themarshallproject.org

THAT'S CONCERNING

How Fake Cops Got $1.2 Million In Real Weapons

The Government Accountability Office created a fictitious law enforcement agency and applied for military-grade equipment from the Department of Defense. And in less than a week, they got it.

'DOES IT HAVE BUTTONS?'

Using A Touchscreen For The First Time After Decades In Prison

Since I've been caged for over 20 years myself, I had nothing to bring to the table. The closest I'd ever come to something like this was seeing computers on TV.

'LIFE ISN'T OFFERED TO ME RIGHT NOW'

Life After Life Without Parole

13 diggs themarshallproject.org Criminal Justice Law 5w

Ronald Elston spent more than 30 years in prison, with no preparation for what he would do if he got out.

FREEING ISRAEL

Homer And Harold

17 diggs themarshallproject.org Long Reads Crime Law 23 Dec 2016

Nearly a hundred years ago, a Connecticut lawyer walked into court and made a presentation that, in the words of legal titan Felix Frankfurter, “will live in the annals as a standard by which other prosecutors will be judged.”

MOVING ON

How I Came To Terms With The Man Who Shot Me

2 diggs themarshallproject.org Personal Essay 17 Dec 2016

My brother was serving a life sentence, and I knew all too well the devastation that long-term prison sentences could have on a family. That’s when something clicked: I didn’t want to put another human being through that.

THE HUMANS INSIDE

How My Time As A Private Prison Guard Changed The Way I See Inmates

24 diggs themarshallproject.org Personal Essay Crime 18 Oct 2016

Before I worked in a prison, I certainly thought prisoners were different from normal people. They didn’t feel pain like I did; being abused wasn’t as bad for them as it would be for someone like me, I figured.

TEMPORARY ESCAPE

How A Phone Changed My Life On Death Row

13 diggs themarshallproject.org Personal Essay 11 Oct 2016

"Dying is the easy part. Waiting years to be executed, with no one to connect with — that’s the nightmare."

LIKE 'A BURNING HOT COAL'

When The Cops Take Your Urine By Force

12 diggs themarshallproject.org Law 4 Oct 2016

Police want a sample. They can do it the easy way, or they can do it the hard way.

SOMETHING'S NOT RIGHT

The Most Dangerous Neighborhood, The Most Inexperienced Cops

8 diggs themarshallproject.org Crime Cities 22 Sep 2016

In Chicago and elsewhere, rookies are cannon fodder while vets police the suburbs.

'I CAN'T HELP BUT HATE MYSELF'

The Night I Killed A Man

8 diggs themarshallproject.org Personal Essay Crime 12 Sep 2016

An inmate reflects on the events leading up to the night he shot and killed a man.

CLOSE SHAVES

What I've Learned Cutting Hair In Jail

22 diggs themarshallproject.org Personal Essay 28 Aug 2016

I get sent to the hole all the time. Not because I’ve done something wrong, but because I’m the barber, which means I’m also the best friend of every guy in there. I cut everyone’s hair, from murderers and rapists to first-timers put in for a fight.

CRIME IN CONTEXT

Charting Crime's Downward Trajectory

13 diggs themarshallproject.org Data Viz Crime Long Reads 22 Aug 2016

Violent crime is up in some places, but is it really a trend?

A MAN MAKING CAR NOISES?

The Absurd Things I Heard Through The Vents In My Prison Cell

16 diggs themarshallproject.org Curious 7 Aug 2016

Sometimes you can hear night terrors — there’s plenty of PTSD in America’s prisons. Sometimes, you can hear bathroom noises; mostly gas with the occasional burst of explosive diarrhea. And inevitably, you hear conversations — sometimes whispered, more often ludicrously loud.

'IT'S LIKE THE AIRPORT SHUTTLE FROM HELL'

Inside The Deadly World Of Private Prisoner Transport

13 diggs themarshallproject.org Long Reads Crime 7 Jul 2016

Tens of thousands of people every year are packed into vans run by for-profit companies with almost no oversight.

O BROTHER

I Grew Up Idolizing My Brother. Then He Killed A Man.

41 diggs themarshallproject.org Long Reads Crime Personal Essay 29 Jun 2016

Before Moochie was a murderer, he was something of a savior inside our home. He was the son who had protected my mother from an abusive husband. The brother who shielded the rest of us from the bullies down the road and the kids who made fun of my stutter.

THEY WILL TAIL YOUR PHONES

The Amazing iPhone-Sniffing Prison Dogs

16 diggs themarshallproject.org Animals Crime 10 Jun 2016

Two years ago, a Belgian Malinois named Drako earned a flurry of press attention when his owners at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced he had found his thousandth contraband cell phone in the prisons. But Drako was only one of the growing number of dogs around the country trained to find cell phones.

EXPENSIVE MISTAKES

Want To Clear Your Record? It’ll Cost You $450

11 diggs themarshallproject.org Law Crime 1 Jun 2016

In Tennessee and other states, former felons can’t always afford it.

A LONG WAY TO GO

The Prison Visit That Cost My Family $2,370

15 diggs themarshallproject.org Law 14 Apr 2016

How loved ones bear the hidden cost of shipping inmates out of state.

CRACKS IN THE SYSTEM

A Prosecutor’s Regret: How I Got Someone Life In Prison For Drugs

25 diggs themarshallproject.org Personal Essay 10 Apr 2016

“At the end of my life, I’d like to know that I wasn’t responsible for Lewis Clay spending his final days in prison.”

'THE RECORD'

Everything You Want (And Need) To Know About Criminal Justice

15 diggs themarshallproject.org Law 8 Apr 2016

Criminal justice is a big, messy, complicated issue. The Marshall Project's new effort breaks it down into individual topics and gives you the most important articles to read about each.