Archive
Black Students in Illinois Are Far More Likely to Be Ticketed by Police for School Behavior Than White Students
Federal data has shown Illinois schools suspend and expel Black students at disproportionate rates. Now we know it’s happening with tickets and fines, too.
Wrongly Convicted Man Receives $7.5 Million Settlement in Indiana
In 2018, the South Bend Tribune and ProPublica reported on major flaws in a prosecution in Elkhart, Indiana. Years later, the city expressed regret and agreed to pay the man millions.
Intuit Will Pay Millions to Customers Tricked Into Paying for TurboTax
State attorneys general just reached a $141 million settlement with the Silicon Valley juggernaut. Victims will receive up to $90 each.
In a Post-Roe America, Expect More Births in a Country Where Maternal Mortality Continues to Rise
The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among wealthy countries. And it may get worse as abortions become more difficult to obtain, say public health experts.
Colorado Legislature Passes HOA Foreclosure Reform Bill
The measure limits homeowners associations’ ability to foreclose on residents who accumulate fines for violating community rules known as covenants.
“This Was Not a Surprise”: How the Pro-Choice Movement Lost the Battle for Roe
In the wake of a leaked draft opinion indicating the Supreme Court plans to overturn Roe v. Wade, Joshua Prager, author of “The Family Roe,” discusses the 50-year battle over abortion rights and the strategic decisions that led us here.
They Built the Wall. Problems Remain After Founder’s Guilty Plea.
Brian Kolfage, a 40-year-old Air Force veteran, faces more than five years in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding donors of hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to the wall effort.
Illinois’ Education Chief Urges Schools to Stop Working With Police to Ticket Students for Misbehavior
Responding to a ProPublica-Chicago Tribune investigation, Illinois’ schools superintendent says ticketing students hurts children and their families.
Liberty University’s Handling of Sexual Assaults Under Investigation by Department of Education
ProPublica previously detailed how the evangelical school had dismissed reports of rape and threatened to punish accusers for running afoul of its moral code. Investigators are now looking into whether Liberty violated federal law.
Louisiana Lawmakers Could Limit Solitary Confinement for Teens Following Alarming Revelations
An investigation by ProPublica, NBC News and The Marshall Project found that youth in a Louisiana lockup were held in solitary around the clock for weeks.
The Price Kids Pay: Schools and Police Punish Students With Costly Tickets for Minor Misbehavior
Illinois law bans schools from fining students. So local police are doing it for them, issuing thousands of tickets a year for truancy, vaping, fights and other misconduct. Children are then thrown into a legal system designed for adults.
Do Police Give Students Tickets in Your Illinois School District?
Do police in your Illinois school district give students tickets for truancy, vaping, fighting or other violations of local ordinances? Search our interactive database to find out.
Reality Check: Seven Times Texas Leaders Misled the Public About Operation Lone Star
As they investigated Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s border initiative, reporters repeatedly found situations where Abbott and DPS officials cited accomplishments that lacked crucial context or did not match reality. Here are a few examples.
Maine Will Soon Hire Its First Five Public Defenders. Most of the State Remains Without Them.
The only state in the country with no public defenders will still need an estimated $51 million to provide the service to indigent defendants in all 16 of Maine’s counties. It’s “not a solution, it’s a patch,” says the agency’s director.
Building the “Big Lie”: Inside the Creation of Trump’s Stolen Election Myth
Internal emails and interviews with key participants reveal for the first time the extent to which leading advocates of the rigged election theory touted evidence they knew to be disproven, disputed or dismissed as dubious.
What We Lose When We Conflate Child “Abuse” and “Neglect”
Growing up in Southern Illinois, I knew many children whose basic needs went unmet. Reporting here decades later, I began to wonder why the system wasn’t doing more to help their families.
The State Took His Kids Three Times. And Three Times It Gave Them Back.
In Southern Illinois, many families suspected of neglect cycle through the child welfare system. Too often they don’t get the help they need.
Conditions at Mississippi’s Most Notorious Prison Violate the Constitution, DOJ Says
“The problems at Parchman are severe, systemic, and exacerbated by serious deficiencies in staffing and supervision,” the report said.
