Investigative Journalism

John Oliver’s take on U.S. Prisons

Did the California Supreme Court Just Remake the State’s Bail System? May 9, 2026
A new ruling affirms the right to pretrial release, and says prosecutors must show specific cause to keep someone in jail.
Raising Innocence May 8, 2026
An Indiana Women’s Prison unit gives incarcerated people a place to raise their newborns on the inside, rather than forcing them to give their babies up after birth.
For This Mom in Prison, Mother’s Day Is a Blessing and a Curse May 8, 2026
Kwaneta Harris has missed every single Mother’s Day with her 19-year-old. That means walking on eggshells, icy politeness and the occasional mom joke.

Updated data and charts: Women’s incarceration, national prison population counts, psychological distress behind bars, and more
Added Updated data and charts: Women’s incarceration, national prison population counts, psychological distress behind bars, and more to the Prison Policy Blog. Updated data visualizations illustrate the scale of — and disparities within — mass incarceration.
Guaranteed income helps people leaving jail and prison, and that helps everyone
Added Guaranteed income helps people leaving jail and prison, and that helps everyone to the Prison Policy Blog. Guaranteed income programs show reduced recidivism and improved self-sufficiency, quickly paying for themselves.
New 50-state report, Punishment Beyond Prisons 2026, shows that 5.5 million people are under the control of the criminal legal system
Added New 50-state report, Punishment Beyond Prisons 2026, shows that 5.5 million people are under the control of the criminal legal system to the Prison Policy Blog. The U.S. keeps millions of people on probation and parole every day. Rather than serving as an alternative to incarceration, supervision is often a tripwire to harsher punishments.

Except where otherwise noted, this site by Shenique S. Davis is distributed under the following license: Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC).

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BMCC’s OpenLab is an online platform where the College’s students, faculty and staff can come together to learn, work, play and share ideas.

Help | Contact the OpenLab | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Credits Please use the above links if you need more help in using the OpenLab.

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