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Agnel Philip

Agnel Philip is a data reporter at ProPublica.

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Agnel Philip is a data reporter for ProPublica. He previously worked as a data reporter at The Arizona Republic, where he investigated tribal casinos, pedestrian safety and consumer issues. He studied journalism and economics at Arizona State University.

Promised Land

Hawaii’s Big Fix to Its Housing Shortage for Native Hawaiians? A Casino.

The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is pushing a plan to build a casino on ancestral land to raise money for more housing. This happened just after the Star-Advertiser and ProPublica found chronic problems in the state’s native land program.

Local Reporting Network

Promised Land

The Government Promised to Return Ancestral Hawaiian Land, Then Never Finished the Job

Native Hawaiians are still waiting for state and federal officials to fulfill the promises of land legislation that was signed into law 25 years ago. “Justice delayed is justice denied,” said one former governor.

Local Reporting Network

Unguarded

The Way Prisoners Flag Guard Abuse, Inadequate Health Care and Unsanitary Conditions Is Broken

Prisoners rely on grievances as an early-warning system for dangerous conditions, from poor medical care to abuse. But in Illinois, experts say the system is sputtering, with little oversight, resulting in injuries to prisoners.

Local Reporting Network

Promised Land

To Reclaim Ancestral Land, All Native Hawaiians Need Is a $300,000 Mortgage and to Wait in Line for Decades

A 100-year-old program created to provide Native Hawaiians — especially poor ones — land to live on after the U.S. annexed the islands is failing. Thousands have died waiting in line and even more can’t afford the mortgages they’d need.

Local Reporting Network

Promised Land

How We Found Low-Income Hawaiians Were Left Behind by the Homesteading Program

ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis showed that a Native Hawaiian housing program left behind much of the community it was supposed to help. Here’s how we did it.

Local Reporting Network

Defenseless

Maine Hires Lawyers With Criminal Records to Defend Its Poorest Residents

Maine is the only state in the country with no public defender system. Instead, legal services for the poor are left to private attorneys, who face disproportionately high amounts of discipline, and an office that doesn’t supervise them.

Local Reporting Network

The Startling Reach and Disparate Impact of Cleveland Clinic’s Private Police Force

Armed private police patrolling Cleveland’s medical zone and the city streets around it disproportionately charge and cite Black people, even though most hospital employees, patients and visitors are white.

Coming to Collect

She Was Sued Over Rent She Didn’t Owe. It Took Seven Court Dates to Prove She Was Right.

In one of the country’s richest cities, the public housing authority aggressively sued its residents, filing complaints for amounts as little as $5.

Local Reporting Network

Desperation Town

We Reported on Corporate Tax Breaks in the Rust Belt. Now Officials Want Tougher Enforcement.

Ohio officials are calling for stricter regulation of corporate tax breaks after a Business Journal and ProPublica investigation found half the projects that received tax abatements in Youngstown since the 1990s failed to deliver the jobs promised.

Local Reporting Network

Desperation Town

These Companies Got Millions in Tax Breaks to Bring Jobs to Youngstown. They Created Next to None.

When the American steel industry collapsed, few places were hit as hard as Youngstown, Ohio. Desperate for investment, officials awarded millions in property tax breaks to companies promising new jobs. But those efforts have largely failed to deliver.

Local Reporting Network