Wants to Keep Hitting People in the Head
The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California has taken legal action against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to stop deputies from hitting incarcerated people in the head so often. Yesterday, LASD said it should not be forced to change.
Meg O'Connor Jun 27, 2023
East Coast Wildfires Put Incarcerated People on Frontlines of Climate Crisis
More than 150 detention facilities experienced “hazardous” air last week, according to an analysis by The Appeal. As wildfires have gotten worse, prisoners are facing a unique threat.
Alleen Brown Jun 13, 2023
As California Shuts its Youth Prisons, Unlikely Critics Emerge
The third installment in The Imprint’s series on the fight to close California’s youth prisons.
Nell Bernstein, The Imprint Jun 13, 2023
The Appeal Presents: A Conversation on Open Prisons With Phillip A. Jones and David Shipley
David Shipley tells Phillip A. Jones, who has spent more than 30 years in U.S. prisons, about his experiences in a British “open prison.”
Phillip A. Jones, David Shipley Jun 06, 2023
‘The Darkest Part of the Tunnel’
Youth in solitary confinement wrote letters to save their lives. One lawyer responded.
Nell Bernstein, The Imprint Jun 06, 2023
I’m Getting Out After Decades in Prison. But Prison Might Follow Me Home.
Incarcerated writer Nick Hacheney is getting ready to leave after being incarcerated for more than 20 years. He’s glad he’ll have his freedom—but he’s also worried about the lack of care for longtime prisoners, the trauma he’s endured, and what the world outside holds.
Nick Hacheney Jun 05, 2023
People in Massachusetts Prisons Say For-Profit Medical Company Leaves Them Without Teeth
Incarcerated people in Massachusetts told The Appeal they’ve had to wait years just for Wellpath, the state’s prison medical provider, to give them dentures or basic dental care. Next year, Wellpath’s contract with the state expires, and advocates say they hope it’s not renewed.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Jun 01, 2023
Calls Are Free, But California Prisoners Still Face Communication Obstacles
Months-long outages, equipment shortages, and unreliable service have plagued the roll out of new telecoms contract in California prisons.
Steve Brooks, Olivia Heffernan May 22, 2023
Judge Reinstates ‘Zero Bail’ Policy in Los Angeles
A preliminary injunction issued this week forbids officials from forcing people charged with low-level offenses to remain in jail because they cannot afford bail.
Meg O'Connor May 18, 2023
‘This Is How Easy It Is For Someone To Be Wrongfully Convicted’
Uriah Courtney was sentenced to life in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. His conviction was overturned due to DNA evidence.
Meg O'Connor May 17, 2023
I Couldn’t Afford to Call My Mother Before She Died. Georgia Forbids Imprisoned People from Working.
JShawn Guess recounts how being unable to earn money while in prison led to him missing out on his final moments with his mom.
JShawn Guess May 10, 2023
How Parole Conditions Trapped Me in Homelessness
The severe restrictions I face while on supervision effectively serve as a ban on stable housing. The terms of this arrangement have left me technically homeless, forced to live in a motel.
Wes Vaughan May 09, 2023
How the Prison Litigation Reform Act Blocks Justice for Prisoners
Legislation signed by Bill Clinton makes it nearly impossible for people in prison to have their cases heard in court.
C. Dreams May 08, 2023
Dying Behind Bars: Another Form of Capital Punishment
Prisons are ill-equipped to handle their aging population, which has tripled in the past two decades.
Wyatt Stayner May 04, 2023
Post-Traumatic Prison Disorder Could Impact Millions. Congress Wants to Learn More.
Federal lawmakers are asking the National Institute of Mental Health to research the condition—also known as post-incarceration syndrome—and share its findings with lawmakers.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg May 04, 2023
Prison Labor: Where ‘Dead-End’ Jobs Meet 21st Century Slavery
Inside the towering walls and razor wire fences of U.S. prisons, slavery remains legal—and it is carried out with little oversight, often under horrific conditions.
Christopher Blackwell May 03, 2023
Congress Seeks to Create New Independent Federal Prison Oversight Body
Legislation introduced this week follows a string of reports, including in The Appeal, that have revealed widespread sexual abuse and misconduct at Bureau of Prisons facilities.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Apr 27, 2023
Life in Prison for a Killing He Didn’t Cause or Condone
In Illinois alone, around 500 people are currently serving first-degree felony murder sentences for killings they did not commit themselves or intend to commit. Reform efforts must consider past injustices as well as future abuses.
Sarah Free Apr 27, 2023
The Untold Story of How a Stubborn Group of Parents Helped Shutter the Nation’s Largest Youth Prison System
How a scrappy group of parents played a key but lesser-known role in the pending closure of the Division of Juvenile Justice
Nell Bernstein, The Imprint Apr 26, 2023
Women Report ‘Rampant’ Sexual Abuse at Federal Prison Where Ghislaine Maxwell Is Held
Issues of mismanagement and sexual misconduct have put federal women’s prisons in the spotlight. But one scandal-plagued facility—FCI Tallahassee—has escaped serious scrutiny, even as an Appeal investigation reveals an ongoing history of sexual violence, retaliation, and other constitutional abuses that have left prisoners living in fear.
Silja J.A. Talvi Apr 25, 2023
Illinois Prison Healthcare Still Abysmal, Getting Worse in Some Areas, Monitor’s Report Finds
Four years after a settlement agreement that was meant to compel improvements, the Illinois Department of Corrections is still failing to provide adequate care for the state’s oldest and sickest prisoners.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Apr 21, 2023
Trans Women Report Self-Harm At New Jersey Men’s Prison
A trans woman mutilated herself in a New Jersey men’s prison after officials refused to transfer her to a women’s facility.
Adam M. Rhodes Apr 19, 2023
New York’s Imprisoned Women Brave Risks to Sue Sexual Abusers Under New Law
New York’s Adult Survivors Act briefly waives the statute of limitations to file sexual abuse lawsuits. Some of New York’s imprisoned women are risking retaliation from guards in order to file cases alleging horrific treatment at the hands of the state.
Molly Hagan Apr 18, 2023