A view of prison employees from inside a cell in the Secured Housing Unit at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, California, in February 2012
Jim Wilson / The New York Times / Redux

The Truth About Deinstitutionalization

A popular theory links the closing of state psychiatric hospitals to the increased incarceration of people with mental illness. But the reality is more complicated.

A monarch butterfly rests on a wire fence set into The Experiment's image template.
Chris Melville / Shutterstock

The Experiment Podcast: What Makes a Murderer?

A widely criticized legal principle disproportionately puts youth of color and women behind bars. But is it the only way to hold police accountable when they kill?

a crowded jail cell in green and orange hues
Molly Crabapple

America's Rural-Jail-Death Problem

Every day, in small towns and cities across the country, thousands of people are booked into local jails, many for minor crimes. Some never come home.

Portrait of Anissa Jordan
Carolyn Drake

Anissa Jordan Took Part in a Robbery. She Went to Prison for Murder.

The legal doctrine that allows people to be prosecuted for murder even if they didn't kill anyone has fallen out of favor across the globe. In America, it remains common.

Christian's parents, Jose and Gaby, in front of Santa Clara prison, where Christian died in custody. (Carlos Chavarria)
Carlos Chavarría

They Called for Help. They'd Always Regret It.

Two families called 911 to get help for their sons. They didn't know that they'd be thrusting them into a complex and often brutal system.

A medic leans over a desk in a darkened room, preparing medical supplies.
Ricardo Nagaoka

An Alternative to Police That Police Can Get Behind

In Eugene, Oregon, a successful crisis-response program has reduced the footprint of law enforcement—and maybe even the likelihood of police violence.

An illustration of a man in a prison uniform, sitting half in shadow in a cell
Katherine Lam

When Mental Illness Becomes a Jail Sentence

Arrestees who are mentally incompetent to stand trial are supposed to be sent for treatment. But thousands are being warehoused in jails for months without a conviction.

A silhouette of a man from behind, against a grey background
Illustration by Cam Floyd; animation by Andrew Embury

The Tragedy of Mental Illness in American Prisons

At the time of his death, following a violent altercation with guards, Karl Taylor was one of thousands of mentally ill inmates who are confined to institutions that are supremely ill-equipped to handle them.

A man in a jail cell with his head in his hands
Charles Rex Arbogast / AP

America's Largest Mental Hospital Is a Jail

At Cook County, where a third of those incarcerated suffer from psychological disorders, officials are looking for ways to treat inmates less like prisoners and more like patients.