Prison Reform

Courts & Law

Trump Administration Halts Lawsuits Targeting Civil Rights Abuses of Prisoners and Mentally Ill People

Corey G. Johnson / ProPublica Aug 1, 2025 The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division suits against Louisiana's prison system and South Carolina's group homes are both now on hold. Dig deeper ( 8 Min. Read )

Americas

Venezuelan Nationals Subjected to Torture and Abuse While in CECOT

Pablo Meriguet / Peoples Dispatch Jul 25, 2025 Venezuela’s attorney general plans to investigate El Salvador officials for the treatment of detainees at the infamous prison. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Prison Reform

New York’s Solution to Prison Staff Shortage: Hire Teenagers

Jimmy Iakovos / Filter May 14, 2025 If we can’t keep prisons properly staffed, maybe we should incarcerate fewer people. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Prison Reform

Trump DOJ Defunds National Prison Rape Resource Center

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg / The Appeal Apr 24, 2025 Observers call the cuts “devastating” and say carceral facilities will be more dangerous as a result. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Book Review

No-Man’s-Land: The Writing and Art of Guantánamo

Jacqueline Loss / NACLA Mar 14, 2025 A new book examines how art produced in Guantánamo reimagines empathy and resistance. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

Immigration

NYC Mayor Eric Adams Plans To Allow ICE Into Rikers

Bianca Gonzalez / Prism Mar 5, 2025 Rights groups say the move would target immigrants presumed innocent while awaiting trial at the jail complex. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

Prison Reform

Black Prisoners Organize for Dignity in Angola

Natalia Marques / Peoples Dispatch Feb 24, 2025 The Louisiana State Penitentiary is nicknamed after a former plantation, and those incarcerated there say the practice of slavery lives on. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Ear to the Ground

Christmas, Incarcerated

Tana Ganeva / Truthdig Dec 23, 2024 A card-writing program brings light to what can be a dark time of the year for prisoners. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Prison Reform

Nevada Voters Have Banned Slavery. Why Hasn’t California?

Natalia Mesa / High Country News Nov 26, 2024 A tale of two states and the future of “involuntary servitude” in the West. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

Immigration

How Texas Jails Paved the Way for Migrant Incarceration

Brianna Nofil / Texas Observer Nov 20, 2024 Following a 1925 investigation, immigrant detention in the Galveston County Jail was declared “a crime against humanity.” Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

TD Original

The Law of Second Chances

Michael Datcher / Truthdig Nov 6, 2024 What it means when a judge takes forgiveness and redemption seriously in an unforgiving system of retributive punishment. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Prison Reform

How Georgia Convicts Innocent Women

Carla Simmons / The Appeal Oct 25, 2024 Many incarcerated women in the state are trapped in prison for crimes committed by men or abusive partners. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )