PJP contributors won big at this year’s Stillwater Awards, a first-of-its-kind national prison journalism contest sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists.
PJP alumni Steve Brooks and correspondent Jeffrey McKee, who write from California and Washington state, respectively, were runners-up for Prison Journalist of the Year. McKee also took home the first-place prize in the “best feature” category with his in-depth story about a mental health unit at the Washington State Penitentiary.
PJP journalists were honored for work published in major news outlets, including Al Jazeera English and The Guardian US.
For Al Jazeera English, longtime PJP correspondent Tariq MaQbool explored the experience of Muslims inside his New Jersey prison. In his richly told narrative feature, MaQbool raised questions about what happens to the bodies of Muslims after they die, and what responsibility the state prison system has to ensure the burial rites of incarcerated followers of Islam are respected.
Meanwhile, in a partnership that included PJP, MindSite News and The Guardian US, Kory McClary published a harrowing first-person account of the death of Eddie Robinson at New Jersey State Prison. Robinson was incarcerated above McClary inside a cell referred to as “the crazy unit.” The essay triggered a larger investigation by MindSite’s Josh McGhee into the life of Robinson and his slow descent. McGhee’s story shone a spotlight on Robinson’s treatment by prison staff in his final days, and asked whether enough was done to save his life.
Other award-winners include Kevin D. Sawyer, Lexie Handlang, Christopher Monihan and Artemus Blankenship. Artists Jessica Garza, Brian Hindson and Elsa Segura swept the category of “best illustrations” with drawings that depict prison life.
Here we have collected a list of all of the winners for work published in 2023.
Prison Journalist of the Year
- Second Place — Steve Brooks
- Third Place — Jeff McKee
Most Impactful Journalism
First Place — “As a Muslim Incarcerated in New Jersey, I Worry I Will Be Cremated When I Die,” by Tariq MaQbool: “Because of the heightened atmosphere of fear of death during the pandemic, many Muslims at NJSP felt intense anxiety about our final rites and what would happen to our bodies if we died. Fueling this unease was the knowledge that some imprisoned men who died at NJSP had been cremated against their religious beliefs.”
Best News
Second Place — “San Quentin Is Decaying. California Has No Clear Plan to Fix It,” by Kevin D. Sawyer: “The governor has promised $360.6 million in funding to turn San Quentin into a rehabilitation center. But the state has neglected the existing problems with the prison’s infrastructure. Little has been said about the $20 million the governor promised for ‘various’ improvement ‘projects,’ even though the prison’s maintenance needs topped $1.6 billion in 2021.”
Best Collaboration
First Place — “Tales From a Cell Below ‘The Crazy Unit,’” by Kory McClary: “In the time I’ve been here, I’ve heard multiple episodes that have been particularly concerning. The first one started in November 2022 with the guy above me at the time. I call him the banging guy.”
McClary’s story ran simultaneously with another story produced by the nonprofit newsroom MindSite News. That story, written by Josh McGhee, covered the life and death of Eddie Robinson, the man who was descending into mental distress and banging above McClary’s cell. Both stories were co-published with The Guardian US.
Best Feature
First Place — “Inside the Mental Health Unit at Washington State Penitentiary,” by Jeffrey McKee: “On any given day, the Washington State Department of Corrections segregates more than 400 prisoners of its average population of about 12,816 for ‘treatment’ of mental illness. The diagnoses span the gamut, from psychosis and depression to anxiety and schizophrenia.”
Third Place — “Dreams of Leaving Prison: From Meeting Grandkids to Eating Whatever You Want,” by Lexie Handlang: “Barriers to reentry underscore an important fact that any incarcerated person faces if they are lucky enough to leave: Regaining freedom is exciting, but reentering the outside world can be frightening too.”
Best Op-Ed
Second Place — “What Caused His PTSD? This Prison, Right Here,” by Christopher Monihan: “Teddy was released in December 2021 and outwardly seemed to be doing fine. But in July 2022, he called his girlfriend and told her he couldn’t take it anymore. He then ended his life. Teddy suffered from what I call incarceration-borne post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition that dramatically affected his confidence and ability to cope with everyday life.”
Third Place — “How California’s New Elder Parole Program Still Leaves Many Prisoners Behind,” by Artemus Blankenship: Under changes enacted by the state legislature that took effect on January 1, 2021, prisoners are eligible for early parole when they turn 50 years old if they have served 20 continuous years. … But here’s the twist: Prisoners sentenced under California’s three-strikes law are not eligible.”
Best Illustration
First Place — “The Beetle That Visited a Prisoner Sentenced to Die,” by Jessica Garza: “I don’t blame him for freezing like a statue. If I were a beetle bug entering a prison cell, I would do the exact same thing.”
Second Place — “The Art Room at My Texas Prison,” by Brian Hindson: “This is my cluttered workstation in the hobby craft room, but I hate that name. I prefer to call it the art room.”
Third Place — “In Prison, Art Is My Voice,” by Elsa Segura: “This artwork is meaningful to me because it is reflective of a time when my state of Minnesota was going through the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd.”