Prison-industrial complex
On Flags, Fireworks, Hot Dogs and Torture
Last week, as millions of Americans got hyped about the Fourth of July, two men brutally tortured by the US government were quietly released from prison.
What It's Like to Visit the White House as an Ex-Con
President Obama's security detail still brands ex-cons—regardless of the nature of their crime or what they've been up to since—as suspect.
The Long, Strange Trip of a Prisoner Who Loves the Grateful Dead and Acid
Thanks to mandatory minimum sentencing, Deadheads like Tim Tyler—who has been locked up for almost a quarter of a century—are missing out on the Grateful Dead 50th anniversary shows this weekend.
Can German Prisons Teach America How to Handle Its Most Violent Criminals?
The preventative detention unit at Tegel Prison in Berlin offers a radically different way to approach those felons Americans might call the "worst of the worst."
The Story of the Two Murderers' Escape from a New York Prison Keeps Getting Weirder and Weirder
Details in the press about the prison break have grown increasingly lurid, with tales of large penises, sex on railroad tracks and a bizarre spousal murder plot.
Why Are Nigerians Flocking to Work in Texas Prisons?
Searching for a better life, a wave of African immigrants have taken jobs as corrections officers in the Lone Star State.
When Prison Guards Force Inmates to Fight
That sort of brutal violence is just "part of doing time," one former federal prisoner says.
How to Survive Life in a British Prison
Some tips from a former inmate that go beyond the stereotypes of endless rapes and shankings.
Dissecting Decades-Old Testimony in a Satanic Child Abuse Case
'Satanic abuse' cases in the 80s and 90s centered on sensational tales of animal sacrifices, murders of babies and violent orgies that children were sworn to keep secret by powerful cabals of daycare workers.
How an FBI Informant Sent a Radical Environmentalist to Prison, and How He Got Out Again
The true story of a failed bomb plot, an 18-year-old informant, and a massive fuck-up by the US government.
Why Are So Many Sex Offenders Getting Murdered in California's Prisons?
One inmate says that prison gangs and even guards team up to assault and sometimes kill sex offenders.
Why Do Female Guards in US Jails Keep Having Sex with Inmates?
We asked a female corrections officer and a longtime prisoner for some perspective on why and how inmates manipulate the people who are supposed to be overseeing them.