This week, our editors recommend stories by Eric Borsuk, Aaron Gell, Laurie Penny, Hanif Abdurraqib, and Will Rees.
prison
Posted inEditor's Pick
When Innocence Isn’t Enough
Christopher Dunn has been in prison for over 30 years for a murder in St. Louis that he and others say he didn’t commit. Even though new evidence has emerged in favor of Dunn, the state of Missouri says he must stay in prison — because he wasn’t sentenced to death. He continued, “This Court does […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
‘I Felt Like I Was a Prisoner’: The Rapid Rise of US Immigration Authorities’ Electronic Surveillance Programs
Across the U.S., an electronic surveillance system, built on ankle monitors and voice- and face-recognition technology, is tracking an increasing number of asylum seekers and people seeking permanent residency in the country. For many, it feels like they never left prison. ICE spokespeople and officials at the Department of Homeland Security espouse the technology-driven approach […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
A Future for Susanville
Prisons such as the California Correctional Center in Susanville, California, drive the local economy in the rural town, and its residents are just as tied to these facilities as the incarcerated ones. Piper French offers a nuanced portrait of the town, as locals in support of CCC, incarcerated organizers on the inside, and urban abolitionist […]
Posted inNonfiction
‘Raphael Couldn’t Have Painted Something More Beautiful’
The couple who saved an imprisoned artist’s life — and the extraordinary gift he gave in return.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Under the Wheel
“I have always been drawn to stories about people who try to escape — escape their neighborhoods, their families, their histories — and who instead become what they were running from.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Why Do Detainees Keep Dying in This Baton Rouge Jail?
“In one decade, 45 people died in East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. Most were charged with nonviolent misdemeanors. Most didn’t have their day in court. Most were Black. How did the system fail them?”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Qualified Immunity: How ‘Ordinary Police Work’ Tramples Civil Rights
“There is little to no accountability behind the closed doors of police work.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
How Corporations Buy—and Sell—Food Made with Prison Labor
“The notion of work as punishment has enabled prison administrators to compel incarcerated people to work on farms and in dairies for low or no pay and without basic labor protections, sometimes in service of secretive billionaires they’ll never meet.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Reporter’s Notebook: The Power of Proximity
“A behind-the-scenes look at a year-long investigation into Mississippi’s laws that automatically put some kids as young as 13 into adult prisons and jails.”