Marshall Project
Why Are Police Departments Asking Recruits About Sex, Cockfights, and Commies?
Other weird questions potential cops get asked: Done any hazing at a college frat? Ever lived in a foster home? And much more.
Should 'Late Adolescence' Protect Young People from Execution?
The years between 18 and 21 are a sort of societal limbo period when, in most states, you can't drink, but you can smoke—and get sentenced to die.
All the Times Black People (Actually) Infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan
You've seen the Chappelle skit and maybe even the new Spike Lee movie, but these IRL cases are even crazier.
A Cop Explains Why Curfews Don't Work
How a 90s panic spawned a toxic trend that doesn’t make you safer and can target kids of color.
The Man Who Almost Killed Me Only Did 120 Days in Jail
Before I knew it, my trainer had wrapped my face and head in Saran wrap and was beating me and smashing my head into the wall.
The Man with the Stolen Name
They know what he did—including that he voted for Donald Trump. They just don’t know who he is.
What It's Like to Deliver Death Sentences
I ran for office and took the oath knowing that the death penalty would be part of my job, whether I liked it or not.
The Guy Prisoners Call When They're Betrayed from the Outside
Peter Borenstein is a young LA attorney who's carved out a niche helping ex-prisoners who believe they were the victim of fraud or theft while locked up.
In Louisiana, the Poor Face the Death Penalty Without a Lawyer
A years-long public defender crisis in one of the harshest states in America keeps getting uglier.
I Deliver Bad News to Victims of Horrible Crimes
One of the worst parts about being a prosecutor is telling victims their attacker's conviction got overturned—or that a family member is dead.
America's Strange Array of Punishments for Small-Time Theft
You can go to prison in Florida for a $300 crime, but the threshold for felony theft is $2,500 in Wisconsin.
What Are Inmates Learning in Prison? Not Much
A new survey of 2,000 federal prisoners paints an ugly picture of education behind bars, where one inmate said his geology class consisted of 'Planet Earth' episodes.