Researching Mass Incarceration and Prison Abolition

In catalog record, click: American Prison Newspapers.
This searchable, open-access collection "bring[s] together hundreds of these periodicals from across the country into one collection that will represent penal institutions of all kinds, with special attention paid to women's-only institutions." After running a search like: Rikers Island, "Refine Results" allows you to search within results and to add a date range.

Human Rights Defense Center's 2020 Annual Report describes Prison Legal News (PLN) as "the longest-running independent magazine produced by and for prisoners." PLN analyzes "prisoners' rights, court rulings and news concerning criminal justice-related issues."
PLN's website includes: Articles published in PLN (1990-); additional news articles and reports on cases; selected audits, reports and studies; legal rulings; and PLN's Brief Bank.
PLN's home page tab: "Search Content" supports searching by topic and by location (in U.S. + in other countries). Although most of the Brief Bank content requires a PLN premium content subscription, case briefs might be available in Westlaw, Lexis+ or Bloomberg Law's dockets database.

The nonprofit, nonpartisan Marshall Project is a news organization that works "to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system."
Life Inside is a "weekly series of first-person essays from people who live or work in the criminal justice system."

Kites provides first-person, personal reports by the incarcerated. Tab: Stories also publishes poetry, art and opinion essays and commentaries.