Justine van der Leun
Justine van der Leun is an independent journalist, an author, and a fellow at Type Media Center. Her features have been published in the New York Review of Books, Harper’s, the Guardian, GEN Magazine,VQR, Dissent, and the New Republic, among others. Her most recent book is We Are Not Such Things: The Murder of a Young American, a South African Township, and the Search for Truth and Reconciliation (Random House/Spiegel & Grau, 2016). Justine is the recipient of reporting grants from the Pulitzer Center, Type Investigations, and the International Women’s Media Foundation. She has been awarded fellowships by PEN America’s Writing for Justice program and the Sustainable Arts Foundation.
‘No Choice but to Do It’
Many of the 230,000 women and girls in U.S. jails and prisons were abuse survivors before they entered the system.
By Justine van der Leun in The Appeal and The New Republic.
Confinement and Contagion
In February, Tomiekia Johnson’s mother, father, sister, and daughter came to Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF).
By Justine van der Leun in The New York Review of Books.
“I Hope Our Daughters Will Not Be Punished”
From a solitary cell in Texas, Kwaneta Yatrice Harris writes letters documenting the torturous conditions, despite the risk of retribution.
By Justine van der Leun in Dissent.
The Evidence Against Her
When Nikki Addimando shot her abusive partner, she thought she had enough proof it was self-defense. Why did the prosecution only see a cold-blooded killer?
By Justine van der Leun in GEN.
Death of a Survivor
In April, Darlene “Lulu” Benson-Seay became the first woman incarcerated by New York State to die from Covid-19. Should she have been in prison in the first place?
By Justine van der Leun in The New Republic.
A Culture of No
The fate of people seeking asylum in the United States is determined not just by the legitimacy of their claims, but by where they land. This is the story of how one immigration court in Texas has shut the door on those seeking refuge in America.
By Justine van der Leun in the Virginia Quarterly Review.