Prison Journalism Project

Board of Directors

Lawrence BartleyLawrence Bartley is the founder and director of “News Inside,” the print publication of The Marshall Project ...
Prison Journalism Project

How Tablet Phone Calls Are Reshaping Life in Prison

Then in April 2023, electronic tablets came to our prison. They doubled as phones. All of a sudden, we went from sharing phones with 1,600 people to each having our own. The stress evaporated, and the ...
prisonjournalismproject

Tennessee’s First Prison Pay Raise in at Least 33 Years Isn’t Enough

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. When I entered Tennessee’s prison system in 1992, the pay for most jobs ranged from 17 cents an hour for ...
prisonjournalismproject

At This Alabama Prison, A Grandfather and Grandson Do Time Together

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. Growing up, Travion Malone, 27, didn’t have an ideal relationship with his grandfather Randy Matkins. There were ...
prisonjournalismproject

Prison Censorship Goes Beyond Book Bans

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. On a recent Friday morning, I went to the email kiosk to check for new messages. Once I signed in, I saw a ...
prisonjournalismproject

The Graying of America’s Prisons

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. The following story is part of PJP's special project, "The Graying of America’s Prisons." For this series, we ...
prisonjournalismproject

I’ve Spent More Than Half of My Life in Prison

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. For more than half of my life, I have not been free. I was sent to prison when I was 15 years old for ...
prisonjournalismproject

When Kittens Came to My Prison, I Had Not Petted One in 15 Years

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. Nothing in prison is soft and cuddly. Prisons are concrete and steel and stocked with hard people doing hard time ...
prisonjournalismproject

The Life of an Elected Official Who’s Also in Jail

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. This article is part of U.S. Democracy Day, a nationwide collaborative on Sept. 15, the International Day of ...
prisonjournalismproject

What It’s Like to Live in One of the Country’s Deadliest Prison Systems

Alabama’s prison homicide rate is among the highest in the country, leaving many changed people to die behind bars. I remember the first day I stepped foot inside a prison. It was 1995. The place was ...
prisonjournalismproject

Inside the Mental Health Unit at Washington State Penitentiary

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. In her nine years working in a mental health unit of the Washington State Penitentiary, S. Acosta has seen some ...