Investigative and Accountability Reporting
When I was a young reporter I experienced firsthand the power of journalism to change people’s lives. Here I am in 2008, awaiting the release of Erick Daniels, a wrongfully convicted North Carolina man whose conviction was overturned thanks in part to my report. With me are Erick’s mother and his lawyer. Photo by D.L. Anderson.
Stories
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"Stolen Youth: How Durham's Criminal Justice System Sent Erick Daniels to Prison Based on the Shape of His Eyebrows"
An old investigation but still one of my best. Erick Daniels was a boy when he was wrongfully sent to prison - one of the first children in North Carolina tried as an adult. I tracked down the people and documents that helped prove Erick's innocence and that pointed toward another man's guilt. North Carolina’s INDYWeek published the story in 2007, and Erick was released from prison in 2008.
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"Parents' Minor Marijuana Arrests Lead to Child Neglect Cases"
A front-page report in The New York Times calling attention to hundreds of New Yorkers who were caught with non-criminal amounts of marijuana, or who simply admitted to using it, only to face child neglect charges. Some parents even had their children taken away.
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"Bounced Checks"
Local prosecutors around the country partnered with a debt-collection company, allowing the firm to send letters on prosecutors' letterhead threatening jail time to millions of consumers who had bounced checks. But the jail threats weren't enforced and were actually designed to convince consumers to pay high fees. Prosecutors offices shared in the profits. A ProPublica report in partnership with CNN.
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"States Prosecute Fewer Teenagers in Adult Courts"
A front-page report in The New York Times on a move by states to prosecute fewer teenagers in adult criminal courts. The move came in response to an emerging consensus that many young delinquents have been mishandled by the adult court system.
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"Disabilities Act Prompts Flood of Lawsuits Some Cite as Unfair"
A front-page report in The New York Times on a cadre of lawyers filing a flood of questionable lawsuits citing violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act, only to generate legal fees.
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"Prisoners' Letters Offer Glimpses of Life Inside Solitary Confinement"
Handwritten letters from New York State prisoners to the New York Civil Liberties Union described the psychological toll of long-term solitary confinement.
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"Wide Sentencing Disparity Found Among U.S. Judges"
An analysis of hundreds of thousands of criminal cases in federal courts found vast disparities in the prison sentences handed down by judges even when the judges were presiding over similar cases.
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"The Real 'CSI': How America's Patchwork System of Death Investigations Puts the Living at Risk"
I was part of a team of reporters working on this investigation into wrongdoing and mismanagements among coroners and medical examiners. Our work contributed to a print story, a Frontline documentary, and a report on NPR's All Things Considered.
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"What is Judge Richard Chaney Hiding?"
For years, a juvenile court judge mentored troubled teens, even as he was investigated several times for allegedly having inappropriate relationships with teenage girls.