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prison understaffing
Investigate This
July 25
How to Investigate the Trend of Declining Prison Staff and Deteriorating Conditions Behind Bars
Our toolkit helps you report on how this employment crisis impacts safety and local budgets in your state.
By
The Marshall Project
Closing Argument
March 2
How Federal Prisons Are Getting Worse
Government watchdog agencies found hundreds of preventable deaths and excessive use of solitary confinement.
By
Jamiles Lartey
and
Christie Thompson
News
September 18
Mississippi Auditor: Prison Company Must Pay $2 Million for No-Show Workers
A 2020 investigation by The Marshall Project exposed how prison operator MTC billed the state millions for ghost workers.
By
Joseph Neff
and
Alysia Santo
Closing Argument
August 13, 2022
Confronting America’s ‘Cruel and Unusual’ Juvenile Detention Crisis
From Texas and Louisiana to communities in Iowa and Michigan, the way youth are being detained is prompting calls for change.
By
Jamiles Lartey
News
December 21, 2020
The National Guard Is Using Force on Prisoners After Little Training
Ohio guard members patrolling inside prisons trained for a fraction of the 5 weeks required of correction officers.
By
Jamiles Lartey
Feature
December 9, 2020
No-Show Prison Workers Cost Mississippi Taxpayers Millions
Prisoners, guards face danger from chronic understaffing by MTC
By
Alysia Santo
and
Joseph Neff
News
January 8, 2020
Mississippi Prison Killings: Five Factors Behind the Deadly Violence
Understaffing, powerful gangs and constant lockdowns brew tensions that exploded last week.
By
Joseph Neff
and
Alysia Santo
News
August 14, 2019
Epstein’s Death Highlights A Staffing Crisis in Federal Prisons
A hiring freeze by the Trump administration shrank the federal prison workforce at twice the rate of the declining prison population.
By
Justin George
and
Weihua Li
Feature
June 26, 2019
Corporate Confession: Gangs Ran This Private Prison
What happened in Mississippi when no one wanted dangerous, low-paying guard jobs.
By
Joseph Neff
and
Alysia Santo