Mario Koran
@mkoran.bsky.social
Criminal justice reporter for Wisconsin Watch. Past: Local investigations for NYTimes; Knight Wallace fellow; Voice of San Diego; The Guardian. Formerly incarcerated.
Pinned
Mario Koran
@mkoran.bsky.social
· Nov 19
My Unlikely Path From Jail to Journalism
While serving a sentence for burglary, I enrolled in a college journalism class. When I interviewed my correctional officer, my world broadened.
www.nytimes.com
Hello Bluesky 👋
I'm Mario. I was once incarcerated in Wisconsin - now I investigate and write about its jails and prisons for Wisconsin Watch. Follow me for investigations and updates on the beat.
Here's a story I wrote last year about how I got into journalism.
www.nytimes.com/2024/07/02/i...
I'm Mario. I was once incarcerated in Wisconsin - now I investigate and write about its jails and prisons for Wisconsin Watch. Follow me for investigations and updates on the beat.
Here's a story I wrote last year about how I got into journalism.
www.nytimes.com/2024/07/02/i...
Reposted by Mario Koran
If you or someone you know has spent time in Lincoln Hills or Copper Lake schools — whether as an incarcerated juvenile or a staff member — your perspectives could inform @wisconsinwatch.bsky.social follow-up coverage of these issues. Contact info for @mkoran.bsky.social in the article.
Wisconsin budgets nearly $463,000 a year to incarcerate each child at the state’s Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake schools. Why have costs ballooned? How much do other states spend to incarcerate youth? How else could Wisconsin spend on troubled youth? Answers to those questions and more in our report.
One child, $463,000 per year: Ballooning costs of troubled Lincoln Hills youth prison
A budget request would nearly double incarceration costs in Wisconsin’s juvenile justice system. Many say the funds would be better used to prevent crime.
wisconsinwatch.org
December 5, 2024 at 3:52 PM
If you or someone you know has spent time in Lincoln Hills or Copper Lake schools — whether as an incarcerated juvenile or a staff member — your perspectives could inform @wisconsinwatch.bsky.social follow-up coverage of these issues. Contact info for @mkoran.bsky.social in the article.
Reposted by Mario Koran
“No judge wants to send a kid to Lincoln Hills,” said a MKE County judge, who has presided over juvenile cases. “You feel like you’re damning the kid. And if you look at the recidivism rates that come out of Lincoln Hills, you pretty much are damning a kid.” From @mkoran.bsky.social and Devin Blake:
Wisconsin budgets nearly $463,000 a year to incarcerate each child at the state’s Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake schools. Why have costs ballooned? How much do other states spend to incarcerate youth? How else could Wisconsin spend on troubled youth? Answers to those questions and more in our report.
One child, $463,000 per year: Ballooning costs of troubled Lincoln Hills youth prison
A budget request would nearly double incarceration costs in Wisconsin’s juvenile justice system. Many say the funds would be better used to prevent crime.
wisconsinwatch.org
December 5, 2024 at 4:02 PM
“No judge wants to send a kid to Lincoln Hills,” said a MKE County judge, who has presided over juvenile cases. “You feel like you’re damning the kid. And if you look at the recidivism rates that come out of Lincoln Hills, you pretty much are damning a kid.” From @mkoran.bsky.social and Devin Blake:
Reposted by Mario Koran
“Many of you could be where we are—on the street—but for some simple and not uncommon twist of fate. This is part of your rejection, this fear that it could be you. You deny that reality because it is too horrific to contemplate, therefore you must deny us.” www.esquire.com/news-politic...
My Life As a Homeless Man in America
An extraordinary firsthand account.
www.esquire.com
November 30, 2024 at 1:30 AM
“Many of you could be where we are—on the street—but for some simple and not uncommon twist of fate. This is part of your rejection, this fear that it could be you. You deny that reality because it is too horrific to contemplate, therefore you must deny us.” www.esquire.com/news-politic...
Excited to join forces with MKE Journal Sentinel and TMJ4 to examine police accountability.
"This really is about transparency and telling MKE residents what they should know about the credibility of their police officers,” said @jmalewitz.bsky.social Stay tuned. www.jsonline.com/story/news/i...
"This really is about transparency and telling MKE residents what they should know about the credibility of their police officers,” said @jmalewitz.bsky.social Stay tuned. www.jsonline.com/story/news/i...
We're teaming up with TMJ4 and Wisconsin Watch to investigate problematic police officers
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is teaming up with TMJ4 and Wisconsin Watch to investigate the officers who are — and aren’t — on the "Brady list."
www.jsonline.com
November 26, 2024 at 6:39 PM
Excited to join forces with MKE Journal Sentinel and TMJ4 to examine police accountability.
"This really is about transparency and telling MKE residents what they should know about the credibility of their police officers,” said @jmalewitz.bsky.social Stay tuned. www.jsonline.com/story/news/i...
"This really is about transparency and telling MKE residents what they should know about the credibility of their police officers,” said @jmalewitz.bsky.social Stay tuned. www.jsonline.com/story/news/i...
I once served time in Colorado. Every day we had to work in the kitchen from 5am to 2pm. One day I told the guard I was too sick to go to work. He said if I refused, they'd take away my good-time credit, which meant serving more time. I went to work. h/t @jennburrill.bsky.social
Assigned to a prison job paying $0.13 per hour, Abron Arrington refused to work, figuring his time could be better spent learning physics.
The DOC punished him with bouts of solitary confinement.
boltsmag.org/colorad...
The DOC punished him with bouts of solitary confinement.
boltsmag.org/colorad...
Forced Labor Continues in Colorado, Years After Vote to End Prison Slavery
Coloradans voted in 2018 to amend their state constitution to ban forced labor in prison. Years later, incarcerated people are still being punished for refusing work assignments.
boltsmag.org
November 24, 2024 at 8:50 PM
I once served time in Colorado. Every day we had to work in the kitchen from 5am to 2pm. One day I told the guard I was too sick to go to work. He said if I refused, they'd take away my good-time credit, which meant serving more time. I went to work. h/t @jennburrill.bsky.social
Shout out to Milwaukee. Looking good, buddy.
November 23, 2024 at 2:28 AM
Shout out to Milwaukee. Looking good, buddy.
Reposted by Mario Koran
Three years ago, a man on Texas death row asked a prison spokesman if I could be the reporter to witness his execution
The man was John Ramirez. I'd never met or written him before – but that request eventually led to several stories and a 3-year film project that is finally out this week. Thread:
The man was John Ramirez. I'd never met or written him before – but that request eventually led to several stories and a 3-year film project that is finally out this week. Thread:
November 20, 2024 at 7:37 PM
Three years ago, a man on Texas death row asked a prison spokesman if I could be the reporter to witness his execution
The man was John Ramirez. I'd never met or written him before – but that request eventually led to several stories and a 3-year film project that is finally out this week. Thread:
The man was John Ramirez. I'd never met or written him before – but that request eventually led to several stories and a 3-year film project that is finally out this week. Thread:
This is legit problem in Wisconsin, too. I can't even count how many calls I get from family members who are desperate to find a loved one - only to discover they've died or been hospitalized.
There doesn't seem to be anyone at the prisons whose job it is to call the family.
There doesn't seem to be anyone at the prisons whose job it is to call the family.
ICYMI: the Bureau of Prisons is consistently cruel to families whose loved ones die behind bars. One woman, after spending all night calling a prison, found out her husband was dead because the BOP updated his status to 'deceased.' reason.com/2024/11/19/t...
November 20, 2024 at 6:07 PM
This is legit problem in Wisconsin, too. I can't even count how many calls I get from family members who are desperate to find a loved one - only to discover they've died or been hospitalized.
There doesn't seem to be anyone at the prisons whose job it is to call the family.
There doesn't seem to be anyone at the prisons whose job it is to call the family.
Hello Bluesky 👋
I'm Mario. I was once incarcerated in Wisconsin - now I investigate and write about its jails and prisons for Wisconsin Watch. Follow me for investigations and updates on the beat.
Here's a story I wrote last year about how I got into journalism.
www.nytimes.com/2024/07/02/i...
I'm Mario. I was once incarcerated in Wisconsin - now I investigate and write about its jails and prisons for Wisconsin Watch. Follow me for investigations and updates on the beat.
Here's a story I wrote last year about how I got into journalism.
www.nytimes.com/2024/07/02/i...
My Unlikely Path From Jail to Journalism
While serving a sentence for burglary, I enrolled in a college journalism class. When I interviewed my correctional officer, my world broadened.
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2024 at 7:19 PM
Hello Bluesky 👋
I'm Mario. I was once incarcerated in Wisconsin - now I investigate and write about its jails and prisons for Wisconsin Watch. Follow me for investigations and updates on the beat.
Here's a story I wrote last year about how I got into journalism.
www.nytimes.com/2024/07/02/i...
I'm Mario. I was once incarcerated in Wisconsin - now I investigate and write about its jails and prisons for Wisconsin Watch. Follow me for investigations and updates on the beat.
Here's a story I wrote last year about how I got into journalism.
www.nytimes.com/2024/07/02/i...
Reposted by Mario Koran
The 100th article about how dairy farmers will fare under Trump's immigration policies and we're still stuck in the same doom loop...what are farmers doing to shift the policy and rhetoric around immigration beyond complaining about their individual labor needs?
www.jsonline.com/story/money/...
www.jsonline.com/story/money/...
www.jsonline.com
November 19, 2024 at 1:29 PM
The 100th article about how dairy farmers will fare under Trump's immigration policies and we're still stuck in the same doom loop...what are farmers doing to shift the policy and rhetoric around immigration beyond complaining about their individual labor needs?
www.jsonline.com/story/money/...
www.jsonline.com/story/money/...
Reposted by Mario Koran
This is my starter pack of reporters and experts and legal folks, primarily law-focused and media-focused.
Why does this feel so much like picking your top 8 on MySpace
go.bsky.app/S9jWEGH
Why does this feel so much like picking your top 8 on MySpace
go.bsky.app/S9jWEGH
Reporters and law nerds
Join the conversation
go.bsky.app
November 11, 2024 at 10:12 PM
This is my starter pack of reporters and experts and legal folks, primarily law-focused and media-focused.
Why does this feel so much like picking your top 8 on MySpace
go.bsky.app/S9jWEGH
Why does this feel so much like picking your top 8 on MySpace
go.bsky.app/S9jWEGH
Reposted by Mario Koran
Ayyyyy @mkoran.bsky.social is here!!! Highly recommend following him.
If you have liked my work over the years covering prisons as a former prisoner... he does the same thing, but in Wisconsin.
www.nytimes.com/2024/07/02/i...
If you have liked my work over the years covering prisons as a former prisoner... he does the same thing, but in Wisconsin.
www.nytimes.com/2024/07/02/i...
My Unlikely Path From Jail to Journalism
While serving a sentence for burglary, I enrolled in a college journalism class. When I interviewed my correctional officer, my world broadened.
www.nytimes.com
November 10, 2024 at 6:48 PM
Ayyyyy @mkoran.bsky.social is here!!! Highly recommend following him.
If you have liked my work over the years covering prisons as a former prisoner... he does the same thing, but in Wisconsin.
www.nytimes.com/2024/07/02/i...
If you have liked my work over the years covering prisons as a former prisoner... he does the same thing, but in Wisconsin.
www.nytimes.com/2024/07/02/i...