We are a worker-run newsroom reporting on the harms of the criminal legal system. You can support our work here: https://theappeal.org/donate/ Sign up for our newsletter: https://theappeal.org/newsletter-subscribe/https://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.orghttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3mlr3y5mglp2iExecutives at ICE’s biggest contractors donated more than $1.7 million to 168 members of Congress over the 3 most recent election cycles. Find out if your representatives are among them with our new searchable database built in partnership with @inthesetimes.com https://theappeal.org/congress-ice-contractor-contributions-pacs-execs/13 May 2026 20:04 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlr3y5mglp2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3mloh7ttdcu2nPennsylvania has one of the largest populations of people serving life without parole sentences in the country—in part due to its onerous process for clemency seekers, which requires unanimous approval from a five-member board. https://theappeal.org/pennsylvania-life-without-parole-clemency-second-chance-hurdles/12 May 2026 18:47 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mloh7ttdcu2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3mle4butezl2tGEO Group CEO George Zoley suggested that selling private facilities directly to ICE could allow the federal government to dodge lawsuits filed by state and local governments seeking to block detention center operations, elizabethweill.bsky.social reports. https://theappeal.org/geo-group-ice-lawsuits-unconstitutiona/08 May 2026 16:05 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mle4butezl2thttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3mkpw3hbjve2yIn 1996, Maria Montalvo was sentenced to 100 years in prison after a jury convicted her of burning her children to death. Today, her attorneys say the conviction was based on junk science. https://theappeal.org/maria-montalvo-arson-junk-science-new-jersey/30 Apr 2026 15:20 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkpw3hbjve2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3mjioejeuvd2lPennsylvania has the nation’s highest per capita rate of people serving life without parole. More than a decade of abolitionist organizing helped pave the way for a state supreme court ruling that could shift the momentum. https://theappeal.org/pennsylvania-supreme-court-life-without-parole-felony-murder/15 Apr 2026 00:49 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjioejeuvd2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3mimx67yojx2kCalifornia's Gov. Gavin Newsom has touted the "California Model" as a more humane approach to incarceration. Viewed from the ground at San Quentin, it looks more like an expensive rebranding effort to make California prisons appear less inhumane, says Steve Brooks. https://theappeal.org/california-decarceration-new-facilities/04 Apr 2026 00:12 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mimx67yojx2khttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3mihsnxeuf72kUnder the felony murder doctrine, a person can be convicted of murder even if they didn't kill anyone. In Pennsylvania, the state Supreme Court ruled that automatic life sentences were unconstitutional; punishments must consider culpability. https://theappeal.org/pennsylvania-supreme-court-life-without-parole-felony-murder/01 Apr 2026 23:08 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mihsnxeuf72khttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3mifmtoskty2pFor Trans Day of Visibility, Gabriel Arkles spoke to trans people behind bars to learn how they've navigated anti-trans violence in an increasingly hostile environment. https://theappeal.org/trans-visibility-incarceration/01 Apr 2026 02:18 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mifmtoskty2phttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3mhem52wmcq2aAramark is the largest provider of prison food in the country. A lawsuit filed by prisoner in West Virginia alleges that the company intentionally serves inedible meals to drive up sales of expensive snacks. https://theappeal.org/aramark-west-virginia-inedible-food-commissary-sales/18 Mar 2026 23:08 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhem52wmcq2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3mhduusd3j32zOver the past 25 years, the share of women over age 55 incarcerated in California prisons has grown by 600 percent, costing the state millions to imprison people who pose little risk to public safety. A new report suggests pathways for expanding releases. https://theappeal.org/incarcerated-senior-women-california-no-time-to-wait/18 Mar 2026 16:11 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhduusd3j32zhttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3mgamf6fn4a2wWillie Cunningham nearly died after his appendix burst while he was incarcerated in Pennsylvania's York County Prison. Nurses working for the jail's for-profit healthcare provider told him he just had heartburn, @elizabethweill.bsky.social reports. https://theappeal.org/york-county-prime-care-medical-negligence-lawsuit-appendicitis/04 Mar 2026 15:36 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgamf6fn4a2whttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3mg6fap36sk2qAs ICE seeks to turn commercial warehouses across the country into massive detention centers, communities are fighting back, @bdolinar.bsky.social reports: https://theappeal.org/ice-wants-to-buy-warehouses-for-mass-detention-communities-are-fighting-back/03 Mar 2026 18:23 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mg6fap36sk2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3mfrpthp3du2qICE has jailed journalists as part of its mass deportation campaign. One unintended side effect: firsthand accounts of detention conditions from trained reporters. https://theappeal.org/ice-incarcerated-journalists-transparency/26 Feb 2026 17:28 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfrpthp3du2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3mergv5wnxc2iAnd in case you missed it, we cataloged the members of Congress who have taken thousands of dollars from private prison companies like CoreCivic and GEO Group. Find out if your rep is among them: https://theappeal.org/ice-cold-cash-private-prison-congress-donations/ [contains quote post or other embedded content]13 Feb 2026 21:23 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mergv5wnxc2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3meouo6i4ma2oIn earnings calls earlier today, investors in GEO Group and CoreCivic criticized ICE. Their chief complaint? ICE's detained population, despite hitting record highs, still isn't large enough. @elizabeth.weill.bsky.social has more: https://theappeal.org/ice-geo-group-corecivic-profits/12 Feb 2026 20:51 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3meouo6i4ma2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3mcx5rf5vts2pEverett Palmer, Jr., died after he was strapped to a restraint chair in York County's jail in 2018. A grand jury made recommendations to prevent similar deaths. Instead of implementing them, York County used the chair 1,295 times—more often any other jail in PA. https://theappeal.org/york-county-pennsylvania-restraint-chairs-everett-palmer/21 Jan 2026 17:05 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mcx5rf5vts2phttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3mcwy6bxguk2pIn February 2021, seven men sat down to pray in a Missouri prison. Within minutes, guards put them in shackles and covered them in pepper spray. The incident highlights the dangers Muslims face practicing their religion in prison, @khawlanakua.bsky.social reports. https://theappeal.org/pepper-sprayed-praying-muslim-prisoners-missouri/21 Jan 2026 15:25 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mcwy6bxguk2phttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3mcvhi5ht7s2aA record number of people died in ICE detention last year, @mludwig.bsky.social reports for @truthout.org Six more people have died during the first three weeks of 2026 alone. https://theappeal.org/ice-deaths-detention-record-high/21 Jan 2026 00:54 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mcvhi5ht7s2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3mcvd7c6shc2yHolly Krig, for @truthout.org: “I don’t want ‘justice’ from the shooters — they have none to give. I’d rather make a demand of the death-making institutions: die, dissolve, decay.” https://theappeal.org/ice-renee-good-abolish-death-making-institutions/20 Jan 2026 23:37 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mcvd7c6shc2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3mbrilhnuws2uNew in partnership with @invisible.institute and @phoenixnewtimes.com: Scotty Bach left the Seattle Police Department after an investigation found that he had attended Trump's rally at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Phoenix hired him anyway: https://theappeal.org/phoenix-police-seattle-january-6-rally-scotty-bach/06 Jan 2026 17:37 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mbrilhnuws2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3maob56gv6s2jA New Jersey Supreme Court decision ruled that the controversial "Shaken Baby Syndrome" lacked scientific support, barring testimony about SBS in criminal trials. @elizabethweill.bsky.social examines the potential ripple effects of the decision across the country. https://theappeal.org/new-jersey-supreme-court-shaken-baby-syndrome-nieves/23 Dec 2025 17:21 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3maob56gv6s2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3m7kzjaii422sNew from Kevin Light-Roth: Tim Ballard promoted the use of sting operations to combat sex trafficking until his own sexual misconduct allegations tore his career to shreds. Now, the families of men he helped send to prison are demanding answers: https://theappeal.org/net-nanny-washington-state-police-stings/09 Dec 2025 17:01 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3m7kzjaii422shttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3m5m5r4b4ik2mWe’re thrilled to share that Truthout is taking over The Appeal’s journalism. With Truthout’s powerhouse reputation for independent, reader-funded journalism, our reporting on overpolicing and mass incarceration will continue and reach even wider audiences. https://theappeal.org/news_awards/the-appeal-joins-truthout/14 Nov 2025 17:00 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5m5r4b4ik2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/theappeal.org/post/3lr6r44chjc2uICYMI: Last fall, @jewstein3000.bsky.social reported a deep dive into Maryland's troubled Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Last month, an official investigation by the Maryland AG uncovered at least 36 people killed by police whose deaths were misclassified. https://theappeal.org/maryland-ocme-medical-examiner-investigation-audit/09 Jun 2025 16:06 +0000at://did:plc:7ml24lk3yxcdcfoeidf56ucb/app.bsky.feed.post/3lr6r44chjc2u