The ACLU sued the state after it moved children to the former death row unit at the notorious Angola prison. But a court filing says the kids have faced abuse in their new facility, too.| theappeal.org
State officials have appealed a federal judge’s removal order and are continuing their fight to lock up children on the grounds of the maximum security prison.| theappeal.org
Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center often makes news for its celebrities, but hundreds of others at the jail face inhumane conditions.| theappeal.org
At Virginia’s Hampton Roads Regional Jail, reform has been slow even after high-profile tragedies including the death of mentally disabled man incarcerated for allegedly stealing $5 worth of snack food.| theappeal.org
The ACLU says half of people at the Fulton County Jail haven't been indicted. But Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat wants more jail beds.| theappeal.org
An upcoming court ruling could decide the fate of a plan to detain “problematic youth” at a facility that previously housed prisoners awaiting execution.| theappeal.org
Children at Angola prison in Louisiana are held in the former death row unit, where they report being maced, abused, and held in solitary confinement.| theappeal.org
The state argues there would be a “near certainty” of “serious bodily injury” to children, staff, and the public if kids are transferred out of the prison.| theappeal.org
Abelardo Avellaneda-Delgado was healthy when he entered Lowndes County Jail. He died while en route to ICE’s Stewart Detention Center less than four weeks later, leaving his family in shock.| The Appeal
Strip searches serve as weapons of humiliation rather than security measures.| The Appeal
New Jersey has one of the largest immigrant populations in the country. We asked candidates in the Democratic primary what they’ll do to keep immigrants safe.| The Appeal
The Appeal—and much of the media—has been misspelling Tyré Nichols’ name for years.| The Appeal
State and federal governments have moved to criminalize trans people, parents of trans children, and healthcare providers.| The Appeal
Creating a pretrial system that prioritizes community safety, equity, and liberty requires more than small tweaks—we need a ground-up transformation.| The Appeal
In prison, bad days don’t come cheap.| The Appeal
After mystery illnesses and toxic reports, prisoners at California’s Mule Creek State Prison worry their water is killing them.| The Appeal
James Carver spent 36 years in prison after he was convicted of setting one of the deadliest fires in Massachusetts history. But after reviewing new scientific evidence, a judge set him free.| The Appeal
In a quarterly earnings call, the private prison company told investors that it plans to expand its operations across the country.| The Appeal
CEO tells investors the Trump administration represents an “unprecedented opportunity.”| The Appeal
“Scared straight” programs don’t work. But that doesn’t mean incarcerated people shouldn’t mentor at-risk kids.| The Appeal
The Justice Department has removed questions about gender identity from the National Crime Victimization Survey, the Survey on Sexual Victimization, and the Survey of Inmates in Local Jails.| The Appeal
According to a wrongful death lawsuit, staff at the Angelina County Jail stood by as 33-year-old Glenn Smallwood vomited and died in front of them.| The Appeal
In half the country, sex offense civil commitment incarcerates people after they complete their prison sentences.| The Appeal
In five jurisdictions reviewed by The Appeal, prosecutors have filed or are considering filing 187 charges against 66 protesters—including alleged hate crimes on cops, mob action, and attempted ethnic intimidation.| The Appeal
At least six people at Red Onion intentionally lit themselves on fire last year. Now, prisoners say staff are forcing people to comply—or cutting their electricity.| The Appeal
Madison Sheahan’s Wildlife and Fisheries officers sent unhoused people to a New Orleans warehouse. What does that mean for the future?| The Appeal
“Individuals increasingly find themselves in cages unfit for lab mice and subjected to conditions with less scrutiny than that of invertebrate species kept in aquariums.”| The Appeal
Attorney General Pam Bondi called the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson “an act of political violence.”| The Appeal
Alabama’s attorney general said he would charge abortion funds for helping people end their pregnancies in other states. On Monday, a federal judge said doing so would violate the U.S. Constitution.| The Appeal
Texas state prisons incarcerate more than 4,500 people in two-person cells the size of a parking space for nearly 24 hours a day.| The Appeal
The “crime panic” was a myth. But an analysis by The Appeal shows the narrative helped local police buy facial recognition software, drones, license plate readers, social media surveillance tech, and more.| The Appeal
At least one trans woman in federal prison says Trump’s executive order has already prevented her from receiving hormone therapy, leading to “thoughts of suicide and self-harm.”| The Appeal
Inspections have found repeated violations of federal standards at GEO Group’s Central Louisiana ICE Processing Facility.| The Appeal
For more than 10 years, a group of incarcerated men have said Illinois prison guards forced them into painful stress positions and forced them to rub their genitals on one another.| The Appeal
Wellpath, one of the nation’s largest private correctional medical contractors, has conveniently filed for bankruptcy as it faces scores of lawsuits for alleged neglect and misconduct.| The Appeal
The felony murder law allows prosecutors to charge people with murder even if they haven’t killed anyone, including for killings by police.| theappeal.org
The Appeal is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to exposing how the U.S. criminal legal system fails to keep people safe and perpetuates harm.| theappeal.org
As Portland weighs expansion of an alternative crisis-response program, new data from a MindSite News-Medill investigation shows police often deploy force on residents who are unhoused or grappling with mental illness.| theappeal.org
Investigators found the Jackson Parish Jail violated state rules 83 times between July and February—12 times more than the second-worst jail.| theappeal.org
After the city council passed the ground lease for massive police facility known as “Cop City,” local opposition hasn’t ceased; it’s evolved.| theappeal.org
Organizers are calling on national support for their continued efforts to halt the construction of a police militarization facility in the Atlanta forest.| theappeal.org
A letter obtained exclusively by The Appeal says Trump’s Department of Justice has defunded the Prison Rape Elimination Act Resource Center.| theappeal.org
Prison dog-training programs teach incarcerated people responsibility and give them a sense of purpose behind bars.| theappeal.org
People detained in Vermont’s prisons for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection struggle to call their families and have been exposed to physical violence.| theappeal.org
I’ve been in prison for 42 years. After New York State closed my facility, it sent me to Sing Sing—a prison filled with tension and violence.| theappeal.org
The facility’s medical provider described people with mental illness wasting away in a unit overrun by an outbreak of lice and scabies.| theappeal.org
Federal prosecutors have filed charges against at least two people for allegedly damaging Tesla property and are seeking five-year sentences.| theappeal.org
“I’d rather not live than be forced to live as a man,” a trans woman in a federal prison in New Jersey said in a sworn statement.| theappeal.org
The U.S. Supreme Court said Brenda Andrew should possibly get a new trial after prosecutors sex-shamed her.| theappeal.org
I was raised an Eagles fan. Their Super Bowl win reminded me of toxic, painful lessons my father and his father gave me.| theappeal.org
One boy detained at Louisiana's Jackson Parish Correctional Center said children were maced and then forced to sit outside for hours.| theappeal.org
Trump deleted NLEAD, a federal police misconduct database. Data show it was mostly full of border and prison incidents.| theappeal.org
GEO Group Chairman George Zoley said the company could gain up to $1 billion in additional revenue from the Trump administration’s policies.| theappeal.org
In memos released this week, Trump’s new attorney general rolled back Biden-era reforms and called for harsher sentences and more executions.| theappeal.org
Louisiana moved detained children from the infamous Angola prison to an adult lockup in Jackson Parish. They say the abuse has continued.| theappeal.org
Emails show Virginia Department of Corrections officials discussing how to punish people at Red Onion State Prison who self-immolated.| theappeal.org
Virginia’s Department of Corrections has recently settled two lawsuits over its use of solitary confinement—a practice lawmakers are moving closer to abolishing.| theappeal.org
At least six people incarcerated at Virginia's Red Onion State Prison intentionally burned themselves to get transferred.| theappeal.org
Six men at Red Onion State Prison in Western Virginia used “improvised devices” to give themselves electrical burns.| theappeal.org
The Appeal and other news outlets spent years reporting on dangerous conditions inside Atlanta, Georgia's Fulton County Jail.| theappeal.org
In the two months since the court's decision in Grants Pass, an analysis by The Appeal finds that dozens of municipalities have passed or proposed new camping bans that levy the possibility of fines, tickets, or jail time against unhoused residents. More are sure to follow.| theappeal.org
Support journalism that exposes the harms of the criminal legal system and elevates solutions that keep all people safe.| theappeal.org
The felony murder rule has a long and complicated history that is worth examining precisely because it’s not that simple.| theappeal.org
Police killed Jacob Harris, but his friends are serving decades in prison for it. Officials have made inconsistent or false statements about Harris's death.| theappeal.org
The bill was filed following The Appeal’s investigation of Phoenix Police shooting Jacob Harris. His friends were charged with felony murder.| theappeal.org
The U.S. Department of Justice fought an HIV criminalization law in Tennessee, but state lawmakers have since fought the change.| theappeal.org
The Appeal contacted more than 120 prosecutors and city attorneys to ask if they’ll file criminal cases against campus Palestine protesters.| theappeal.org
The bill requires people be held on bail for dozens of new, small-time charges—and virtually eliminates charitable bail funds.| theappeal.org
Shane Kendall's father says in a new lawsuit that the medical staff at Atlanta, Georgia's Fulton County Jail let his autistic son die.| theappeal.org
The Appeal spoke with Robert Saleem Holbrook about the long-standing solidarity among liberation movements for Black Americans and Palestine.| theappeal.org
Louisiana's Jackson Parish Jail, an adult facility, houses numerous children, including some formerly held inside the notorious Angola prison.| theappeal.org
The mass Stop Cop City arraignments in Atlanta charging protesters with domestic terrorism were a silly farce, one observer writes.| theappeal.org
The Pima County Sheriff's Department arrested KJZZ reporter Alisa Reznick while she was covering a pro-Palestine protest in Tucson, Arizona.| theappeal.org
In this excerpt formerly incarcerated writer James Kilgore denounces the growing use of e-carceration technologies like ankle monitors.| theappeal.org
To make informed decisions about public safety, we must first understand what FBI crime data can and cannot tell us.| theappeal.org
