James Howard III was arrested in 2020 and sent to Chicago’s Cook County Jail a few weeks into the state's coronavirus lockdown. Crowded, unsanitary, and with little means of social distancing, the single-site jail experienced a rapid outbreak of COVID-19. Mark Betancourt reports on the unprecedented steps officials took to control the outbreak, and the urgent attempts of families to keep their loved ones safe.

Sean Wesley knew he had Hepatitis C when he started serving his prison sentence in Louisiana, and spent years trying to get treatment. Despite an innovative arrangement between a drug manufacturer and the state's Department of Corrections, he was transferred from facility to facility, and even finished his sentence, without ever receiving proper care. Reporter Xander Adams looks into why.

In Alaska, rising violent crime and substance abuse across the state have also increased incarceration rates among Native Americans. Making use of their legal sovereignty, some Alaska Native leaders issue “blue tickets,” documents that sentence offenders to legal expulsion. Journalist Emily Schwing reports on the consequences and cultural impact of banishment from Toksook Bay.