What Happened to the Men In ‘The Alabama Solution’ Documentary?

"All night long, I thought about how to use an item from the vending machine to teach math since my prison didn’t provide pens, pencils or crayons. Eventually I settled on an imaginative solution that would make even Albert Einstein proud."

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"As a woman in prison, you are punished for your crime — and your biology."

Visits come with a certain amount of fear and anxiety — but my family keeps showing up.

What It’s Like to Shower in Prison

New blog: On Assignment is a blog where PJP Learning students share their work as they practice journalism. These posts reflect their personal views and experiences, not verified reporting. Unlike PJP’s published stories, they do not go through a formal editing process and are not fact-checked.

"In this foreign landscape of state-issued orange, my long hair feels like all I have left of my identity from before I was given a number and labeled 'inmate.' Before I was exposed to the unnatural way women here are herded through fences towards the dining hall like cattle."

Prison Journalism Project’s Learning+ trains incarcerated writers in the tools of journalism so they can tell powerful stories. As part of the program, students send us homework assignments — typically pieces of writing — and PJP learning coaches then return extensive feedback.

April 9 in Guilford !

A snowstorm made for peaceful scenes, but trapped guards at the facility overnight.

Hi All, we've had a little more than 200 responses to our audience survey. Thank you to those that shared their thoughts. If you have time, please take five minutes to tell us how we're doing.

What It’s Like to Shower in Prison

"[T]he number of people on probation in the United States (2.9 million) is even bigger than the total number of people behind bars. ... Over half of people on probation earn under $20,000 per year, which is below the SNAP income eligibility cap of $22,352."

In prison, true rehabilitation means building self-awareness, and that includes acknowledging how our actions affect our loved ones on the outside.

“Being older in prison, you are on high alert all of the time. The absences of staff compound anxiety because you feel less in control of this life you [already] have no control over. Will we be out today? Will I get to get fresh air?"

"I hated working in my prison’s cookhouse. We worked eight hours a day, seven days a week, for pay ranging from $3 to $5.50 a day, depending on your role."

Good morning to the Sunday crowd! On Thursday, we launched our 2026 audience survey. While we track metrics and analytics, we also want to hear from you. The survey will run for about 2.5 weeks. It takes five minutes or less. And, it comes with a nice thank you.

"All night long, I thought about how to use an item from the vending machine to teach math since my prison didn’t provide pens, pencils or crayons. Eventually I settled on an imaginative solution that would make even Albert Einstein proud."

Prison Staffing Problems Are Especially Hard on Lifers

"A guard said 'Happy James Earl Ray Day" on Dr. [Martin Luther] King’s holiday. Another asked whether Black people even celebrate Father’s Day — because 'they don’t know their fathers.' I was raised in Detroit, baptized in Black history. Entering a Texas prison was a cultural collision."

"We all know that people in prison are not permitted to act like people. Every day we are ordered not to be too friendly or converse too much. We are ordered to not smile and laugh with staff because “undue familiarity” is grounds for disciplinary action."

Even with increased acceptance, isolation in prison makes gay men easy targets for manipulation and abuse.

MuckRock and @themarshallproject.org led a session to talk about their work on investigating book bans in prisons across the country. Learn about the history of these bans and learn how to request and examine banned-book lists in their community.

What Happened to the Men In ‘The Alabama Solution’ Documentary?

"... The truth is my hair wasn’t all that important to me then. It wasn’t until I got to prison that it suddenly meant something. When you’re stripped of everything, you’ll find anything to hold on to."

Every year, PJP asks readers to take a short survey so we can better serve both our writers and our audience. While we track metrics and analytics, your feedback matters most. Please take our 2026 survey.

Looking forward to reading.

Hi, Bluesky, hi! Our 2026 audience survey just dropped! I'm hoping we can get at least 1-2% of our followers to complete the survey. As a thank you, you'll receive a PDF copy of our poetry collection Verses Beyond Bars, curated by 2026 Audience Engagement fellow @kashawntaylor.bsky.social.

A cactus flower blooming in the hospice garden, surrounded by other succulents and plants. Patient Ralph Marcus said he hadn’t seen a plant up close since before his incarceration.

Cancer is the number one killer of incarcerated people, which is more deadly behind bars than among free people. Incarceration should not mean you deserve to die of cancer. Vital reporting from @prisonjournalism.bsky.social prisonjournalismproject.org/2026/02/11/c...

Hi Bluesky, we’re hard at work on an illustrated newsletter that brings our contributors’ lived experience journalism to life through art. Join the list to get the first issue in your inbox when it debuts. Link here ➡️ docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

A PJP contributor spoke to Melvin Ray in what appears to be Ray's first interview since his release from solitary confinement and the documentary "The Alabama Solution’s" Oscar nomination.

Shakeil writes about cells at New Jersey State Prison that have been considered “one of the most archaic in the United States.”

From 2020, but powerful: “I want the best for America though I fear she does not always feel the same about me. I have a vested interest in what happens to us Americans. For all the reasons stated here, I pray and hope every able-bodied American goes to the polls and votes their conscience.”

My Plea for You to Please Go Vote

“We don’t want to shut down programs or yard, But when you don’t have enough staff, everything collapses.”

Amid a crisis in the state’s prison system, the governor’s and legislature’s budget proposals differ, but largely lack major reforms. nysfocus.com/2026/03/10/c...

"If prison officials allowed consensual gay relationships, it would likely make our lives safer ... When we are forced to hide even a kiss, it makes it much easier, and more devastating, to string someone along."

"We all know that people in prison are not permitted to act like people. Every day we are ordered not to be too friendly or converse too much. We are ordered to not smile and laugh with staff because “undue familiarity” is grounds for disciplinary action."

Tonight, “The Alabama Solution,” a documentary that examines conditions inside Alabama’s prison system, is up for an Oscar. Here’s what three Prison Journalism Project writers had to say about what the nomination means for people in the state prison system.

A PJP contributor spoke to Melvin Ray in what appears to be Ray's first interview since his release from solitary confinement and the documentary "The Alabama Solution’s" Oscar nomination.

Tonight, “The Alabama Solution,” a documentary that examines conditions inside Alabama’s prison system, is up for an Oscar. Here’s what three Prison Journalism Project writers had to say about what the nomination means for people in the state prison system.

"There are those who prefer the term 'convict' because it doesn’t denote guilt or innocence but simply identifies that a person was convicted of a crime and that they are incarcerated." prisonjournalismproject.org/2026/03/10/i...

✨ As a nonprofit journalism org, we are always fundraising to sustain this work. The support of our community makes it possible to train incarcerated writers and publish their stories. Any day is a good day to become a member of the PJP community.

I spent some time with Sonny Burton at the prison where they were supposed to kill him. My latest for @theintercept.com

Lucky Jefferson’s new “Bond” issue features an excerpt from my memoir, Violent Offender. Thank you for publishing this piece and the other writers impacted by incarceration. Read the full issue here: luckyjefferson.com/bond/

"In my prison, we’ve been debating the following question: What would the U.S. government do with our prison populations in the event of a large war or enemy invasion?" #2022

It takes courage to write something like this piece. Personally, I love a good cry. Crying ought to be normalized!

Shaheen Pasha talks about the importance of prison journalism and why incarcerated people deserve their stories to be just as loud as everyone else.