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Prisoners in Angola, Louisiana, where the state prison population has dropped by 5.4 percent.

Louisiana

Michael Stravato/Polaris, via Newscom
Feature
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.
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.
The Allan B. Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas, where men on death row are held in solitary confinement.
Closing Argument October 14
A Chaotic Moment For The Death Penalty
Political and legal opinions are shifting on mental illness and capital punishment, but those on death row may be left behind.
By Jamiles Lartey
A barbed wire fence surrounds a tan-colored building.
Closing Argument September 23
Juvenile Detention Centers Face One Scandal After Another
Despite repeated efforts at reform, allegations of mistreatment mount at youth facilities across the country.
By Lakeidra Chavis
A photo shows the silhouette of a prison tower, trees and lamp posts against an orange sunset.
Closing Argument July 22
‘Concrete Coffins’: Surviving Extreme Heat Behind Bars
Record temperatures in much of the U.S. threatening more people in prisons.
By Jamiles Lartey
A Black man, wearing a blue striped button-down shirt and black tie, sits with an emotional look on his face and eyes closed. A White female lawyer, sitting on his right, is looking down and smiling while patting him on his back. A White male lawyer, sitting on his left, is smiling while clapping his hands.
Closing Argument May 20
In 2022, Exonerations Hit a Record High in the U.S.
Globally, potential innocence has long outweighed potential guilt. That philosophy of justice may not be one that the majority of Americans endorse.
By Jamiles Lartey
An illustration shows a Black man in a white T-shirt with his arms around an older Black woman in a polka-dotted shirt and an older Black man in a newsboy cap and black T-shirt. The left side of the illustration shows a freeway, with trees at the edge of the road.
Life Inside May 12
My Brother Was Wrongfully Convicted for Murder. 20 Years Later, So Was My Son.
Although it was a coincidence, I knew it wasn’t a mistake. What Louisiana was doing to men like my brother Elvis and my son Cedric was intentional.
By Earline Brooks Colbert, as told to Jamiles Lartey
A Black man wearing a red T-shirt that reads “No kids in Angola” shouts during a protest at the Louisiana state Capitol against the state’s decision to house some youth at the adult prison Angola.
Inside Story February 2
When Kids Are Punished Like Adults
Louisianans protest temporary youth housing in notorious Angola, and Bryan Stevenson speaks on sentencing reform.
By and
A woman enters a tan bricked building, with the signage "justice building" above the door.
Closing Argument January 7
How Two States Differ on the Injustice of Non-Unanimous Juries
Oregon and Louisiana eliminated the practice, which had white supremacist roots. But they differ on whether to retroactively overturn those convictions.
By Jamiles Lartey
A woman with medium-toned skin and dark hair holds a painting of her son, Ronald Green, a Black man wearing a blue baseball cap.
Closing Argument November 19, 2022
Policing the Police: A Week of Racism, Abuse and Misconduct
Federal civil rights investigations can examine an entire agency — but they are not the only way to check for police misconduct.
By Jamiles Lartey
A White woman covers her face with both hands as she cries during a court hearing. A Black woman on the right consoles her with her hand on her back.
Closing Argument September 24, 2022
‘A Moral Disgrace’: How The U.S. Stopped Counting Deaths Behind Bars
The Department of Justice is failing miserably at collecting data on deaths. Experts say that makes it hard to identify the worst prisons and jails.
By Jamiles Lartey
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