As the debate on reproductive rights and prison conditions swirled, and U.S. voters prepared to choose a new president, The Marshall Project used one-of-a-kind data and in-depth reporting to illuminate vital criminal justice issues in 2024.
We brought our investigative work to new audiences through innovative storytelling and expanded partnerships, launched The Marshall Project’s second local news operation in Jackson, Mississippi — and announced a third for St. Louis — and held the first-ever film festival at Sing Sing prison in New York.
We used our deep connections inside U.S. prisons and jails to survey more than 54,000 incarcerated people in 45 states and the District of Columbia on their attitudes toward the presidential candidates. Nicole Lewis, Shannon Heffernan, Anna Flagg, Aala Abdullahi and David Eads gathered and analyzed the survey responses, which showed strong support for Donald Trump. We partnered with Slate to give readers this rare survey of people in prison.
Data reporters Flagg, Andrew Rodriguez Calderón and Geoff Hing led a major review of more than 350,000 statements by Trump to zero in on his claims about immigrants, using a combination of computer-aided analysis and the work of more than a dozen reporters to narrow down their research. They found 13 major claims repeatedly made by Trump that were false or misleading, and reporters explained why. After the election, Flagg and Eads reported that his immigration rhetoric helped Trump at the polls.
Pregnancy and Punishment
Deep accountability reporting was exemplified by our story on false accusations of drug use against new mothers because of faulty tests. Shoshana Walter found that something as benign as poppy seed salad dressing could trigger a false positive and lead to parents being separated from their newborns — something that is happening across the country. Walter also found that hospitals are giving expectant mothers medications during their deliveries and then reporting them to protective services for those same drugs. Additional reporting was done by Weihua Li, Andrew Rodriguez Calderón, Nakylah Carter and Catherine Odom.
Cary Aspinwall continued her ground-breaking coverage of prosecutions of women who have miscarriages or stillbirths. She documented criminal charges against women in South Carolina, Mississippi, Oklahoma and several other states after a miscarriage or stillbirth for failing to seek immediate treatment, not getting prenatal care or being accused of disposing of the fetal remains improperly.
Investing in Investigative Reporting
Working with Mother Jones, Shannon Heffernan identified nearly 100 people across the country, almost all of them women, who had been convicted of aiding or failing to stop a crime by their alleged abuser. Some of them showed visible signs of abuse when they were arrested, including one who had been shot by her abuser.
Our investigative strength was evident in other stories. Cary Aspinwall, Sachi McClendon and The Frontier’s Brianna Bailey found that at least 50 people in jail died in the care of Oklahoma-based Turn Key Health Clinics. Data analysis was done by Geoff Hing.
Lakeidra Chavis, Daphne Duret and Joseph Neff uncovered almost 200 allegations that law enforcement officials had groomed, sexually assaulted or engaged in inappropriate behavior with young people in the Explorers program since 1974. Additional reporting was done by Hing, David Eads, Weihua Li and Catherine Odom.
Duret, working with reporters at WTSP 10 Tampa Bay, investigated the use of spit hoods by some police departments to subdue people in custody. There are no national reporting requirements, but reporters found police had used spit hoods — which slip over the head and cover the face — on at least 31 people who died in their custody between 2013 and 2023.
Unsolved in St. Louis
In partnership with St. Louis Public Radio and APM Reports, Alysia Santo examined why 1,000 homicides from the past decade remain unsolved in St. Louis and how that affects families of victims and the broader community. Reporters found racial disparities in the solve rates for Black and White murder victims, allegations of misconduct among some homicide detectives and a shortage of police staffing. Because of our partnerships, the story was told in multiple formats, including radio segments and a podcast. Additional data analysis by Anna Flagg.
The Rise and Fall of a Black Cop
Our talent for long-form storytelling was on display with Wilbert Cooper’s deep dive into the Black Shield police organization in Cleveland and the rise and fall of a Black officer whose shooting of a young man in 2013 helped spark a federal consent decree. Cooper, who is from a family of Black police officers in Cleveland, found that by 2020 the officer was a leader for reform and allied himself with Black Lives Matter. Then he was fired. Designer Bo-Won Keum’s beautiful treatment of Cooper’s family photos and artifacts added richness to the story.
How are Reformers Changing Prisons?
In “The Future of Prisons,” Maurice Chammah, who had visited Germany to see its prison innovations, wrote about the “Restoring Promise” program at a South Carolina prison that was inspired by them. The program, put in place after a riot, matches younger men with behavioral problems with older mentors, allows them to choose their clothes and lets family members bring in items to personalize their cells.
Mental Health and Criminal Justice
Continuing her examination of the intersection of mental health and law enforcement, Christie Thompson explained how some communities are sending unarmed clinicians or other civilians to some emergency calls. She collaborated with Tradeoffs, which produced The Fifth Branch podcast series on how this effort is working in Durham, N.C. Additional reporting was done by Ryan Levi.
Thompson also partnered with reporters Sydney Brownstone and Esmy Jimenez at The Seattle Times to investigate how people in Washington state who are in a mental health care crisis wind up in jail rather than in a treatment facility. Additional reporting was done by Jasmyne Ricard, Weihua Li and Miyoko Wolf.
What It’s Like to Be Transgender in Prison
Beth Schwartzapfel told the story of Grace Pinson, a transgender woman in a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona, built for men. Pinson has become a skilled jailhouse lawyer, fighting to get gender-affirming care, to be moved to a women’s prison and to be kept safe. Additional reporting was done by John Washington, with data analysis by Geoff Hing.
In “What Being Trans in Prison is Really Like,” Schwartzapfel gathered first-person stories about the feelings of isolation and fear experienced by transgender people who are incarcerated.
A Condemned Man’s Thoughts From Death Row
As part of his continuing coverage of the death penalty, Maurice Chammah did a final interview with Ramiro Gonzales days before he was executed in Texas in June for the 2001 kidnapping, rape and murder of Bridget Townsend. “When I got to death row, being stigmatized as a menace to society made me want to change, to help others and myself,” he told Chammah. Additional reporting was done by Nakylah Carter and Keri Blakinger.
Reporting From Ohio and Mississippi
We continued in 2024 to expand our commitment to local journalism. Caleb Bedillion and Daja E. Henry, led by editor Paul D’Ambrosio, went to work in our new Jackson, Mississippi, office, partnering with local newsrooms to dig into criminal justice issues vital to Mississippi residents. One of those projects was an in-depth guide to judicial races to help voters understand the candidates’ views and backgrounds.
Our judge guide project began with work by The Marshall Project – Cleveland team to understand residents’ questions about the Cuyahoga County court system. Responding to what residents said they needed, Rachel Dissell, Mark Puente, Doug Livingston and Brittany Hailer created a comprehensive judges guide in partnership with Signal Cleveland. It includes Q&As from candidates, background information and insight into court operations.
The Cleveland team also took a comprehensive look at the juvenile justice system. Hailer and Puente, with data analysis by Livingston, investigated Cuyahoga County’s lax oversight of private care centers used to house young people. Livingston and Dissell found that more than 1,200 children accused of serious crimes in the county since 2020 were defended by court-appointed lawyers who lacked state-mandated qualifications.
The Problem With Banning Masks at Protests
With police able to use a growing array of surveillance tools, Ilica Mahajan examined why some states are moving to forbid protesters from wearing masks so that they can’t get away with misbehavior. She found that mask bans seemingly make it easier for political opponents to identify and dox people while adding little value for police. “There are lots of different tools that are available to law enforcement. Facial recognition is one of those tools that it’s about expediency,” said Nicole Napolitano, the director of research at the Center for Policing Equity.
‘The Hardest Case for Mercy’
Writing about mass shooters is fraught for journalists; many outlets now avoid focusing on the killer for fear of encouraging copycats. But there is value in understanding the wrenching, disturbing details of their lives. In “The Hardest Case for Mercy,” freelance reporter Joe Sexton provided an inside account of the defense team’s effort to spare the life of Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old who shot dead 17 students and staff at his former high school in Parkland, Florida, in 2022. The story details, for the first time, the work of Cruz’s defense team as they successfully sought to prevent his execution.
Reaching Incarcerated Readers
The Marshall Project is dedicated to getting our journalism into prisons and jails for our incarcerated readers. This year, Lawrence Bartley and Donald Washington produced the second season of “Inside Story,” our video series available to incarcerated viewers in 1,431 prisons and jails via tablets and facilities’ closed-circuit TV. In Episode 1, rapper Common talks about his work bringing music into prisons.
In Cleveland, Outreach Manager Louis Fields is getting our work into local prisons and jails. And our News Inside print publication is available in 1,604 prisons and jails in 48 states; Washington, D.C.; Vancouver, Canada; Tijuana, Mexico; and Panama City, Panama.
Taking Readers Inside Prisons
Our Life Inside essays offer people a glimpse of what life is like during and after prison for incarcerated people and their families. In “Love Beyond Bars,” photographer Camille Farrah Lenain and reporter Carla Canning introduced readers to three couples who endured separation because of wrongful convictions but are finally able to be together. These beautiful photo essays capture Raymond Flanks and Cassandra Delpit during years of prison visits; Jules and Samantha Werkheiser with their child; and Miguel and Silvia Solorio at the beach.
With temperatures at record-setting levels in 2024, Engagement Reporter Aala Abdullahi, working with the Prison Journalism Project, gathered first-person stories from prison journalists about how they dealt with the extreme heat.
Supporting Local Journalists
With the launch of Investigate This!, led by Michelle Billman, our reporters and editors created and distributed several reporting toolkits that allow local journalists to report on a topic we’ve investigated in their own communities. For example, other newsrooms created 22 stories with help from The Marshall Project’s election survey toolkit. An October webinar we held in partnership with The Journalist’s Resource titled “Covering Felony Disenfranchisement and The Politics of People Behind Bars” drew more than 50 journalists and hundreds of views of the recording. Our efforts to provide journalists with data and reporting tips to make it easier for them to tell criminal justice stories will continue in 2025.
Growing Newsletters and Audiences
Our Closing Argument newsletter is focused on one vital criminal justice issue each week to deepen readers’ understanding. In April, Jamiles Lartey examined solitary confinement, and how efforts to reform the practice routinely bump into practical and political hurdles. In August, he outlined how advocates are pushing for limits on farm work at Louisiana State Penitentiary, better known as Angola, during extreme heat. Opening Statement, our daily newsletter edited by Andrew Cohen, gives readers a comprehensive view of what is happening in the criminal justice universe.
Newsletter Strategist Rachel Kincaid manages three regular national newsletters and helped develop our two local newsletters in Cleveland and Jackson, and Annaliese Griffin edits and oversees our newsletter production. Here’s how you can subscribe to any of them.
Our social media strategy, led by Audience Director Ashley Dye, is to view social apps as publishing platforms in their own right — with a focus on Instagram, YouTube, Reddit and TikTok. As audience engagement producers, Kristin Bausch and Chris Vazquez craft informative and entertaining posts, from explainer slides to short-form videos, and reply to people’s questions.
Leaning into YouTube this year, we gained a record-setting nearly 20 million views and about 46,000 new subscribers. In a YouTube Short seen more than 1.5 million times, Vazquez collaborated with Maurice Chammah to show why some U.S. states are changing how they execute people.
On Instagram, readers widely shared and discussed Bausch’s carousel posts, like her breakdown of alternative crisis response programs with reporting by Christie Thompson. Reporters also spoke directly with readers; Shoshana Walter, with Dye’s assistance, participated in a popular Reddit AMA about hospitals’ faulty drug tests that was viewed more than 600,000 times.
