Sixty-nine people have died in LA County jails since the start of 2023.

How are people dying? Los Angeles County has not yet publicly issued causes of death for everyone who has died in county jails in recent months. However, even once autopsy reports are finalized, they don’t tell the whole story: when the coroner rules that a death is the result of “natural causes,” jail conditions can still be to blame. Researchers ...

Elections entertain, divide, and frustrate people watching from behind bars and looking for hope.

Most people would be surprised about how well-informed incarcerated people really are. For example, there are two topics that have been gaining a lot of momentum amongst the prison population: stocks and the presidential election. Just recently, a friend told me he has prepared two different stock portfolios, each tailored toward who is elected as ...

The Supreme Court says that people held in jails who are legally innocent have a right to vote. In reality, that’s often impossible.

On Election Day, approximately 448,000 legally innocent people will be held in more than 3,000 local jails across the United States. Since they have not been convicted of a crime, they are eligible to vote. But few will get the chance to exercise that right. In 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that people who are held in jail and haven’t been co ...