When the governor doesn’t commute sentences, and the legislature won’t act, the carrot-and-stick system of rehabilitation disintegrates.
10.03.2026 21:00
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When the governor doesn’t commute sentences, and the legislature won’t act, the carrot-and-stick system of rehabilitation disintegrates.
This session will also walk folks through a searchable database of misconduct cases filed against Missouri police officers, including more than a decade of records compiled by The Marshall Project - St. Louis.
Every weekday morning, our Opening Statement newsletter brings you the top headlines about policing, prisons and courts, curated by legal analyst @justadcohen.bsky.social. Subscribe now to follow the issues defining U.S. criminal justice ⬇️
A screenshot of the Opening Statement newsletter with the following first two paragraphs visible: "“What is the harm in doing the testing?” DNA testing has played a role in overturning more than 550 wrongful convictions since 2000, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. But its use in Missouri has been stymied by prosecutors, judges and restrictive laws that result in absurd consequences. One man on death row, Lance Shockley, was executed last year, two days before a DNA hearing in his case. Another man imprisoned for decades has been waiting since 2022 for a court to rule on a request for DNA testing. From our St. Louis newsroom, TMP’s Katie Moore has our story. The Marshall Project TMP A short history of prison bands. The 1970s offered what we can now call a golden age of prison music. There were at least 15 albums produced by bands of incarcerated musicians who were allowed by corrections officials to compose and record music behind bars. The Texas Prison Museum in Huntsville, near the state’s death row, holds eight albums that were sold at the annual prison rodeo from 1972 to 1982. TMPs Maurice Chammah, a Texas resident and musician, has a preview of our upcoming limited-run newsletter titled “Redemption Song,” a look at music produced in prisons across the U.S. in the past century. The Marshall Project "
Today’s Opening Statement takes a look at Missouri’s harsh approach to DNA testing for people convicted of crimes. There’s also a close look at New York’s continuing failure to hold prosecutors accountable for misconduct. mailchi.mp/themarshallp...
We’re hosting a webinar on investigating police misconduct in Missouri. Join us at noon CDT on March 11 to hear practical tips from legal, policing and journalism experts.
Register for free:
Our weekly Closing Argument newsletter unpacks a timely topic in criminal justice with context and analysis to help you make sense of the news. Subscribe to go beyond the headlines and dig deeper into one story each week ⬇️
Flock cameras don’t provide continuous real-time tracking. But as camera locations increase and data is increasingly shared across jurisdictions, civil libertarians worry the systems are creating a panoptic surveillance infrastructure — especially when integrated with other technologies like AI.
The Marshall Project is offering a workshop on investigating book bans on the 18th. If this is something you're interested in or want to learn more about, here's the info --> www.themarshallproject.org/events/works...
Follow The Marshall Project - St. Louis’ reporting on criminal justice in St. Louis and across Missouri by subscribing to our local team’s email list ⬇️
Lance Shockley died by lethal injection last year. State courts have rejected prisoners’ requests for DNA testing in recent years.
A new interactive workshop on prison censorship by @themarshallproject.org puts a PEN America report on widespread book censorship in prisons front and center. Check out the workshop: www.themarshallproject.org/events/works...
This essay is a preview of Redemption Songs, an upcoming limited-run newsletter that dives into the music produced in prisons over the last century.
Sign up now to get a song by incarcerated artists delivered to your inbox each Sunday, starting March 22:
"As the formerly incarcerated composer Kenyatta Emmanuel Hughes told me in a 2023 interview, “If we experience the art being created in those spaces, we will know, ‘These are human beings, and we need to rethink whether we should be throwing them away.’”"
From artists rapping over prison phones to those starting labels and nonprofits to release their work, prison music speaks to the resilience of people behind bars.
Our limited-run newsletter Redemption Songs will send a new song by incarcerated artists to your inbox each Sunday — sign up now:
Every weekday morning, our Opening Statement newsletter brings you the top headlines about policing, prisons and courts, curated by legal analyst @justadcohen.bsky.social. Subscribe now to follow the issues defining U.S. criminal justice ⬇️
A screenshot of the daily Opening Statement newsletter with the following first paragraph visible: "Years late, but finally on display in the U.S. Capitol. For three years congressional Republicans refused to hang a plaque in the Capitol honoring the Capitol Police and other law enforcement officers who responded to the Jan. 6 insurrection and defended members of Congress and the building itself. The plaque was quietly installed at 4 a.m. on Saturday morning by federal employees. Harry Dunn, a former Capitol Police officer who sued to force Congressional leadership to order the plaque installed, said: “I never thought honoring police officers would be this controversial.” The Washington Post The Senate ordered the installation of the plaque in January after House Republicans refused to install it. NBC News"
Today’s Opening starts with the belated arrival of a plaque on Capitol Hill to honor police who battled Capitol rioters, includes the story of a life sentence for one of those rioters, and concludes with the Trump team’s pay-for-play pardon system. mailchi.mp/themarshallp...
Our weekly Closing Argument newsletter unpacks a timely topic in criminal justice with context and analysis to help you make sense of the news. Subscribe to go beyond the headlines and dig deeper into one story each week ⬇️
Over the past few years officers have been accused or convicted of misusing license plate readers to track people for personal reasons in several states.
It’s not just young, inexperienced cops either: In Kansas and Georgia, the officers in question were both police chiefs.
Our weekly Life Inside newsletter brings you personal stories from writers inside the criminal justice system, straight to your inbox. Subscribe to hear from people behind bars in their own words ⬇️
"I’m 54, and this task has shaped my life... I have spent days in hospitals and courtrooms, hours on the phone, pleading with social service agencies for help that almost never materialized. For a long time, I gave up hope of having a husband and children, convinced it wouldn’t be safe for anyone."
Our weekly Closing Argument newsletter unpacks a timely topic in criminal justice with context and analysis to help you make sense of the news. Subscribe to go beyond the headlines and dig deeper into one story each week ⬇️
Law enforcement cameras are popping up everywhere, but many agencies have little safeguards to prevent abuse by individual officers.
Learn about new issues of our free publication for readers inside prisons and jails by subscribing to Inside Updates, our email list covering The Marshall Project’s work for inside audiences ⬇️
News Inside Issue 22 takes a hard look at how incarcerated women face unique challenges — and why their stories deserve to be heard.
Our weekly Life Inside newsletter brings you personal stories from writers inside the criminal justice system, straight to your inbox. Subscribe to hear from people behind bars in their own words ⬇️
"I was used to navigating my mom’s psychotic episodes — but this was the first time she had a gun. It wasn’t the last: My family has counted at least six firearms over the years.
We have spent decades trying to keep her from using them to hurt herself, us, and other people."
Follow The Marshall Project - St. Louis’ reporting on criminal justice in St. Louis and across Missouri by subscribing to our local team’s email list ⬇️
A mental health evaluator recorded Bradley Ketcherside pleading that medication “would save my life.” The evaluator denied his request, according to medical records, concluding that Ketcherside didn’t show severe enough signs of addiction for treatment.
Six days later Ketcherside was dead.
