Inquest

" @werepjustice helps formerly incarcerated people share their experiences with communities around the country by training, supporting, and compensating impacted storytellers and by running campaigns to change the justice system." @DanielForkkio inquest.org/building-narra…

@CookCoDefender Today is the anniversary of the creation of our public defense system. For more on the future of public defense, check out our Beyond Gideon series, with contributions from Premal Dharia, Alexis Hoag-Fordjour, Calvin Arey, Kiyomi Bolick, and Paul Butler inquest.org/beyond-gideon/

"One of the fundamental injustices of the U.S. criminal legal system is that who ends up in court has more to do with how much money they have in their pocket than almost anything else." For Gideon Day, Sharone Mitchell, Jr. / @CookCoDefender inquest.org/public-defense…

"The poor people who end up being our clients don’t usually have lobbyists fighting for their interests, so we have stepped up." Sharone Mitchell, Jr., of @CookCoDefender on imagining a powerful new role for public defenders—for Gideon Day 2026. inquest.org/public-defense…

For those watching the Oscars tonight, a reminder that the incarcerated whistleblowers behind The Alabama Solution have been in solitary confinement as retribution for their whistleblowing. All the details: inquest.org/the-oscars-in-…

This week, Inquest covered how Oscar buzz around 'The Alabama Solution' hasn't stopped the film's incarcerated whistleblowers from being punished with solitary confinement, and we published an investigation into abuses in Georgia's youth detention. Recap: mailchi.mp/inquest.org/os…

"Georgia spends $217,517 annually to incarcerate a child in its system.... The annual cost of a pupil in Georgia public schools is $15,833." An investigation with Prism and @mainlinezine into Georgia's dangerous, expensive youth incarceration inquest.org/inside-georgia…

“‘The environment there is not good at all,’ Jay said. ‘It’s very dangerous—people fighting 24/7, people trying to make shanks and stuff like that.’” An investigative report into Georgia's youth detention crisis, with Prism and @mainlinezine inquest.org/inside-georgia…

"Stories about prison conditions—whether abroad or at home—should not be illegal. They should be nurtured and safeguarded, including by law." Seth Stern of @FreedomofPress + @corinneshanahan of @endmassinc_org + prison journalist Jeremy Busby inquest.org/the-oscars-in-…

"The US may sometimes protect those who expose tyranny abroad but those who shine a light on abuses back home are on their own." Seth Stern of @FreedomofPress + @corinneshanahan of @endmassinc_org + prison journalist Jeremy Busby on prison whistleblowers inquest.org/the-oscars-in-…

This week Inquest interviewed celebrated incarcerated journalist and activist @ChrisWBlackwell about what it would take to level the playing field for prison journalism, and shared a review of his book on abolishing solitary confinement. Full recap: mailchi.mp/inquest.org/jo…

"What we’ve seen happening is that states pass groundbreaking legislation aimed at ending solitary confinement—but it turns out they haven’t actually succeeded in changing the practice of torturing and harming people." @ChrisWBlackwell inquest.org/we-have-journa…

"I never knew I was voiceless until outside advocates kept telling me how voiceless I was. Even though people’s intentions aren’t bad, you don’t need to speak for other people. Let people speak for themselves and empower them to do so." @ChrisWBlackwell inquest.org/we-have-journa…

"Solitary confinement ... is just one of many harsh practices of our criminal legal system that has made seem natural and necessary, but which is in fact experimental and entirely deleterious." inquest.org/the-endless-pu…

"[Christopher Blackwell's] 'Ending Isolation' makes clear that we misunderstand solitary confinement if we think of it in terms of sensory deprivation. Rather, it is experienced as an all-consuming sensory overwhelm." inquest.org/the-endless-pu…

This week Inquest covered how "reformist" prison policies are often a bait-and-switch, maintaining the carceral status quo, and published a grieving mother's take on how restorative justice can help communities heal from gun violence. Get the full recap: mailchi.mp/inquest.org/pu…

"Prison systems have sold incarcerated people on the idea that good behavior leads to progress. But instead of transfer to a minimum-security prison, I was rerouted into a maximum-security warehouse disguised as a lower-security prison." inquest.org/punishing-thro…

When incarcerated author Ivan Kilgore was moved by prison authorities to a more violent facility, he soon realized it "was not an avenue for creating more opportunities for self-improvement. Rather, it was punishment in disguise." inquest.org/punishing-thro…

"We cannot arrest our way out of violence. Incarceration does not erase trauma; it only buries it deeper. Real change requires us to create spaces for truth-telling, accountability, and reconciliation." —Dawn Poindexter inquest.org/a-path-forward/

"Despite my personal loss, I found myself feeling empathy not just for the victims, but for the perpetrators who were, in many ways, victims themselves." A grieving mother's journey to heal her community: inquest.org/a-path-forward/