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Analysis

Analysis of criminal justice published by The Marshall Project.

A woman with light-toned skin crouches down to place flowers at a memorial. Hundreds of flower bouquets, cards and signs are visible on the ground, and an orange and blue mural showing George Floyd with a backdrop of a sunflower is on the wall.
Analysis May 25
George Floyd, 5 Years Later
On this anniversary of Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, here are six pieces about why it happened — and what followed.
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An illustration shows a grid of different jail cells with small or narrow windows, or no windows at all.
Analysis May 21
The Unbearable Darkness of Jail
Jails in St. Louis, Cleveland and Jackson, Mississippi, don’t provide direct access to sunlight and fresh air – even when their own policies require it.
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A police officer’s head and shoulders are silhouetted against a blue and purple background.
Analysis April 29
Trump’s New Order on Policing Seems Sweeping. But What Will It Really Change?
The president’s directive may please some law enforcement officials, but some experts say certain provisions are redundant and ignore how police agencies really work.
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A photograph of President Trump, a White man in a suit and tie, speaking at a podium behind pink and blue orbs of light.
Analysis February 11
Trump’s Executive Order Sows Confusion for Transgender Federal Prisoners
Without guidance from the Bureau of Prisons, trans people are “told one thing from one staff person and a totally different thing from another.”
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Three men, wearing orange and red uniforms, talk on telephones in a payphone booth area.
Analysis January 23
How Trump’s Immigration Orders Represent a Seismic Shift on Enforcement
The president’s actions move the federal government toward his promised hardline position. But some executive orders will face court challenges.
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President Donald Trump, a White man wearing a dark suit, gestures with his hands out while sitting at a desk with a presidential seal on it. On the left, a man holds a stack of executive orders. In front of the president, photographers take pictures of him.
Analysis January 23
Trump’s Order Takes Aim at Transgender People in Prison
Few trans people receive gender-affirming housing and care in the federal prison system. This executive order would make it even harder.
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A group of men wearing white uniforms, seen from the back, walk toward a fenced area. A guard stands by the entrance.
Analysis January 22
What Will Trump’s Executive Order on Private Prisons Really Do?
The order reverses Biden’s ban on private prison contracts with the Justice Department. Private immigrant detention never stopped and is expected to grow.
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Trump, a White man in a navy suit and a red and navy tie, signs a document while sitting in the Oval Office.
Analysis January 22
Trump’s New Order to Expand the Death Penalty Misses Key Details
The order shows the president’s desire for more executions. But it’s unclear how the administration will carry out its plans, legal experts say.
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President Donald Trump, a White man wearing a dark suit and red striped tie, and his attorney Todd Blanche, a man with light-toned skin wearing a dark suit with a dark tie, appear on a monitor in a courtroom.
Analysis January 10
‘Was This Fair?’ People Behind Bars React to Trump’s Sentencing
The president-elect avoided punishment for his 34 felony convictions, highlighting how the legal system often treats the wealthy and powerful.
By The Marshall Project
A collage of, clockwise from top left: a photo of a woman with two children in their home; drawings of the faces of judicial candidates in circles with the text “Judicial Election Guide” in the center; an illustration of a surveillance device with a projection of a car coming out of a camera; drawings of four trans people, and above them an audio waveform; a collage of pictures, a gun, a police baton and helmet for The Marshall Project's story on the Black Shield organization; and a drawing of a school chair, with the words “The Hardest Case for Mercy” around it.
Analysis December 16, 2024
Some of Our Best Work for 2024
Online, in print, and on radio and TV, we delved into prison health care, political views of people behind bars, arrests of women who miscarry and more.
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