Our most-read story this week: Pennsylvania is hiring 18-year-olds as prison guards. The women living there are sounding the alarm. https://prisonjournalismproject.org/2026/05/14/new-young-guards-have-disrupted-the-environment-at-my-prison/?utm_source=Bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=PJP-Bluesky

I put hope on layaway after being sentenced to life without parole, but a recent event made me optimistic again. https://prisonjournalismproject.org/2026/05/12/has-real-change-finally-come-for-californias-lwop-community/?utm_source=Bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=PJP-Bluesky

"In prison, we often must adapt to abnormal conditions, including seeing distorted versions of ourselves. After I finished my morning routine, I considered whether there were any documented psychological effects of us not seeing ourselves for long periods of time." https://prisonjournalismproject.org/2026/04/24/mirrors-in-prison/?utm_source=Bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=PJP-Bluesky

"There is not an athletic enough verb, a highly animated enough punctuation mark, or clever enough prose to accurately describe the impact of stories written from behind the razor wire." – PJP Contributor Support our work ⤵️ https://prisonjournalismproject.fundjournalism.org/prisonjournalism-membership/?campaign=701S600000T4tbVIAR

"I had not touched a cat in 15 yrs when an orange kitten wandered over to sit w/me in the grass one day. I was left without adequate words to describe that experience. It reminded me that I am alive. It instilled in me a raw, unbridled happiness that I had never felt before, not even as a child." https://prisonjournalismproject.org/2024/10/23/cats-came-to-my-california-prison/?utm_source=Bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=PJP-Bluesky