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moiz.bsky.social
moiz
@moiz.bsky.social
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Designer at Mozilla • Previously worked at ProPublica, The Intercept, Wikimedia • he/him

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themarshallproject.org
Each year, about 6,000 people die in prisons and jails — numbers that experts believe are likely undercounts. Federal law requires local agencies to report in-custody deaths, but the mandate is not enforced.

In many places, there’s no reliable public accounting of what happened or why.
Years After Her Son’s Death in Jail, She’s Still Seeking Answers. She’s Not Alone.
Jacilet Griffin is one of many nationwide left with grief and unanswered questions when a loved one dies behind bars.
www.themarshallproject.org
September 5, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Reposted by moiz
marshallprojectguild.org
Today, we sent a letter to @themarshallproject.org‬ leadership expressing concern about their denial of bargaining obligations. Management has repeatedly denied members Weingarten rights, engaged in an illegal layoff, and more — we need your help to demand that management bargain in good faith.
Dear Katrice and Geraldine, We are deeply concerned about the manner in which The Marshall Project has been treating our members and approaching the bargaining process. Recently, The Marshall Project leadership has betrayed our organization’s values and compromised our position in the industry and the journalism we pursue. It’s time for that to change. The guild has worked tirelessly and in good faith on proposals that would keep high-quality health care affordable for Marshallers. We have also been steadfast in asserting that all recognized members deserve due process and fair treatment required under the law. The organization, in turn, has increasingly taken anti-worker stances that have eroded trust and created a culture that makes it difficult to do the work that makes us proud. Since the organization has taken such a hardline stance, refusing to work with the guild on the items listed below, we will be filing unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board and stepping up our public efforts to make it clear that we demand fair treatment. The following recent actions by the organization have taken an immense toll on the workers of The Marshall Project: 1. The organization has repeatedly denied steward representation to a member facing a Performance Improvement Plan and possible termination, as well as denying another member representation in their termination meeting last week. This denial is illegal, egregious, and completely out of line with standards across our industry and the labor movement going back decades. We are shocked that the organization would take such a hypocritical and prohibitive stance on this, given our mission. The union has filed an Unfair Labor Practice about this illegal violation of members’ Weingarten rights and demands that members be allowed steward representation in any meeting they feel is appropriate. 2. The organization has caused a retaliatory ripple effect with its actions against one employee that has touched an entire newsroom in Cleveland with negative effects that go against the stated purpose of collaboration with local media and our ability to make good on promises we made to readers. When the organization recognized members it had a duty to follow the law and not proceed with layoffs without bargaining. We have filed an Unfair Labor Practice for the illegal layoff of employees and management retaliation. 3. The organization made a unilateral change to our outside employment policy without bargaining, changing expectations to require managerial approval. We have always maintained a workplace where outside work is permitted and the organization’s sudden termination of Chris Vazquez without a steward, without an opportunity to stop the freelancing project, and without severance is unjust and defies our values. 4. The organization is employing a strategic erosion of status quo through small changes to past practice while we bargain our first contract, including erasure of our cost-of-living adjustment, a significant change to our health insurance, and modifying the evaluation process. The organization has inconsistently complied with requests for information, which does not reflect good faith in bargaining. The Marshall Project, in retaining union-busting law firm Kauff McGuire & Margolis, is willingly participating in the erosion of worker protections across our industry, a project that takes advantage of the current anti-worker political environment. When The Marshall Project voluntarily recognized our union last year, it touted a “longstanding commitment to a fair, equitable and inclusive workplace, with generous benefits.” We are demanding a return to these values.
August 14, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by moiz
annaflagg.bsky.social
And all my thanks to the wonderful Jacilet Griffin.
August 7, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by moiz
annaflagg.bsky.social
Thanks my fearless reporting partners Ilica Mahajan & @asankin.bsky.social for all their work in the last year. Thanks Rahim Fortune for incredible photos, Celina Fang for inspired art direction & Josie Norton for beautiful illos. Get in touch to share your thoughts about deaths in custody.
August 7, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by moiz
annaflagg.bsky.social
Read Jacilet and Evan's story here: www.themarshallproject.org/2025/08/06/h...
Who Answers for a Death in Custody?
Jacilet Griffin is one of many nationwide left with grief and unanswered questions when a loved one dies behind bars.
www.themarshallproject.org
August 7, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by moiz
annaflagg.bsky.social
The official failure to adequately track these deaths puts enormous burdens on families. Jacilet Griffin's son Evan Lee died in a Texas jail in 2022; ever since, she's been a warrior for her family and others facing grief and lack of answers after a loved one's death behind bars.
August 7, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by moiz
annaflagg.bsky.social
Interviews with dozens of people from the Justice Department, law enforcement, Congress, research groups and advocacy showed that the federal government has simply never prioritized the DCRA law enough to build a workable system to track deaths in custody.
August 7, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by moiz
annaflagg.bsky.social
One of the law's requirements is to use the data to prevent future deaths in custody. But about 1 in 6 of the records didn't include manner of death.

How can you figure out how to reduce deaths if you don't know how people are dying?

More here with @wbur.org: www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2...
Marshall Project investigation explores why the government doesn't know how many people die in custody
Thousands of people die in custody each year, usually during an arrest or while incarcerated.
www.wbur.org
August 7, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by moiz
annaflagg.bsky.social
We found hundreds of people who died in custody but weren't listed in the official data. The overwhelming majority of records didn't meet the Justice Department's standards for accuracy and completeness. Still, the DOJ has never once penalized a state for poor reporting.
August 7, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by moiz
annaflagg.bsky.social
One example of the problems plaguing the government's tracking of deaths in custody: an inadvertently leaked federal dataset showed that George Floyd's death—one of the most well-known cases of police use of force—is not called police use of force in the official records.
August 7, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by moiz
annaflagg.bsky.social
In 2000 the Death in Custody Reporting Act passed requiring the DOJ to track deaths in prisons, jails & police interactions.

Why, 25 years later, does the U.S. government still not know how many people die in custody?

*New @themarshallproject.org report*: www.themarshallproject.org/2025/08/07/d...
Why Doesn’t the U.S. Government Know How Many People Die in Custody?
Under the Death in Custody Reporting Act, the government is supposed to track how many people die in law enforcement custody — but the data is a mess.
www.themarshallproject.org
August 7, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by moiz
propublicaguild.org
Today, we issued a letter — signed by 70% of our unit — to @sengelberg.bsky.social and @robinsparkman.bsky.social asking them to uphold ProPublica’s values of fairness, transparency and accountability at the bargaining table.
Dear Steve and Robin, Since we unionized in 2023, we have worked hard to reach a contract that honors ProPublica's mission. In order to fulfill that vision, our values of fairness, transparency and accountability must apply not only to our reporting but also to our workplace. Our proposals have sought basic contractual rights that align with those values and exist at many other unionized newsrooms. Instead of working with us to codify those rights, you have struck through many of our proposals, called for broad carve outs and delayed discussion of key provisions such as protections against layoffs and overwork. Those tactics are not in line with the ProPublica you say you want to build. In recent months: ● You have refused to allow stewards in performance meetings that could lead to discipline. ● You have resisted attempts to reform our disciplinary system, rejecting a standard approach to just cause and measures to improve transparency and clarity. ● You rejected our proposal that would ensure our jobs will not be replaced by artificial intelligence. What we are seeking is simple: ProPublica management must uphold its values in its own workplace. We expect that your proposals going forward will reflect these shared values. Sincerely, ProPublica Guild
May 1, 2025 at 12:38 PM