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Ivy Scott

@ivyscott.bsky.social
87 followers 8 following 8 posts

Data journalist in training, poetry fanatic, writer of many things! Currently @ The Marshall Project, ex-Boston Globe, eternally from New York

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Reposted by Ivy Scott
Greg Donovan @gregsdonovan.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Despite legal challenges, jails across the country are still filthy with plumbing issues, vermin, feces-covered walls, & limited access to basic hygiene products [ @ivyscott.bsky.social @brittanyhailer.bsky.social @dajaehenry.com @themarshallproject.org ] www.themarshallproject.org/2025/10/09/j...
themarshallproject.org
Why America’s Jails Are So Disgusting
Understaffing, outdated facilities and poor management have led to filthy conditions in jails in St. Louis, Cleveland and Hinds County, Mississippi.
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Reposted by Ivy Scott
The Marshall Project @themarshallproject.org · 02/12/2025
👋 This #GivingTuesday, your donation of just $10 pays for one subscriber's annual News Inside subscription — delivering powerful stories and helpful resources they can't get anywhere else in prison or jail: www.themarshallproject.org/donate?via=7...
Text reads "Your $10 donation pays for the cost of one incarcerated reader's annual subscription. This Giving Tuesday, our goal is to fund 150 News Inside Subscriptions." The image features three issues of The Marshall Project's News Inside print edition.
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Ivy Scott @ivyscott.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
🧵ends here, with my P.S. that Missouri's department of public safety apparently does collect prison deaths from the DOC, but DPS (1) closed that data to the public, and (2) “does not review, compile, evaluate or analyze the submitted reports.” So yeah, that's how things are going.
themarshallproject.org
How We Got Comprehensive Death Data From the Missouri DOC
After repeated questions about missing deaths in the state’s existing logs, the department shared annual counts for the first time.
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Ivy Scott @ivyscott.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
Dr. Roger Mitchell Jr. put it succinctly: the lack of year-end death data is “extremely concerning.” “You need the [total] number, and not just the number,” said Mitchell. "Not just to hold people accountable for things that weren't done correctly, but so that if things can improve — we improve.”🧵
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Ivy Scott @ivyscott.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
The same question applies to state research: if the Missouri department of public health wanted to look into, say, drug overdoses in MO prisons, wouldn't that be challenging to do if they were missing some of the data? (This ofc raises the question of how many missing deaths is "many": 5? 15? 50?)🧵
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Ivy Scott @ivyscott.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
The research team's goal was to create "a tool for the public and researchers to better understand the drivers of deaths in custody and assist policymakers in developing strategies to reduce their occurrence." But if no agency actually tracks how many people are dying, do researchers have a chance?
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Ivy Scott @ivyscott.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
While we as journalists of course take personal offense to being misinformed, I was struck by the fact that the person whose prison death numbers (for 2023) were farthest from the truth was a national researcher, not an activist or reporter. Here's why this matters:🧵
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Ivy Scott @ivyscott.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
1. If you asked the DOC how many people died in prison in any given year, the number you got was maybe (probably) wrong 2. If your friend then asked the same question, the DOC would maybe give them a completely different number 3. Neither of you would know who was right, or if you were both wrong🧵
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Ivy Scott @ivyscott.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
For years, the public had no way to know just how many people died in Missouri’s prisons because (surprise!) the state DOC wasn’t counting. Instead of annual totals, the DOC responded to records requests with partial counts, cobbled together from multiple sources. Here's what this means:🧵
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Ivy Scott @ivyscott.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
There was no way to know how many people died in Missouri prisons — until now. Emerging on Bsky to share this latest installment in @themarshallproject.org's death-in-custody coverage + a few thoughts from my reporting on MO's flawed records system 🧵👇🏾 www.themarshallproject.org/2025/11/18/s...
themarshallproject.org
There Was No Way to Know How Many People Died in Missouri Prisons — Until Now
For years, the state’s Department of Corrections cobbled together death records from multiple sources. New data reveals annual totals for the first time.
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Reposted by Ivy Scott
Greg Donovan @gregsdonovan.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Algoa Correctional Center, is one of four Missouri prisons with no air conditioning in any of the housing units. A first person account of what it’s like there during a heat wave [ @ivyscott.bsky.social @themarshallproject.org ] www.themarshallproject.org/2025/09/08/m...
themarshallproject.org
I Logged One of My Hottest Days in Prison During a Missouri Heat Wave
Lawyers requested swift cooling measures in a prison with no A/C. One man shares the dangerous conditions inside while people await a judge’s ruling.
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Reposted by Ivy Scott
Psychotherapist Valerie @mytherapistvalerie.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
🕊️ What does it mean to be a “last responder”? In this deeply personal essay for The Marshall Project, Shamari Jackson shares how restoring the bodies of those lost to violence became a form of therapy and connection. www.themarshallproject.org/2025/10/17/m... @ivyscott.bsky.social
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Reposted by Ivy Scott
Greg Donovan @gregsdonovan.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Shamari Jackson, a St. Louis mortician, came to the job after gun violence took her boyfriend’s life. In her work, she’s compassionately cared for the bodies of friends and classmates, as well as strangers [ @ivyscott.bsky.social @themarshallproject.org ] www.themarshallproject.org/2025/10/17/m...
themarshallproject.org
What Being a Mortician to Homicide Victims Taught Me About Grief
St. Louis native Shamari Jackson began studying mortuary science after her boyfriend was fatally shot. Now she uses her work as a form of therapy.
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