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 […]
prison
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.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Donovan Deaths: Families Kept in Dark While Inmates Die of COVID-19
“Their stories had one thing in common: No prison officials alerted them their loved ones were seriously ill until after their deaths.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
After Killing His Cousin, Clyde Meikle Found Purpose in Prison Through Service. Now He’s Asking to Go Home.
Incarceration led to a rebirth for Clyde Meikle.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Kamala Harris, Mass Incarceration and Me
“Many progressives mistrust her for her past as a prosecutor. As an ex-convict — and also the son of a crime victim — I can tell you it’s not that simple.”