Since before we even published our first feature, we set out to use BINJ as an incubator to produce and distribute longform reporting. While our team has also taken on other big challenges, from teaching to advocating for journalism, we are proud to have fulfilled our mission to pursue the kind of comprehensive stories, often investigative, that fewer outlets are able to publish in today’s troubled media climate.
As part of our retrospective celebration of BINJ entering its tenth year, we hit the archives for some of our most impactful, popular, and memorable articles. Recognizing how hundreds of them intersect topics, we picked nearly 250 of our favorites and parsed them into 13 categories: Education; Labor; Housing & Gentrification; Police & Surveillance; Prisons & Parole; Transit; Environment; Politics & Government Accountability; Immigrant Communities; Music, Arts & Sports; LGBTQIA+; Opioids & Other Drugs; Massachusetts History.
We are posting these compendiums by category weekly through the end of January 2025, and it’s not just for posterity. We hope that seeing the fruits of our labor in this light inspires you to support BINJ to do more of this work; the greatest hits in these roundups alone add up to two features a month over a decade, and they are in addition to hundreds of columns and shortform articles from projects like Somerville Wire and Manchester Divided.
Finally, you can also help by telling us which topics and investigations you think we should follow up on in the new year. Check out the list below, then find our quick engagement survey near the bottom of the post.
Joey’s Angels (March 6, 2016) By Chris Faraone
Joe Donovan beat impossible odds in being paroled from a life sentence. With his release this month, he and his advocates recount the nightmare behind them and brace for a daunting road ahead.
Flame War (December 19, 2016) By Sarah Betancourt
Council greenlights social media surveillance despite lack of BPD transparency
Facing The End Alone (May 23, 2017) By Arnie King
The second in a series profiling aging lifers seeking commutations from Mass prisons
The Fight For Life (May 22, 2019) By Jean Trounstine
The Bay State has a fraught history of sentencing people to serve life without parole. Now lawmakers have a chance to end the bad deal Beacon Hill made to trade the death penalty for natural life sentences.
More Dysfunction Than Diversity (June 25, 2019) By Jean Trounstine
Who oversees parole in Mass? What motivates decisions? Does the outcome help the Commonwealth? Will the addition of another career prosecutor tilt the Mass parole board away from second chances?
Hampden County’s Pepper Spray Problem (July 3, 2019) By Seth Kershner
Use of force reports from the Hampden County Correctional Center reveal disproportionate use of chemical force against prisoners with psychiatric disabilities
Rethinking Reentry (October 30, 2019) By Diego Marcano
In a state that sets up former inmates for failure, this program offers hope through education and more
The Quiet One (November 26, 2019) By Sara Selevitch
40 years ago this month, Fred Clay was arrested for a crime he didn’t commit. After 38 years behind bars, he’s telling his story and writing another chapter.
Changing Perception, Changing The Law (March 4, 2020) By Jean Trounstine
What Mass lawmakers can learn from the battle to end death by incarceration across the country
The Dysfunctional Mass Parole Board’s Inevitable Coronavirus Crisis (April 21, 2020) By Jean Trounstine
“Most prisons and many jails have done very little to reduce the population density that puts both incarcerated people and staff at grave risk.”
Revocation Nation: Reincarceration For Technical Parole Violations In The Age of COVID-19 (September 15, 2020) By Jean Trounstine
Inside the Fight to Document the Horrors at America’s Oldest Women’s Prison (December 17, 2020) By Shelby Grebbin & Isha Marathe
The first in a series on conditions and activism at MCI-Framingham
Prison Horrors By The Numbers (January 16, 2021) By Sarah Betancourt
Mass respondents shed light on COVID atrocities in new national survey
Inside The Battle Over A New Women’s Prison For Massachusetts (February 8, 2021) By Dan Atkinson
“Either they don’t have people with the right expertise in charge of this process, making very embarrassing bumbles, or you literally are trying to circumvent the process.”
Commonwealth Committed To “Other” Death Penalty (February 24, 2021) By Jean Trounstine
New report shows 1/6 of women in Mass prisons sentenced to life without parole.
Special Feature: A Year Of Disaster At Old Colony (May 3, 2021) By Jean Trounstine
“The walls are closing in on me; I can’t talk to my family; I’ve lost it.”
Deliberate Indifference: COVID-19 In Massachusetts Prisons (June 22, 2021) By Jason Pugatch
A documentary about the impact that a lack of effective pandemic protocol has had on the Bay State
The Mass Parole Board Has A Transparency Problem (December 20, 2021) By Jean Trounstine
From secret hiring practices to a revolving door of political appointees, the Mass Parole Board is a “black hole,” and “lives are at risk.”
Governor’s Council Signals Landmark Commutation Looms (January 27, 2022) By Jean Trounstine
“You had one really horrible day and you paid dearly but I think you paid enough.”
Phone Check (April 11, 2022) By Ashley Pettus
Mass is still gouging the families of prisoners on phone fees. Will lawmakers finally change that?
Morale Violation (May 23, 2022) By Jean Trounstine
Whistle-blowers report culture of “retaliation” and “nepotism” at Mass parole agency
High Drama (June 20, 2022) By Jean Trounstine
Unruly, argumentative Governor’s Council inflames Parole Board Hearings
“Polarizing Force” (August 8, 2022) By Jean Trounstine
Governor’s Council weighs controversial Parole Board renomination
Judgment On The Chopping Block (October 17, 2022) By Jean Trounstine
Parole Board Chair Gloriann Moroney’s contentious hearing to become a judge
On The Way Home (January 11, 2023) By Jean Trounstine
A New Beginning For Formerly Incarcerated Women
Will Race Matter… (February 14, 2023) By Jean Trounstine
As Mass Reconsiders Life Without Parole For 18 To 20-Year-Olds?
Dancing On Banana Peels (May 17, 2023) By Jean Trounstine
Life On Lifetime Parole In Massachusetts: “I am now in the same predicament as I was when I first got out of prison.”
Unprecedented Testimony (July 31, 2023) By Jean Trounstine
Prisoners Are Front And Center At Historic Legislative Hearing
A New Hope (February 1, 2024) By Jean Trounstine
What the Mattis decision means for parole in Massachusetts—unprecedented opportunities for release from life sentences, updated trainings for attorneys, and a big shift in the system
After Mattis (July 29, 2024) By Jean Trounstine
First “emerging adult” parole hearing held in Massachusetts since historic ruling on life without parole for those under 21
Governing In Darkness: A Three-Part Series (August 2024) By Jean Trounstine
Who are the Massachusetts governor’s councilors? What professional baggage do they bring to the body? And can this motley crew stumble toward reform?
Compensation For Wrongful Convictions In Massachusetts (October 28, 2024) By Andrew Quemere
The Fight For Justice And Reform
Is Philip Chism’s Sentence Unlawful? (October 29, 2024) By Jean Trounstine
Lawyers Raise New Questions In Appeal Before Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
