Half the country is directly impacted by the U.S. prison system. The Inside Story provides a window into the world of incarceration through stories written by the people who know it best. Each week, ...

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. When I met Ralph Marcus in June 2024 at California Medical Facility, he was sitting in his wheelchair in the ...

Prison Journalism Project is a community of journalists, teachers, writers and change agents who care about criminal justice reform and believe in the power of word. All our volunteer positions are ...

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. This story is part of Locked Out, a special series from PJP about voting, politics and democracy behind bars.

Information about the prison system is limited, and policy makers and voters are shaping the lives of incarcerated people without their input. We’re bringing transparency to the world of mass ...

In the United States, journalists enjoy broad freedoms to investigate, author and publish news stories for the public good. There are also robust laws, such as the Freedom of Information Act, that ...

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. Recently, my lawyer instructed me to read the original transcripts from my trial and other legal documents he ...

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. I came to prison at 15. Because I was so young, I didn’t know who I was when I arrived. I felt insecure about ...

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. Nothing in prison is soft and cuddly. Prisons are concrete and steel and stocked with hard people doing hard time ...

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. My first time in prison I told myself that I would never be foolish enough to get tattooed in this atmosphere.

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. A childhood photo of the author holding her brother Isaac. (Photo courtesy of Claire Tak) “Outside/In” is an ...

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. On Oct. 27, 2023, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, a 125-year-old veterans service organization, opened its ...