Mass DOC Archives

Has The Inhumane And Costly Massachusetts Prison Health Care System Improved Under New Management?

The state’s last prison health care contract brought despair and congressional scrutiny. Our investigation indicates that the new vendor is off to a troubling start.

ELIZA DEWEY July 10, 2025

THE BEST OF BINJ: PRISON & PAROLE REPORTING

Coverage of prisons and parole in Massachusetts from the past decade, including the unparalleled reporting of Jean Trounstine

BINJ ONLINE November 14, 2024

PROFITS OVER PRISONERS?

While Massachusetts seeks a contractor to provide healthcare services for people in state prisons, advocates are pushing for stronger oversight of private operators as incarcerated people describe “deplorable” neglect and mistreatment By Dan Atkinson and Jean Trounstine For the past six years, Massachusetts has paid more than half-a-billion dollars to

DAN ATKINSON & JEAN TROUNSTINE January 12, 2024

UNPRECEDENTED TESTIMONY

Prisoners Are Front And Center At Historic Legislative Hearing “It has been proven that these life without parole sentences aren’t improving anything in our communities and continue to cause harm to families as people are incarcerated.” The packed room at the State House on Tuesday, July 25, was not unusual.

JEAN TROUNSTINE July 31, 2023

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: CHERYL AMIRAULT LEFAVE

“Everything that I came across for 40 years has been a battle.” It seemed that last week a decades-old controversial case was headed for a pardon vote. Outgoing Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker had recommended a pardon for Cheryl Amirault LeFave and her brother, Gerald, in the well-known and highly disputed

JEAN TROUNSTINE December 22, 2022

PHONE CHECK

Mass is still gouging the families of prisoners on phone fees. Will lawmakers finally change that? For the past 10 years, Beverly Ross has spent hundreds of dollars a month on a middle-school teacher’s salary to ensure that her son knows his father, who is incarcerated in a Massachusetts

ASHLEY PETTUS April 11, 2022