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Trans People in Florida Prisons Say Gender-Affirming Care Ban Upended Their Health Care
Transgender women incarcerated in Florida say that the prison system’s already cumbersome process for providing gender-affirming care has fallen into disarray following the passage of a bill last year championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The law, SB 254, prohibits gender-affirming care for most young people, but transgender people in the state’s prisons say a clause that prohibits the use of state funds for “sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures” is also affecting them.
Arrested in Mississippi’s Hinds County? What You Need to Know.
A guide to jail, the courts, your rights and legal resources in Jackson and beyond. In Mississippi’s Hinds County — the state’s most populous county and home to Jackson, the state capital — thousands of people arrested each year on felony criminal charges can move through as many as three different courts. The Marshall Project - Jackson tapped experts and reviewed court rules to answer common questions about the process.
What Happens in Mississippi’s Hinds County Felony Court, 48 Hours After Arrest
Were you or someone you know charged with a felony in Hinds County? This resource guide will let you know what to expect. You can download a printable pdf here. To learn more about jail, the courts, your rights and legal resources, read our answers to questions about felony court in Jackson and Hinds County. Sign up for our newsletter to stay updated on our Mississippi coverage.
Texas vs. the USA: Inside the Immigration Showdown
This is The Marshall Project’s Closing Argument newsletter, a weekly deep dive into a key criminal justice issue. Want this delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to future newsletters here. Late last week, Texas officials abruptly blocked off access to a public park in the border town of Eagle Pass....
The 5 Most Powerful People in Mississippi’s Hinds County Justice System
Thousands of people are arrested and prosecuted each year on felony charges in Jackson and Hinds County, Mississippi. Their fates are nearly always decided by five elected officials — the district attorney and four Circuit Court judges. The Marshall Project - Jackson profiled each official so you will better understand how criminal justice works in the county.
How the Police and Vigilante Killings of Black People Have Forced Me to Look Inside
Last January I was sitting in my cell crocheting, radio tuned to NPR, when I heard about the release of video footage showing five Black Memphis police officers beating Tyre Nichols after a traffic stop. The video shows police using their fists, feet, Tasers, batons and pepper spray on the...
Vomiting, Seizures, Stroke: What Could Happen in the First Nitrogen Execution in the U.S.
Next week, Alabama prison officials plan to escort Kenneth Eugene Smith from his cell, strap a mask to his face and replace his breathing air with nitrogen gas. It would likely be the first execution of its kind anywhere in the world. How did we get here? Lethal injection has...
More Police Are Using Your Cameras for Video Evidence
This is The Marshall Project’s Closing Argument newsletter, a weekly deep dive into a key criminal justice issue. Want this delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to future newsletters here. Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., are among major cities slated to launch a Real-Time Crime Center in the coming months,...
The Marshall Project: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, 2023
Our seventh annual diversity report. Read past years' reports: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017. After several years of what appeared to be progress in diversity, equity and inclusion efforts around the nation, many of these initiatives have come under fire, particularly after the Supreme Court ruling dismantling affirmative action. At The Marshall Project, we reinvested in our goals to create a diverse and inclusive workplace, and introduced several initiatives to help us better achieve those goals. And while we are extremely proud of our progress, we acknowledge that our efforts are far from complete.
How Cuyahoga County Picks Attorneys to Represent Children
Children accused of crimes have a constitutional right to an attorney, just like adults. Each of Ohio’s 88 counties gets to choose whether to provide public defenders, use nonprofit lawyers or appoint private attorneys for individuals unable to afford an attorney. The courts can also provide attorneys in child abuse and neglect cases.
New Data Shows How Dire the Prison Staffing Shortage Really Is
When Andrew Phillips took a job as a corrections officer at Georgia’s Smith State Prison in 2021, he was desperate for work. Shortly after he started, he noticed a problem. The prison housed about 1,500 men, and each shift was supposed to have 30 officers to guard them, but most days there were half that, according to Phillips.
Federal Prisons Are Over Capacity — Yet Efforts to Ease Overcrowding Are Ending.
This is The Marshall Project’s Closing Argument newsletter, a weekly deep dive into a key criminal justice issue. Want this delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to future newsletters here. The Bureau of Prisons faces a host of major challenges. Federal prisons are chronically short-staffed, creating dangerous conditions for both...
Lost Your License in Ohio Due to Debt? A New State Bill Might Fix That
Theresa Smith never knew she was driving with a suspended license until she tried renewing her vehicle registration in 2021. The suspension came after a friend borrowed her car without permission and crashed, making her financially responsible. It also triggered two license suspensions for Smith and a state mandate to purchase high-risk insurance for a $3,300 annual premium. It all proved too rich for the Shaker Heights retiree and her roughly $1,000 monthly Social Security benefit. Smith was forced into bankruptcy, the effects of which linger today.
Some of Our Best Work of 2023
As the debate on reproductive rights swirled in 2023, and U.S. prison conditions continued to be criticized, The Marshall Project used newfound data and in-depth story-telling to illuminate those and other vital criminal justice issues. We examined the spate of prosecutions of pregnant women in Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma and South...
What Bodycams Tell Us About the Challenges of Policing the Police
This is The Marshall Project’s Closing Argument newsletter, a weekly deep dive into a key criminal justice issue. Want this delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to future newsletters here. Over the past decade, the adoption of body-worn cameras has been one of the most popular and durable police reforms...
Old-School Hair Analysis Is Junk Science. But It Still Keeps People Behind Bars
The technique, developed before DNA testing, can’t definitively tie suspects to crime scenes. Try explaining that to juries — or some judges. In the three decades since Florida sent Gerald Delane Murray to death row for murder, he has watched the case against him crumble. DNA evidence prosecutors used to link him to the crime was handled so badly that the state’s highest court threw it out — twice. A jailhouse witness who testified that Murray confessed to the rape and murder later said he may really have learned about the crime from watching “America’s Most Wanted.”
‘A Crazy System’: How Arbitration Returns Abusive Guards to New York Prisons
A guard working at a Hudson Valley prison pummeled a 19-year-old shackled by the legs to a restraint chair. An officer at a facility near the Canadian border denied food to a man in solitary confinement 13 times over a week. Outside Albany, a guard told a prisoner, “That’s how you get dumped on your fucking head,” then smashed his head into a wall.
How We Investigated Abusive Prison Guards Getting Their Jobs Back in New York
To examine why arbitrators return New York state prison guards to work after officials fired them for abusing prisoners, The Marshall Project built a database compiled through public records requests. We analyzed more than 100 arbitration decisions obtained from the state corrections agency. Defining abuse — We began our analysis...
The Court Ruling Jacob Wideman Was Waiting For
A “Violation” update brings listeners the latest news in Wideman’s case, including his reaction to a ruling that leaves him few paths to freedom. Jacob Wideman will stay in prison indefinitely. In a case filed late last year, Wideman’s lawyers argued that state officials treated him in...
What the End of Roe Looks Like in Real Time
This is The Marshall Project’s Closing Argument newsletter, a weekly deep dive into a key criminal justice issue. Want this delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to future newsletters here. In the Supreme Court’s landmark abortion decision in 2022, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that it was “time to heed the...
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The Marshall Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system.
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