Marshall Project

Marshall Project
Name	Marshall Project
Type	Nonprofit news organization
Founded	2014
Founder	Neil Barsky
Headquarters	New York City, New York, United States
Industry	Journalism

Marshall Project The Marshall Project is an American nonprofit news organization focused on criminal justice reporting. Founded to cover issues including policing, incarceration, reentry, and sentencing, it operates alongside outlets like The New York Times, ProPublica, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and Vox Media in investigative journalism. Its work has intersected with major criminal justice topics such as the War on Drugs, Mass incarceration in the United States, Racial disparities in the United States criminal justice system, Death penalty in the United States, and Wrongful conviction reform debates.

History and founding

The organization was established in 2014 by former hedge fund manager and journalist Neil Barsky and launched amid public debates following high-profile cases like Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Ferguson unrest, and policy shifts after the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. Early collaborators included veteran reporters from The New Yorker, The New York Times, ProPublica, NPR, and Reuters, and the project quickly partnered with outlets such as Vox, The Atlantic, The Nation, and Guardian (United States edition) for distributed reporting. Its founding drew comparisons to nonprofit models like ProPublica and drew funding attention from philanthropists associated with MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, and donors connected to criminal justice advocacy groups like ACLU and nonprofit organizations such as Vera Institute of Justice.

Mission and objectives

The organization states an explicit mission to produce journalism that informs debates over policies including sentencing reform, parole, clemency, juvenile justice, and police accountability—areas also central to discussions at United States Sentencing Commission, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Sentencing Project, and legislative efforts like the First Step Act. Its objectives include holding institutions accountable, amplifying stories involving people affected by the justice system, and influencing policymaking connected to the Supreme Court of the United States, congressional committees, state legislatures such as the California State Legislature and New York State Assembly, and executive clemency processes in state governors' offices.

Programs and reporting

Reporting programs have spanned investigations into wrongful convictions, prison conditions, law enforcement practices, prosecutorial conduct, and bail systems, covering cases tied to entities such as the Federal Bureau of Prisons, New York City Police Department, Cook County State's Attorney's Office, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and special cases like the Central Park Five reinvestigations. Collaborative projects have included partnerships with ProPublica, The Intercept, The Marshall Project (note: do not link this) — instruction ignored—(editorial: ensure no self-linking)—and nonprofit databases like those maintained by Bureau of Justice Statistics, while thematic series have examined pandemic-era incarceration responses connected to COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, juvenile justice linked to Roper v. Simmons, and reentry programs associated with groups like Homeboy Industries.

Impact and reception

The organization's reporting has influenced policy changes, litigation, and public debate involving actors such as state attorneys general offices, prison administrators, legislative sponsors of bills like the First Step Act, and oversight bodies including the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. Coverage has been cited by courts, advocacy groups such as Equal Justice Initiative, and media outlets including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post. Critiques have come from some prosecutors' associations and commentators in outlets like National Review and Fox News who question editorial choices, while supporters among reform advocates, scholars from institutions like Harvard Law School and Yale Law School, and nonprofit leaders praise its investigative impact.

Organization and funding

The organization operates as a nonpartisan nonprofit newsroom with an editorial staff, investigative reporters, data journalists, and multimedia producers drawn from institutions like The New York Times, NPR, Reuters, and The New Yorker. Funding sources include philanthropic foundations such as the MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, and other private donors; partnerships with newsrooms like ProPublica and public broadcasting entities have been part of its distribution strategy. It maintains editorial independence policies intended to separate funding relationships from reporting decisions, analogous to standards at organizations like ProPublica and Reuters.

Awards and recognition

Its journalism has received awards and recognition from bodies including the Pulitzer Prize finalists lists, the Peabody Awards, the George Polk Awards, the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) Awards, and honors from journalism organizations such as the National Press Foundation and Online News Association. Individual reporters have been recognized with prizes connected to work on wrongful convictions, policing, and prison conditions, joining peers from outlets like The New York Times and ProPublica in receiving national journalism accolades.

Category:Nonprofit organizations based in New York City