The Marshall Project news newsletter

Donate Edited by Andrew Cohen View in browser 2026 2026 Community Survey Will you help shape our future reporting and strategies? Give your feedback and help make The Marshall Project better → TAKE THE SURVEY NOW Pick of the News Christa Pike survives her execution attempt. Tennessee executioners tried but failed to kill Christa Pike late Wednesday after a dramatic day at the U.S. Supreme Court and in the death chamber. The Associated Press Pike, the only woman on the state’s death row, survived two lethal doses of pentobarbital and was ultimately rushed to a nearby hospital. The New York Times Gov. Bill Lee then called off the execution and ordered a review after the state’s second failed execution of the year. The Tennessean After another failed execution, questions about medical ethics. NPR The U.S. Supreme Court’s six Republican justices had interceded hours earlier to allow the execution to proceed after a lower federal court had blocked it. LawDork Another week in paradise at the FBI. The FBI is gaming its Ten Most Wanted list to boost its image by adding people to it who are about to be arrested, a reporter alleges. HuffPost More details have emerged about tensions between FBI Director Kash Patel and Andrew Bailey, the former Missouri attorney general who abruptly quit this week as deputy FBI director. Bailey was left out of key FBI meetings, sources say, because he kept pointing out the illegality of what officials were planning. CBS News An FBI official vowed this week to track down members of ShinyHunters. The hacking group has purportedly gained access to private information about tens of thousands of current and former FBI employees. The New York Times Autocracy watch. Trump administration officials took taxpayer dollars earmarked for immigration enforcement and detention to pay for a series of propagandistic television ads praising President Donald Trump. The Wall Street Journal Homeland Security officials are now deploying pop-up immigration courts in federal buildings across the U.S. and are blocking public access to the proceedings inside. Bloomberg Law ICE officials plan to hire 5,000 more employees before the end of the year. The Washington Sun Where will the Justice Department deploy the election monitors it says it will deploy at polling sites? What will they do? How are they being trained? Congressional Democrats want to know. The feds aren’t saying. MS Now Ask not what you can do for El Salvador. Federal immigration officials are still sending people to a notorious prison in El Salvador, where they often disappear into a system that often precludes their attorneys from contacting them. The Atlantic Justice Department lawyers continue to try to block a federal judge’s efforts to hold administration officials accountable for violating court orders in a case about wrongful deportations to El Salvador. Courthouse News Service Federal immigration officials were prepared last month to end Temporary Protected Status for about 200,000 Salvadorans. With a view toward the midterm elections, the White House reportedly interceded to halt the plans. Politico Reporters Without Borders Sweden awards The Marshall Project its Press Freedom Prize 2026. The award recognizes the nonprofit newsroom’s investigative and data journalism. The organization cited The Marshall Project’s work exposing systemic failures and abuses within institutions that wield enormous power over people’s lives, while elevating experiences and perspectives that often receive little attention in national media. “At a time when press freedom faces growing pressures around the world, this recognition affirms why rigorous, independent journalism matters,” said Jennifer Peter, TMP’s editor-in-chief. The Marshall Project N/S/E/W Federal immigration officials want to reopen the notorious Arizona State Prison-Marana and use it as an immigrant jail. The Intercept California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law this week a measure going into effect nex