Investigative reporter. Data journalist.
Selected text stories
Little hope of release for more than 160 Illinois juvenile offenders
Across the country, juvenile offenders are being released from prison based on recognition they are not as mature as adults. In Illinois, many who commit crimes as teenagers are still likely destined to die in custody. (Read the story)
Aging prisoners left to arbitrary process to win release
A state board uses an arbitrary and opaque process to decide whether prisoners convicted of committing violent crimes decades ago should be released, an Injustice Watch review has found. The process is wracked by subjectivity, and that problem is not confined to Illinois. (Read the story)
Five years of waiting in jail, then a quick jury acquittal
Omar Williams was detained for five years, eight months and twelve days on charges of murder. In less than two hours, 12 jurors acquitted him. Williams’s case offered a striking view of just how slowly Cook County’s wheels of justice can move, how askew justice can go and the toll it can take on the lives of those caught up in the system. (Read the story)
Pattern of misstated facts found in opinions of renowned U.S. Judge Easterbrook
When respected law professor Albert Alschuler said renowned federal appeals court judge Frank Easterbrook engaged in “eight whoppers” in a high-profile case, Injustice Watch undertook a review of the judge’s other cases. The result: A pattern of misrepresenting facts: Misstatements, omissions and wrong assumptions. (Read the story)
CPD’s stop-and-frisk tactics leave lasting impact on communities of color
Thousands of stops by local police officers have caused African Americans to deeply mistrust the criminal justice system in general, and the Chicago Police Department in particular. (Read the story)
Jail Roulette: Cook County's arbitrary bond court system
A team of 14 Injustice Watch journalists documented 1,398 bond court cases in six different Cook County courthouses this summer, as part of the continuing Injustice Watch investigation into inequalities at different stages of the justice system. Here is their report. (Read the story)