As the talk on reproductive rights and jail circumstances swirled, and U.S. voters ready to decide on a brand new president, The Marshall Mission used one-of-a-kind knowledge and in-depth reporting to light up very important prison justice points in 2024.
We introduced our investigative work to new audiences via modern storytelling and expanded partnerships, launched The Marshall Mission’s second native information operation in Jackson, Mississippi — and introduced a 3rd for St. Louis — and held the first-ever movie competition at Sing Sing jail in New York.
We used our deep connections inside U.S. prisons and jails to survey greater than 54,000 incarcerated individuals in 45 states and the District of Columbia on their attitudes towards the presidential candidates. Nicole Lewis, Shannon Heffernan, Anna Flagg, Aala Abdullahi and David Eads gathered and analyzed the survey responses, which confirmed sturdy help for Donald Trump. We partnered with Slate to offer readers this uncommon survey of individuals in jail.
Knowledge reporters Flagg, Andrew Rodriguez Calderón and Geoff Hing led a serious assessment of greater than 350,000 statements by Trump to zero in on his claims about immigrants, utilizing a mixture of computer-aided evaluation and the work of greater than a dozen reporters to slender down their analysis. They discovered 13 main claims repeatedly made by Trump that had been false or deceptive, and reporters defined why. After the election, Flagg and Eads reported that his immigration rhetoric helped Trump on the polls.
Being pregnant and Punishment
Deep accountability reporting was exemplified by our story on false accusations of drug use in opposition to new moms due to defective exams. Shoshana Walter discovered that one thing as benign as poppy seed salad dressing may set off a false optimistic and result in mother and father being separated from their newborns — one thing that’s occurring throughout the nation. Walter additionally discovered that hospitals are giving expectant moms drugs throughout their deliveries after which reporting them to protecting companies for those self same medicine. Extra reporting was performed by Weihua Li, Andrew Rodriguez Calderón, Nakylah Carter and Catherine Odom.
Cary Aspinwall continued her ground-breaking protection of prosecutions of girls who’ve miscarriages or stillbirths. She documented prison costs in opposition to girls in South Carolina, Mississippi, Oklahoma and several other different states after a miscarriage or stillbirth for failing to hunt instant remedy, not getting prenatal care or being accused of disposing of the fetal stays improperly.
Investing in Investigative Reporting
Working with Mom Jones, Shannon Heffernan recognized practically 100 individuals throughout the nation, virtually all of them girls, who had been convicted of aiding or failing to cease against the law by their alleged abuser. A few of them confirmed seen indicators of abuse after they had been arrested, together with one who had been shot by her abuser.
Our investigative power was evident in different tales. Cary Aspinwall, Sachi McClendon and The Frontier’s Brianna Bailey discovered that not less than 50 individuals in jail died within the care of Oklahoma-based Flip Key Well being Clinics. Knowledge evaluation was performed by Geoff Hing.
Lakeidra Chavis, Daphne Duret and Joseph Neff uncovered virtually 200 allegations that legislation enforcement officers had groomed, sexually assaulted or engaged in inappropriate conduct with younger individuals within the Explorers program since 1974. Extra reporting was performed by Hing, David Eads, Weihua Li and Catherine Odom.
Duret, working with reporters at WTSP 10 Tampa Bay, investigated the usage of spit hoods by some police departments to subdue individuals in custody. There aren’t any nationwide reporting necessities, however reporters discovered police had used spit hoods — which slip over the top and canopy the face — on not less than 31 individuals who died of their custody between 2013 and 2023.
Unsolved in St. Louis
In partnership with St. Louis Public Radio and APM Experiences, Alysia Santo examined why 1,000 homicides from the previous decade stay unsolved in St. Louis and the way that impacts households of victims and the broader neighborhood. Reporters discovered racial disparities within the remedy charges for Black and White homicide victims, allegations of misconduct amongst some murder detectives and a scarcity of police staffing. Due to our partnerships, the story was informed in a number of codecs, together with radio segments and a podcast. Extra knowledge evaluation by Anna Flagg.
The Rise and Fall of a Black Cop
Our expertise for long-form storytelling was on show with Wilbert Cooper’s deep dive into the Black Protect police group in Cleveland and the rise and fall of a Black officer whose taking pictures of a younger man in 2013 helped spark a federal consent decree. Cooper, who’s from a household of Black cops in Cleveland, discovered that by 2020 the officer was a pacesetter for reform and allied himself with Black Lives Matter. Then he was fired. Designer Bo-Received Keum’s stunning remedy of Cooper’s household pictures and artifacts added richness to the story.
How are Reformers Altering Prisons?
In “The Way forward for Prisons,” Maurice Chammah, who had visited Germany to see its jail improvements, wrote concerning the “Restoring Promise” program at a South Carolina jail that was impressed by them. This system, put in place after a riot, matches youthful males with behavioral issues with older mentors, permits them to decide on their garments and lets relations usher in gadgets to personalize their cells.
Psychological Well being and Prison Justice
Persevering with her examination of the intersection of psychological well being and legislation enforcement, Christie Thompson defined how some communities are sending unarmed clinicians or different civilians to some emergency calls. She collaborated with Tradeoffs, which produced The Fifth Department podcast collection on how this effort is working in Durham, N.C. Extra reporting was performed by Ryan Levi.
Thompson additionally partnered with reporters Sydney Brownstone and Esmy Jimenez at The Seattle Occasions to analyze how individuals in Washington state who’re in a psychological well being care disaster wind up in jail moderately than in a remedy facility. Extra reporting was performed by Jasmyne Ricard, Weihua Li and Miyoko Wolf.
What It’s Prefer to Be Transgender in Jail
Beth Schwartzapfel informed the story of Grace Pinson, a transgender girl in a federal jail in Tucson, Arizona, constructed for males. Pinson has grow to be a talented jailhouse lawyer, preventing to get gender-affirming care, to be moved to a girls’s jail and to be saved secure. Extra reporting was performed by John Washington, with knowledge evaluation by Geoff Hing.
In “What Being Trans in Jail is Actually Like,” Schwartzapfel gathered first-person tales concerning the emotions of isolation and concern skilled by transgender people who find themselves incarcerated.
A Condemned Man’s Ideas From Dying Row
As a part of his persevering with protection of the loss of life penalty, Maurice Chammah did a last interview with Ramiro Gonzales days earlier than he was executed in Texas in June for the 2001 kidnapping, rape and homicide of Bridget Townsend. “After I acquired to loss of life row, being stigmatized as a menace to society made me need to change, to assist others and myself,” he informed Chammah. Extra reporting was performed by Nakylah Carter and Keri Blakinger.
Reporting From Ohio and Mississippi
We continued in 2024 to increase our dedication to native journalism. Caleb Bedillion and Daja E. Henry, led by editor Paul D’Ambrosio, went to work in our new Jackson, Mississippi, workplace, partnering with native newsrooms to dig into prison justice points very important to Mississippi residents. A kind of initiatives was an in-depth information to judicial races to assist voters perceive the candidates’ views and backgrounds.
Our choose information venture started with work by The Marshall Mission – Cleveland group to grasp residents’ questions concerning the Cuyahoga County courtroom system. Responding to what residents stated they wanted, Rachel Dissell, Mark Puente, Doug Livingston and Brittany Hailer created a complete judges information in partnership with Sign Cleveland. It contains Q&As from candidates, background data and perception into courtroom operations.
The Cleveland group additionally took a complete have a look at the juvenile justice system. Hailer and Puente, with knowledge evaluation by Livingston, investigated Cuyahoga County’s lax oversight of personal care facilities used to deal with younger individuals. Livingston and Dissell discovered that greater than 1,200 youngsters accused of significant crimes within the county since 2020 had been defended by court-appointed legal professionals who lacked state-mandated {qualifications}.
The Downside With Banning Masks at Protests
With police in a position to make use of a rising array of surveillance instruments, Ilica Mahajan examined why some states are transferring to forbid protesters from carrying masks in order that they’ll’t get away with misbehavior. She discovered that masks bans seemingly make it simpler for political opponents to determine and dox individuals whereas including little worth for police. “There are many totally different instruments which are accessible to legislation enforcement. Facial recognition is a type of instruments that it’s about expediency,” stated Nicole Napolitano, the director of analysis on the Heart for Policing Fairness.
‘The Hardest Case for Mercy’
Writing about mass shooters is fraught for journalists; many retailers now keep away from specializing in the killer for concern of encouraging copycats. However there may be worth in understanding the wrenching, disturbing particulars of their lives. In “The Hardest Case for Mercy,” freelance reporter Joe Sexton offered an inside account of the protection group’s effort to spare the lifetime of Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old who shot useless 17 college students and employees at his former highschool in Parkland, Florida, in 2022. The story particulars, for the primary time, the work of Cruz’s protection group as they efficiently sought to forestall his execution.
Reaching Incarcerated Readers
The Marshall Mission is devoted to getting our journalism into prisons and jails for our incarcerated readers. This 12 months, Lawrence Bartley and Donald Washington produced the second season of “Inside Story,” our video collection accessible to incarcerated viewers in 1,431 prisons and jails by way of tablets and services’ closed-circuit TV. In Episode 1, rapper Frequent talks about his work bringing music into prisons.
In Cleveland, Outreach Supervisor Louis Fields is getting our work into native prisons and jails. And our Information Inside print publication is obtainable in 1,604 prisons and jails in 48 states; Washington, D.C.; Vancouver, Canada; Tijuana, Mexico; and Panama Metropolis, Panama.
Taking Readers Inside Prisons
Our Life Inside essays provide individuals a glimpse of what life is like throughout and after jail for incarcerated individuals and their households. In “Love Past Bars,” photographer Camille Farrah Lenain and reporter Carla Canning launched readers to 3 {couples} who endured separation due to wrongful convictions however are lastly in a position to be collectively. These stunning photograph essays seize Raymond Flanks and Cassandra Delpit throughout years of jail visits; Jules and Samantha Werkheiser with their baby; and Miguel and Silvia Solorio on the seaside.
With temperatures at record-setting ranges in 2024, Engagement Reporter Aala Abdullahi, working with the Jail Journalism Mission, gathered first-person tales from jail journalists about how they handled the acute warmth.
Supporting Native Journalists
With the launch of Examine This!, led by Michelle Billman, our reporters and editors created and distributed a number of reporting toolkits that enable native journalists to report on a subject we’ve investigated in their very own communities. For instance, different newsrooms created 22 tales with assist from The Marshall Mission’s election survey toolkit. An October webinar we held in partnership with The Journalist’s Useful resource titled “Masking Felony Disenfranchisement and The Politics of Individuals Behind Bars” drew greater than 50 journalists and a whole lot of views of the recording. Our efforts to supply journalists with knowledge and reporting tricks to make it simpler for them to inform prison justice tales will proceed in 2025.
Rising Newsletters and Audiences
Our Closing Argument publication is targeted on one very important prison justice difficulty every week to deepen readers’ understanding. In April, Jamiles Lartey examined solitary confinement, and the way efforts to reform the observe routinely stumble upon sensible and political hurdles. In August, he outlined how advocates are pushing for limits on farm work at Louisiana State Penitentiary, higher often known as Angola, throughout excessive warmth. Opening Assertion, our each day publication edited by Andrew Cohen, provides readers a complete view of what’s occurring within the prison justice universe.
E-newsletter Strategist Rachel Kincaid manages three common nationwide newsletters and helped develop our two native newsletters in Cleveland and Jackson, and Annaliese Griffin edits and oversees our publication manufacturing. Right here’s how one can subscribe to any of them.
Our social media technique, led by Viewers Director Ashley Dye, is to view social apps as publishing platforms in their very own proper — with a deal with Instagram, YouTube, Reddit and TikTok. As viewers engagement producers, Kristin Bausch and Chris Vazquez craft informative and entertaining posts, from explainer slides to short-form movies, and reply to individuals’s questions.
Leaning into YouTube this 12 months, we gained a record-setting practically 20 million views and about 46,000 new subscribers. In a YouTube Brief seen greater than 1.5 million instances, Vazquez collaborated with Maurice Chammah to point out why some U.S. states are altering how they execute individuals.
On Instagram, readers broadly shared and mentioned Bausch’s carousel posts, like her breakdown of other disaster response applications with reporting by Christie Thompson. Reporters additionally spoke straight with readers; Shoshana Walter, with Dye’s help, participated in a well-liked Reddit AMA about hospitals’ defective drug exams that was seen greater than 600,000 instances.
