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A condemned inmate is led out of his cell on death row at San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, California in 2016.

California

Eric Risberg/Associated Press
Life Inside
Being a Corrections Officer Is Hard Enough. Doing the Job While Pregnant Is a Nightmare.
Lia McKeown says a California prison refused to adjust her job duties to accommodate her pregnancies. Now she’s suing for discrimination.
An illustration shows a portrait of a White woman with blue hair and green eyes, wearing a black T-shirt.
A rectangular illustration divided into five vertical panels shows a person in a prison cell looking out a dark window, crossing numbers of years off on the wall as time passes. In the middle of the illustration, there is an image of a gavel in a small rectangle. In the third panel, a beam of light appears on the floor, and in the following panel, that beam of light gets larger, indicating an opening door. The last panel shows the person being led out of the prison cell by a prosecutor in a suit and with a briefcase.
Feature October 31
Prosecutors in These States Can Review Sentences They Deem Extreme. Few Do.
Five states now allow prosecutors to seek shorter sentences in old cases. Louisiana shows why many DAs haven’t.
By Matt Nadel and Charlie Lee
A scene outside the Corcoran prison complex with a razor-wire topped fence and white observation towers behind it. A water-filled canal runs alongside the facility.
Feature October 24
In Harm’s Way
How decades-old decisions to build two California prisons in a dry lakebed and a chaotic climate left 8,000 incarcerated people at risk.
By Susie Cagle
A man wearing an orange and red prison uniform looks out the window of his solitary confinement cell.
Closing Argument September 2
Ending the Golden State Era of Solitary Confinement
California could reshape the practice as other states limit isolation. Meanwhile, prisons aren’t keeping pace.
By Jamiles Lartey
A billboard display reads "118 degrees, 5:13pm, Clear Channel Outdoor." A person walking through a parking lot is out of focus in the foreground.
Closing Argument August 26
Cruel Summer: When Basic Survival Can Become Illegal
Extreme heat heightens the tensions between homeless communities and the police.
By Geoff Hing
An illustration shows firefighters in a group hug, a Black man in the center welcoming a White man walking up, surrounded by bare tree branches and with a big fire in the background.
Life Inside August 4
Why Fighting California Wildfires Was the Best Prison Job I Ever Had
On the fire line, David Desmond found that racial segregation and gang affiliation could not withstand the unifying power of extinguishing a blaze.
By David Desmond
Analysis July 13
4 Reasons We Should Worry About Missing Crime Data
The FBI’s crime data is still incomplete — and politicians are taking advantage.
By Weihua Li and Jasmyne Ricard
A group of male teenagers dressed in gray sweaters and black pants are walking in two lines, with their hands behind their backs. A man in a dark blue collared shirt and tan cargo pants walks behind them.
Closing Argument April 15
How the Juvenile System Forces Minors Into Unsafe Institutions
Even in states with a drive for reform, many children and teens face long confinement and dirty, dangerous conditions.
By Jamiles Lartey
Jay Jordan, the project director for Time Done, a nonprofit that works with former convicts, in Oakland, Calif., March 7, 2019. Under a proposed law in California, millions of people like Jordan, who spent more than seven years in prison for robbery and auto theft, would have their criminal records automatically sealed from public view. (Jim Wilson/The New York Times).
Closing Argument April 1
How Criminal Records Hold Back Millions of People
More than 70 million Americans with arrest records face barriers to find work or a decent place to live.
By Jamiles Lartey
The wood-paneled and red-carpeted inside of an empty courtroom.
Closing Argument March 18
New Scrutiny on Murder Charges Against People Who Don’t Actually Kill
The U.S. is the only country that still uses the “felony murder” legal doctrine.
By Jamiles Lartey
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