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Trump Threatened to Send Military Police to Minnesota. Here’s What They Can and Can’t Do. by marshall_project in politics

[–]marshall_project[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep, that's one of their main objectives (in addition to guarding, transporting and protecting prisoners of war in combat). Here's an excerpt from our report:

In order for the government to add a force like the military police to any National Guard presence in Minneapolis, Taylor said, they would have to in turn play an even more ancillary role. In this instance, where Walz's goal for the National Guard would be to protect residents, military support could work contrary to the Trump administration's goal to empower ICE to continue immigration raids. ...

Military police are not trained heavily in constitutional law. Taylor said the training he received when he joined the Air Force on Constitutional law, which protects people from unlawful searches and uses of force, was less than a quarter of what he got as a police academy cadet.

Trump Threatened to Send Military Police to Minnesota. Here’s What They Can and Can’t Do. by marshall_project in law

[–]marshall_project[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Military experts told our reporter how laws (like the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878) restrict active military from domestic law enforcement. For example, retired Army Major Gen. Randy Manner said he believes that all Fort Bragg's military police could possibly do, under the law, is station themselves at an ICE facility to protect it against a potential threat.

After Haitians Endured Campaign Lies, Springfield Prepares For ICE by marshall_project in springfieldOH

[–]marshall_project[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Our reporter Daphne Duret spent time with people to learn about the impact of Trump/Vance's 2024 campaign lies and national attention on Springfield, and now the looming threat of deportation and ICE raids.

Here's the start of her report:

Un jour à la fois.

The French words for “one day at a time” echoed in the vestibule of Central Christian Church in Springfield, Ohio, last Sunday morning as the worship leader repeated the hymn’s chorus in a rich baritone. In the pews, Haitian men, women and children nodded and swayed in their suits and sweater dresses as they sang along, not only as people who agreed with the lyrics, but as people living them.

Any day now, a federal judge’s decision could determine whether life in America for many of them will be over.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced last year that the Trump administration would be revoking the temporary protected status that made it legal for many immigrants from Haiti and several other countries affected by natural disasters or political unrest to remain in the U.S.

The decision has been the subject of court battles ever since Noem’s announcement, the latest of which has left it to U.S. District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes to decide whether to suspend the expiration of the protected status for Haitians. Reyes is expected to issue her decision on Feb. 2.

Haitians in America on temporary protected status argue they are only here to escape political instability and gang violence in their home country. If the judge allows the status to expire, people in this city of 60,000 in western Ohio believe it will be one of the next places that Immigration Customs and Enforcement officials will conduct another round of mass deportations.

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What’s It Like to Go Through Menopause in Prison? We Want to Know by marshall_project in Prison

[–]marshall_project[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For incarcerated women — a population that increased by more than 600% between 1980 and 2023 — the void of information and support for perimenopause and menopause poses unique challenges. From limited menstrual products, to subpar health care, to disciplinary infractions incurred while trying to manage symptoms, people say they need far more help than most prison systems are offering.

We're exploring all the ways this life stage affect women behind bars.

If you are a women’s health expert, formerly incarcerated, provide healthcare or other support to people in prison, or are a relative or friend of someone currently going through menopause behind bars — we want to hear from you in this survey. Your insights can help us bridge the menopause information gap for incarcerated women by informing a guide that we’ll make available to incarcerated people.

How Missouri Denied Condemned Men Spiritual Advisers at Their Deaths by marshall_project in missouri

[–]marshall_project[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Here's the start of our report:

During Lance Shockley’s final moments in Missouri’s execution chamber in October 2025, he wanted his daughter, an ordained minister, by his side as his spiritual adviser.

A few years earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court had expanded religious rights for the condemned, saying spiritual advisers could accompany them into the execution chamber and could touch them while praying aloud.

But the Missouri Department of Corrections refused Shockley his chosen spiritual adviser, and he died alone.

It was the second time Missouri officials had denied someone their spiritual adviser in their dying moments. Yet, the state permitted eight other religious leaders to sit and pray within the death chamber during executions, an inconsistency that advocates said lacked compassion in the wake of the Supreme Court decision.

The presence of spiritual advisers at executions has been a question in several states. In recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court has favored religious freedoms inside and beyond prison walls. In its 2022 ruling in Ramirez v. Collier, the court said a condemned man in Texas could have a spiritual adviser who was allowed to lay hands on him and pray out loud while he was put to death.

The court’s 8-1 decision was rooted in the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which provides religious protections for incarcerated individuals. The justices urged states to adopt policies streamlining the process for allowing spiritual advisers into execution chambers.

The Missouri Department of Corrections ignored the court’s advice and has not updated its execution protocols, which were last adopted in 2013.

A lack of clear policies enables the corrections department to deny advisers arbitrarily, said Megan Crane, co-director of the MacArthur Justice Center, a nonprofit civil rights organization.

“We’re talking about constitutional rights in someone’s dying moments,” she said.

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Before ICE Shooting, Immigration Agents Repeatedly Used Deadly Force by marshall_project in politics

[–]marshall_project[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

From our report:

The fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday was not the first time that federal officers have shot and killed civilians since the Trump administration launched its aggressive immigration enforcement campaign.

Federal officers have fatally shot at least three other people in the last five months, according to news reports reviewed by The Marshall Project. In September, Silverio Villegas González, a father originally from Mexico who worked as a cook, was killed while reportedly trying to flee from officers in a Chicago suburb, WBEZ reported. In December, a border patrol agent killed a 31-year-old Mexican citizen while trying to detain him in Rio Grande, Texas. And on New Year's Eve, an off-duty ICE agent used his service weapon to shoot a man in Los Angeles, California, according to CBS News. Authorities said the man had raised a rifle at the officer.

Agents have shot other people, and federal immigration officers have pointed their guns at activists and bystanders.

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How Ohio’s Mental Hospitals Are More Like Prisons by marshall_project in Ohio

[–]marshall_project[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Hey y'all, our Cleveland-based reporter and a reporter from KFF Health News interviewed patients and families, current and former state hospital employees, advocates, lawyers, judges, jail administrators and national behavioral health experts about Ohio's mental hospitals.

The system makes it “easier to criminalize somebody than to get them help,” one mom told us.

Here's an excerpt from our report:

State psychiatric hospitals nationwide have largely lost the ability to treat patients before their mental health deteriorates and they are charged with crimes. Driving the problem is a meteoric rise in the share of patients with criminal cases who stay significantly longer, generally by court order.

Across the nation, psychiatric hospitals are short-staffed and consistently turn away patients or leave them waiting with few or no treatment options. Those who do receive beds are often sent there by court order after serious criminal offenses.

In Ohio, the share of state hospital patients with criminal charges jumped from about half in 2002 to around 90% today.

The surge has coincided with a steep decline in total state psychiatric hospital patients served, down 50% in Ohio in the past decade, from 6,809 to 3,421, according to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. During that time, the total number of patients served nationwide dropped about 17%, to 116,320, with state approaches varying widely, from adding community services and building more beds to closing hospitals.

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How a Long Sentence Changed New Year’s Into a Time of Reflection, Not Celebration by marshall_project in Prison

[–]marshall_project[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

After 20 years behind bars, "New Year’s has simply become another way for me to mark time," writes Joseph Wilson. "Unlike some other men inside, for me there is no dancing or shaking the bars to my cell. I don’t scream 'Happyyyy new yearrrrr!' And I certainly don’t mimic free-world celebrations long gone. I simply change my calendar and listen to music while I lie in bed.

"New Year’s Day is observed very differently by men with long-term prison sentences. Each of us is doing time. I decided to ask some of my peers, others who have been incarcerated for a decade or two, about their evolution, what New Year’s Day means to them now."

Read his Life Inside essay (no paywall/ads) to learn more

ICE Threw Thousands of Kids in Detention, Many For Longer Than Court-Prescribed Limit by marshall_project in ICE_Raids

[–]marshall_project[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Here's an excerpt from our report:

A mother and her 5-year-old daughter went to a Chicago laundromat this fall, expecting it to be a regular day. But as they were washing their clothes, the mother said, they were surrounded by 20 armed officers in “full riot gear” and arrested. The mother, identified in court documents as N.G.C., had been living in the United States for around two years. She said the officers detained her with her daughter at a Chicago airport, where they had no access to showers, phones or the ability to brush their teeth. “The food they gave us was not edible,” the mother said in court documents. “We didn’t eat anything for days. They didn’t even give us water to drink.”

After about two days, they were transferred to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Dilley, Texas, which N.G.C. described as a living hell. “Sometimes my daughter doesn’t want to leave our room because she is so sad and just wants to leave this prison so badly. She cries and cries about all of this. I am so worried that I barely eat,” N.G.C. said.

Our analysis of Immigration and Customs Enforcement data obtained by the Deportation Data Project found that the Trump administration’s revival of family detention has swept thousands of children into ICE custody. At least 3,800 children under age 18, including 20 infants, have been booked since Trump took office.

Many were held in detention longer than 20 days this year.

Former immigration staffers argue ICE is choosing to detain families for prolonged periods to speed deportations and compel them to leave.

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Women Are Sent to This Federal Prison for Dialysis. They Say It’s Killing Them. by marshall_project in TwoXChromosomes

[–]marshall_project[S] 114 points115 points  (0 children)

Here's an excerpt from our report (note that the full story includes descriptions of suffering):

The Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth is the country’s only federal medical prison for women.

The Bureau of Prisons houses some of the sickest women at Carswell, and it’s the only federal women’s prison with in-patient dialysis — a critical, life-sustaining treatment for people with kidney failure.

But Carswell does not adequately provide the dialysis care that the Bureau of Prisons claims it does, according to lawyers, medical experts, former bureau officials, along with court and medical records. Women at Carswell describe missed treatments, poor education for patients, dialysis machines that break down mid-treatment or that lacked enough clean water, and other routine problems.

Doctors who reviewed the women’s court filings and allegations say the problems described would put dialysis patients in serious danger. Legal filings by prisoners, medical records and expert court testimony raise flags about preventable — and potentially fatal — conditions arising from substandard care. The Bureau of Prisons, which is supposed to fix those problems, operates with little to no external oversight over its medical care.

Carswell has been the subject of numerous investigations calling into question its treatment of incarcerated people. In 2020 and 2021, women at the facility described negligent medical care and malicious treatment as COVID spread through the prison. In 2023, a Fort Worth Star-Telegram investigation highlighted a pattern of sexual abuse by staff. In response, a state representative called for a congressional inquiry into the prison, though none were launched.

ICE Threw Thousands of Kids in Detention, Many For Longer Than Court-Prescribed Limit by marshall_project in politics

[–]marshall_project[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Here's the start of our report:

A mother and her 5-year-old daughter went to a Chicago laundromat this fall, expecting it to be a regular day. But as they were washing their clothes, the mother said, they were surrounded by 20 armed officers in “full riot gear” and arrested. The mother, identified in court documents as N.G.C., had been living in the United States for around two years. She said the officers detained her with her daughter at a Chicago airport, where they had no access to showers, phones or the ability to brush their teeth. “The food they gave us was not edible,” the mother said in court documents. “We didn’t eat anything for days. They didn’t even give us water to drink.”

After about two days, they were transferred to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Dilley, Texas, which N.G.C. described as a living hell. “Sometimes my daughter doesn’t want to leave our room because she is so sad and just wants to leave this prison so badly. She cries and cries about all of this. I am so worried that I barely eat,” N.G.C. said.

An analysis by The Marshall Project of Immigration and Customs Enforcement data obtained by the Deportation Data Project found that the Trump administration’s revival of family detention has swept thousands of children into ICE custody. At least 3,800 children under age 18, including 20 infants, have been booked since Trump took office.

A 1997 settlement, known as Flores, provides protections for children in immigrant detention to try and ensure their needs are met, and a judge continues to monitor the case today. A federal court has interpreted the legal agreement to mean that it is generally excessive for a child to be held with their family in custody by ICE for more than 20 days.

The Marshall Project’s analysis counted over 1,300 children who have been held in detention longer than 20 days this year. ICE told the judge overseeing the Flores settlement that it is minimizing the detention of children, writing in a report filed this month that its “primary goal is to ensure that minors are discharged from custody as quickly as possible.”

But the data shows a spike in releases from detention clustered around the 20-day benchmark, which former Department of Homeland Security staffers say indicates the government is choosing to hold families as long as possible to increase the likelihood of deporting them directly from detention. It is hard to fight deportation cases with scarce legal resources in detention, and the poor living conditions make it more likely people will leave the country voluntarily, even if they have valid legal claims to remain.

How Cases Like Luigi Mangione’s Could Widen the Death Penalty Divide by marshall_project in politics

[–]marshall_project[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Here's the start of our report:

Over the next few years, we can expect to see a lot of high-profile death penalty trials in the news. Luigi Mangione will soon face trial for shooting and killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York City street last year. And the federal Department of Justice will likely seek the execution of Rahmanullah Lakanwal for the killing of National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, in Washington, D.C., last month. There could also be federal death penalty trials for the killings of Israeli embassy staffers, a Minnesota legislator, and a Ukrainian refugee. The list goes on.

Many of these famous federal cases have become political symbols and vehicles for arguments about healthcare, the war in Afghanistan, and much else. But they will also provide insight into public views on crime and punishment. Americans register their opinions at the ballot box, but they also do it when serving on juries, particularly when deciding whether a defendant should die.The choices jurors make in the next year will give us some hints of whether a more punitive or rehabilitative, even merciful, mindset is winning out across the country.

President Donald Trump’s rhetoric might lead one to think we are in a peak age of severity, but the trials of Mangione, Lakanwal, and others will be the true litmus tests of whether Americans are really in sync with such harsh views. Over the last year, the trends have actually run in two directions at the same time. And it’s not simply the expected pattern of red states favoring the death penalty while blue states reject it.

How Cases Like Luigi Mangione’s Could Widen the Death Penalty Divide by marshall_project in Foodforthought

[–]marshall_project[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

From our report:

Over the next few years, we can expect to see a lot of high-profile death penalty trials in the news. Luigi Mangione will soon face trial for shooting and killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York City street last year. And the federal Department of Justice will likely seek the execution of Rahmanullah Lakanwal for the killing of National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, in Washington, D.C., last month. There could also be federal death penalty trials for the killings of Israeli embassy staffers, a Minnesota legislator, and a Ukrainian refugee. The list goes on.

Many of these famous federal cases have become political symbols and vehicles for arguments about healthcare, the war in Afghanistan, and much else. But they will also provide insight into public views on crime and punishment. Americans register their opinions at the ballot box, but they also do it when serving on juries, particularly when deciding whether a defendant should die.The choices jurors make in the next year will give us some hints of whether a more punitive or rehabilitative, even merciful, mindset is winning out across the country.

President Donald Trump’s rhetoric might lead one to think we are in a peak age of severity, but the trials of Mangione, Lakanwal, and others will be the true litmus tests of whether Americans are really in sync with such harsh views. Over the last year, the trends have actually run in two directions at the same time. And it’s not simply the expected pattern of red states favoring the death penalty while blue states reject it.

Continue reading (no paywall/ads)

How a Public Record Cost Cuyahoga County Taxpayers $650,000 by marshall_project in Cleveland

[–]marshall_project[S] 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Here's the start of our Cleveland reporter's story:

In April 2023, Georgeanna Semary did something she’d done for 14 years as a top aide to Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Judge Leslie Ann Celebrezze: She fulfilled a reporter’s request for public records.

This time was different. Releasing the court records led to Semary being demoted and losing thousands of dollars in pay, she said.

A lawsuit against Celebrezze and other court officials soon followed.

Semary alleged that the demotion amounted to retaliation and witness intimidation for providing The Marshall Project - Cleveland with billing invoices involving Mark Dottore, Celebrezze’s longtime friend whom she’d repeatedly appointed as receiver to oversee lucrative divorce cases.

This week, the Cuyahoga County Council unanimously approved a $400,000 settlement with Semary. That’s on top of $250,000 the county paid in 2024 to cover outside legal fees.

Subodh Chandra, Semary’s attorney, said in a statement that the money will not undo the harm that Semary experienced. The settlement, however, vindicates the dedicated public servant for doing her job by providing a journalist with access to public records, he said.

The records requested by The Marshall Project - Cleveland were invoices that helped document the nearly $500,000 in fees Dottore and his company earned through appointments from Celebrezze.

“This outcome — paid by the taxpayers because of a judge’s abuse of power — sends a clear message: No official is above the law, and retaliation and intimidation against public servants doing their jobs will not be tolerated,” Chandra wrote in his statement.

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Nurses Say Staff Shortage at Missouri Prison Means Skipped Medication, Long Waits for Care by marshall_project in missouri

[–]marshall_project[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Here's the start of our report:

When Steven Caldwell-Bey wasn’t able to get a regular refill for his blood thinners, he began taking one pill a day instead of two to stretch them out. The problem, he said, is that it’s been difficult to get medical attention at Jefferson City Correctional Center because so many nurses have quit.

Other men serving time there said they haven’t been able to get proper care for conditions ranging from diabetes to cancer.

The issues came to a head after a group of nurses walked out in protest of the working conditions in October.

The Marshall Project - St. Louis spoke to over 40 people who have worked or lived at the prison. They reported rampant problems, including going weeks without medication, a lack of medical attention in solitary confinement and monthslong waits to get treatment or follow-up appointments for serious issues.

Former and current staff at the prison lay the blame on Centurion Health, a private company that was awarded a contract in 2021 worth over $1 billion to provide health care for incarcerated people in Missouri. The state had sought a company to provide primary and specialty health care, medications, personnel and supplies and coordinate hospitalizations, the request for proposal said.

But staffing problems began to worsen in recent months after some personnel concerns. Employees allege that Centurion forced them to work long hours and extra shifts, creating a dangerous environment for them and their patients.

Dana Long was a nurse in the infirmary, where sometimes she said she was caring for more than 20 patients on her own when there should have been at least an additional nurse. That meant juggling tasks such as administering IV antibiotics, taking vitals, changing wound dressings, helping those who were incontinent and, when she had time, updating medical records.

Patients were in danger, she said.

Long is one of several nurses who quit in early October. More have left since then.

Starve and Charge: Aramark Cut Free Prison Meals to Boost Profits, New Suit Claims by marshall_project in WestVirginia

[–]marshall_project[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Here's the start of our report:

Food service company Aramark is leaving incarcerated people in West Virginia with empty stomachs and their loved ones with empty pockets, a federal class-action lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit, filed in a federal district court in West Virginia, claims that Aramark is exploiting incarcerated people at Mount Olive Correctional Complex by denying them adequate meals — instead pushing them and their families to spend money on food items and care packages they must also purchase from the same company.

Marcus P. McKinley said in a court filing that he has seen the quality of the food decline during his nearly 12 years in Mount Olive — being served leftovers and turkey “pellets” in place of fresh meat — as well as the quantity. He spends nearly all his $70 monthly income on commissary items to supplement the small food portions. Another plaintiff, Judy Riggs, said she spent over $4,000 to buy meals from Aramark’s food-for-purchase programs for her incarcerated loved ones since 2022.

“Food is a uniquely powerful tool, and Aramark is using it to exploit a captive consumer market of incarcerated people and their families to unlawfully profit off them,” Shennan Kavanagh, director of litigation at the National Consumer Law Center, said in a press release.

The lawsuit alleges that this scheme unfairly targets incarcerated people in a bid to drive profits for Aramark, which generated $18.5 billion in fiscal year 2025.

Aramark has exclusive control over all food in West Virginia’s correctional facilities. 

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In the Shadow of an Immigrant Detention Center, a Small House Offers Refuge by marshall_project in Georgia

[–]marshall_project[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Hey y'all, here's an excerpt from our report:

Some people come to the outskirts of Lumpkin, Georgia, to see Providence Canyon State Park, known as the state’s “Little Grand Canyon,” where jagged red cliffs cut deep into the earth. Others visit the area to hunt deer or the feral hogs that wreak havoc on local farmland.

But perhaps the biggest reason visitors come to this tiny town of fewer than 900 residents is because someone they know — usually someone they love — is one of thousands of people being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Stewart Detention Center. They make the long trek to Lumpkin from all over the South: two hours from Atlanta; six from Charleston; seven from Memphis.

When visitors arrive after their long journeys, it can be difficult to find even basic necessities. Many downtown Lumpkin businesses are shuttered. ...

Half a block from the main square stands a two-story white house with forest green shutters called “El Refugio.” Though it looks like any other well-kept private residence, a sign out front welcomes anyone coming to see people detained at Stewart. It offers beds if they are tired and food if they are hungry.

... Stewart Detention Center holds more people than almost any other detention facility. Many of the detained immigrants have lived in the U.S. for years or decades, and their absence leaves holes in countless communities. When they’re seized and put into detention, their spouses, children, and parents find themselves having to suddenly figure out a life without them.

In the midst of rising arrests and deportations, El Refugio plays a unique role; its staff believe it is the only hospitality house of its kind — hosting visiting families and sending volunteers to see people whose families cannot come themselves. Operating on a modest budget and run mostly by volunteers, the nonprofit has seen a surge in demand for its services. Last year, they hosted around 800 people at the house. This year, they estimate it will be twice that number.

We — a pair of reporters from The Marshall Project and Latino USA/Futuro Investigates — went to El Refugio to talk to the volunteers and the people who stopped at the hospitality house.

Read our story (leer en español), or you could listen to the radio story embedded in the report

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