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Prison Life

Jeff Östberg for The Marshall Project
Closing Argument
The Prison Soul Band That Opened for Stevie Wonder
The band The Power of Attorney flourished when more Americans saw incarcerated people as more than their crimes.
A musical band of Black men are playing instruments, such as a saxophone, guitar, piano, bass guitar and drums. They play behind bars in a room.
An illustration shows a yellow spotlight on a man in a green prison suit, standing in front of a book case.
Life Inside November 3
Prison Is a Dangerous Place for LGBTQ+ People. I Made a Safe Space in the Library.
As a queer teen, Michael Shane Hale found belonging in books. Here’s how he built a place where everyone can read in peace in prison.
By Michael Shane Hale
A package of books that was rejected by the Southern Desert Correctional Center in Indian Springs, Nevada, surrounded by printouts of prison policies about receiving reading material and publications from different states. The package has "Too much tape" written in marker on the side.
News October 18
Many Prisons Restrict Books to Stop Drug Smuggling. Critics Say It Doesn’t Work.
Battling an overdose crisis, more prisons are blocking books based on the sender or packaging. Free speech advocates call it a de facto book ban.
By and
An illustration shows an incarcerated man laid on a hospital bed with one arm covering their face and one leg propped up. The patient's silhouette is colored in brown, and the rest of the room is in grayscale. Orange, white, blue and orange squiggly lines represent a tingling sensation inside the patient's body.
Life Inside August 18
Prison Healthcare Means Not Knowing What’s Slowly Destroying My Body
For over two years, a mystery illness has made it hard for James Keown to walk, sit up and eat. Now he wonders if he has to die to be diagnosed.
By James Keown
Two people, wearing all black clothing, stand and view more than a hundred portraits of incarcerated men on display, on an art gallery wall.
Closing Argument August 12
What the New Wave of Prison Art Tells Us About Incarceration Today
From LEGO sculptures to psychedelic quilts, several new exhibits convey the prison experience in ways that transcend words alone.
By Maurice Chammah
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
A collage illustration shows a vinyl record at the center of the frame with various cutouts of black-and-white images overtop. On the left edge of the vinyl record, the 1950s musical group The Prisonaires is singing over a microphone. Toward the center, a group of musicians called The Outlaws poses with instruments in a yard. On the right side of the vinyl record, a man with a goatee listens to music through a pair of headphones. His eyes are closed. A soundwave connects all of these collaged photographs. Splashes of teal and purple paint lay beneath all these elements.
Looking Back August 3
Redemption Songs: The Forgotten History of American Prison Music
From blues to gospel, country to rap, people have been making music behind bars for decades. Here’s why we should all tune in.
By Maurice Chammah
News Inside July 28
Can’t Stop. Won’t Stop.
With renewed purpose, Issue 14 of News Inside goes the extra yard to deliver information behind bars.
By
Eight cropped book covers with shadows behind them appear in a grid against a cream-colored background: “The Egyptian Book of the Dead,” “The Hellbound Heart,” “Captive Nation,” “Black on Black Violence,” “Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic” and “Effective Java.” The center of the grid shows an image of a tool displaying which books are banned in Ohio prisons.
Cleveland June 20
Ohio Prison System Bans Java Computer Manual, But Allows Hitler’s Mein Kampf
Incarcerated people are baffled by the state’s book screening process.
By The Marshall Project
An illustration shows three correctional officers in the foreground, in shades of dark gray. In the background, there are three correctional officers in light gray. Two of the officers are holding up the arms of an incarcerated person in an orange uniform, while one officer covers the incarcerated person's mouth.
News May 22
We Spent Two Years Investigating Abuse by Prison Guards in New York. Here Are Five Takeaways.
The state fails to fire most corrections officers it accuses of violence against prisoners or covering up abuse.
By Alysia Santo and Joseph Neff
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