In January 2025, men in New Jersey State Prison were notified that the state prison system would be switching our communication system from JPay to Viapath Technologies.  Some of us were excited about the switch. We had heard ViaPath offered more services, including the ability to use our electronic tablets to make phone calls. Others […]

The post In New Jersey Prisons, It’s Gotten Harder to Digitally Access or File Grievances appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

One morning, in October 2022, a memo hit my tablet: Effective immediately, all letters coming into the prison would be scanned and printed by facility staff. Instead of receiving the original mail itself, photocopies would be delivered instead. I read the email twice in my cell, the words blurring on the small screen. I had […]

The post Mail Scanning Has Isolated Me From My Loved Ones appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

PJP welcomes Dena Ferrara Driscoll, a successful philanthropic fundraiser, as Director of Philanthropy to oversee initiatives as the nonprofit enters its sixth year of growth.

The post The Prison Journalism Project Appoints Dena Driscoll as Director of Philanthropy appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

In April 2023, I was sent to the receiving and distribution department at Pennsylvania’s State Correctional Institution, Fayette, to pack my property for a transfer. I squeezed all of my belongings, accumulated over three decades, into one footlocker and two property boxes. I took special care with my most important items: my books, my TV […]

The post How I Won a Lawsuit Against the Department of Corrections appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

Grievances have been around since the early 1970s, but they became central to U.S. prisons following the 1996 passage of the Prison Litigation Reform Act. The PLRA required incarcerated people to exhaust all institutional remedies available before filing a federal lawsuit, meaning that an incarcerated person who wants to sue must first go through their […]

The post 4 Stories About Navigating Grievances and Appeals in Prison appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

The failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee last month has thrust the death penalty, and the various flawed methods of enacting it, into the national spotlight. The number of people killed by the state has increased every year since 2022, when 11 executions were conducted, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. In 2025, […]

The post After Christa Pike’s Botched Execution, People in Prison Have Something to Say appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

A little more than a year ago I helped start a creative writing group here at Pleasant Valley State Prison in central California.

The post Why You Should Start an Unauthorized Prison Writing Club appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

For three years while incarcerated, I experienced the digital world through a contraband cellphone, which significantly broadened my world.

The post Why Prisons Should Have Internet Access appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

Most days, I get started at 4:30 a.m. with a not-so-polite reminder from my alarm clock, telling me that it’s time to get up and get ready for work. I brush my teeth and wash my face. I put on my Timberland boots and prison-issued clothes. After that, it’s only a matter of time before the booth officer opens my cell door so I and many others can report to work.

The post Come Work With Me for a Day in Prison appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

I entered my cell and found my cellmate babbling, a spaced-out look in his eyes. The pungent scent of burnt paper was overwhelming. My eyes watered. I monitored his high for about 30 minutes to make sure he did not die of an overdose or attack me because he was too intoxicated to know what was happening.

The post It’s Time to Allow Marijuana Use in Prison appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

There are too many examples of prison wringing wealth from its prisoners and their families. Inflated pricing on commissary goods and minor service charges for phone calls? More like plundering by a thousand cuts. Recently, my aunt sent me $50 via CorrectPay, but had to pay a service charge of $5.95. (The fee increases to $7.95 if you send more than $100.)

The post The Case for Prison Entrepreneurship appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

In the 1980s, awaiting my trial in jail, I underwent a rite of passage among many prisoners. I got a tattoo from an incarcerated artist using an improvised tattoo gun made from the motor of a cassette player, a pen barrel, a bent spoon and a needle. The makeshift device was held together by thread; the ink was derived from soot and baby oil.

The post Let’s Make It Easier to Get Tattoos in Prison appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

The toilets here have no seats or covers to mask odors. Most are a stainless steel sink-toilet combo, meaning we clean ourselves near them. The State Correctional Institution at Huntingdon building where I’m detained opened in the 1890s and is the oldest of Pennsylvania’s 24 currently operational state prisons. All of the cells on each of its six cellblocks, A through F, are fronted by a wall of bars that allow the unrestricted flow of air in and out. Think jail cells of the Old West. Because of toilet lockouts, residents are inundated day and night by the stench of their cellmates’ and neighbors’ bowels.

The post Prisons Are Preventing Toilets From Flushing appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

In early July, I attended what I thought was a routine doctor’s appointment in the medical department of Jefferson City Correctional Center. Instead of the in-person meeting I had expected, I spoke to a doctor through a TV screen in a cramped room. The head of the mental health department at my facility was the […]

The post Missouri’s Ban on Hormone Therapy for Incarcerated People Was Sudden and Cruel appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

Around 2010, Sara Bennett, a former public defender, began taking portraits of women who had been incarcerated with Judith Clark. Clark, convicted for her role in a deadly and well-known Weather Underground armored truck heist, was seeking clemency from the state of New York after serving 28 years in prison. Bennett had taken up her case pro bono at the urging of some of the women she knew who had been inside with Clark.

The post Tracing Women’s Lives Behind Bars and Beyond in Photos appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

By Destry McKinney On Aug. 22, I saw something I had never seen before in my 20-plus years in Alabama prisons. Around 1 p.m. on that Saturday, four incarcerated people went from O-Dorm to a prison kitchen in William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility outside Birmingham and returned to our living area with trays of made-to-order […]

The post Alabama Prisons Debut New ‘Fresh’ Food Program appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

Well into September, heat remains an unavoidable aspect of life behind bars. Current and former Learning+ students Brian Quintanilla, Falicia Blakely and Shajiyah X. Iman wrote about the heat conditions in their respective prisons, and how they cope

The post Three Stories on How Heat Impacts People in Prison appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

Like many Americans, I’ve struggled with weight for much of my life. I’ve tried dieting, working out and changing my lifestyle, all with little success. The potential health consequences have started to catch up with me. Earlier this year, in an examination room at Eastern Correctional Facility, in upstate New York, my doctor delivered a […]

The post GLP-1 Shots in Prison? Yes, but It’s Complicated. appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

For almost two decades, I drifted through my time in prison feeling purposeless. In my mind, the world was black and white. Where could I go from here, and what could I contribute, after harming people and being sentenced to life in prison?

The post What Happened After I Started Caring for Others in Prison appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

On Jan. 7, 2025, I was starting my 19th and final year in federal prison. I was on the phone with my attorney as I weighed a monumental decision.

The post The Bittersweet End of My Fight for Trans Women From Prison appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

In June last year, sometime after I arrived at the holding area of the Jennifer Road Detention Center, outside Baltimore, I was directed into a room with three male guards. I stood there, in a windowless holding room, unsure of what was about to happen, feeling exposed and overwhelmed and full of foreboding. I had never been detained in a jail before, didn’t know anyone close to me who had.

The post My Disorienting and Isolating Stay in a Jail appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

Horacio Orozco felt like an impostor when he walked outside of prison walls after more than 30 years. “I was worried people would stare at me,” he said. “Like they would know I was an inmate.” Technically, he still was an inmate. Sgt. Brandon Woods and Transition Coordinator Sue Robson, staff members with the Oregon […]

The post The Prison Field Trip That Prepared One Man For a Return Home appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

On July 25, I attended a memorial service for my friend Jacob Harper-Leonard. He had died four months earlier. Jacob was the third person to die this year in Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution, where I am incarcerated. During the summer, prison administrators finally agreed to schedule a memorial for all three men; each of the […]

The post The Last Seven Minutes of One Man’s Life in an Oregon Prison appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

Last year, we were playing doubles pickleball on Memorial Day at Wildwood Correctional Center in southern Alaska. Just as I served on the outdoor court, my opponent yelled.

The post Did a Nagging Toothache Contribute to a Prison Suicide? appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

When people hear the phrase “prison pen pal,” they often respond with a stink face. “They’re just looking for money,” the expression reads.  The reality I have seen is both more complicated and more human. People seek pen pals for different reasons. Yes, some are looking for financial help. But many are seeking something incredibly […]

The post A Letter Can Be a Lifeline in Prison appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

Every day, Frank pushes Jamie in her wheelchair around Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. First, he takes her to pill call. Then, the pair spin a few laps on the outdoor track. While together, Frank listens to Jamie talk about whatever’s on her mind.  Jamie is an elderly transgender woman with advanced […]

The post How One Lifer Went From Being ‘Absolutely Ruthless’ to Nice as Hell appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

In the late 1980s, Caroline Guy held a cassette recorder to her head, trying to record the voices she was hearing. She had torn through her apartment, throwing away electronics and furniture, hoping to remove the source of the noise.

The post One Woman’s Tormented Path to Prison appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

For the majority of people behind bars, working a job is not optional. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime. In fact, more than 75% of incarcerated workers report that they are required to work or face additional punishment, according to a report by the American Civil […]

The post On Working Behind Bars appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

Around 5 a.m. I wake up, wash my face, brush my teeth and make a cup of coffee. It’s strong and smells good.

The post Here’s What a Typical Day Looks Like in My Prison appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.

How do you budget on a couple hundred dollars or less a month of income?

The post What a Monthly Budget Looks Like in Prison appeared first on Prison Journalism Project.