Issue

Criminal Justice

It costs $13 million per year to hold each of the 40 prisoners at Guantánamo Bay. Where does the money go? How do police profit from seized property? What is it like to be one of 2.7 million children with a parent in jail or prison? What programs have succeeded in the U.S. and elsewhere to reduce recidivism?

These are a few of the questions Pulitzer Center grantees ask in the stories highlighted in Criminal Justice.

Innovative initiatives include a transformational theater piece based on a three-year investigation into solitary confinement. The play was performed on Alcatrez Island. A photography project features the work of court-involved youth who depict life on the streets of San Francisco. This project provided opportunities for youth to showcase their work while shining light on the criminal justice system in California.

Funding for Carol Rosenberg’s ongoing reporting on Guantánamo Bay comes from the Hewlett Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and other sources. The Art for Justice Fund, established by philanthropist Agnes Gund, is helping to support our reporting on mass incarceration. Omidyar Network has provided financial support for “Taken”—our project on civil asset forfeiture. The Pulitzer Center extends its heartfelt thanks to our generous donors.

Criminal Justice

Highlights of 'The Box,' a Historic Performance on Alcatraz Island

Sarah Shourd’s play, based on her 3-year investigation into the horrors of solitary confinement, is a piece of transformational theater that asks us to re-examine long-held notions of punishment as it reveals the tragic—and sometimes painfully comic and absurd—realities that dictate life “inside the box.”

Before Ferguson Beyond Ferguson: Wrongfully Accused

Former newspaper editor Dick Weiss discusses his Pulitzer Center-supported project, "Before Ferguson Beyond Ferguson" on KTRS-AM with talk show host McGraw Milhaven. Teddy Washington, a student at Washington University, whose story is reflected in the project, reflects on the unfortunate incident in which he and others were accused of theft.