Jennifer Smith Richards
Jennifer Smith Richards is a reporter for ProPublica pursuing stories about abuses by powerful government institutions and private businesses throughout the Midwest.
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Jennifer Smith Richards is a reporter for ProPublica. She began her journalism career writing obituaries in West Virginia, then covering small-town southern Ohio. She wrote about schools and education at newspapers in Huntington, West Virginia; Utica, New York; Savannah, Georgia, and Columbus, Ohio. She most recently worked for the Chicago Tribune, where her work exposed student ticketing at school, abusive educators, government misspending, sexual abuse in schools, lapses in police accountability and the mistreatment of students with disabilities. Her stories have prompted new state laws, the prosecution of school officials and the creation of child-protection units in school districts and state education departments.
Jennifer is a graduate of Ohio University and lives in Chicago.
This Cop Got Out of 44 Tickets by Saying Over and Over That His Girlfriend Stole His Car
Chicago police officer Jeffrey Kriv used the same alibi to contest dozens of traffic tickets over the years. A deeper look at his career sheds light on Chicago’s troubled history of police accountability.
by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica, and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune,
A Chicago Suburb Stopped Ticketing Students. But It Won’t Stop Pursuing a 3-Year-Old Case Over Missing AirPods.
The city’s prosecution of a former student comes as the state considers a ban on ticketing students at school. The case is headed to a jury trial.
by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica, and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune,
The Federal Government Is Investigating an Illinois School Where Students With Disabilities Were Frequently Arrested
The civil rights inquiry by the Department of Education follows a ProPublica and Chicago Tribune investigation that found the school regularly called police to arrest students.
by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica,
New Bill Could End Police Ticketing in Illinois Schools
Students have continued to get costly citations for vaping, fighting and other misbehavior even after state officials directed educators to end the practice.
by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica, and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune,
The School That Calls the Police on Students Every Other Day
An Illinois school for students with disabilities has routinely used the police to handle discipline, resulting in the highest arrest rate of any district in the country. In one recent year, half of Garrison School students were arrested.
by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica,
State Investigation Reveals Racial Disparities in Student Discipline and Police Involvement
The Illinois civil rights probe of the state’s largest high school district comes after ProPublica and the Chicago Tribune documented thousands of police tickets issued to students for minor infractions.
by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica, and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune,
New Data Gives Insight Into Ticketing at Five Suburban Chicago School Districts
ProPublica and the Chicago Tribune’s unique student ticketing database has been updated. Naperville data reveals signs of racial disparities in ticketing in one school but not in a second.
by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica,
A Teen Was Ticketed at School for a Theft She Says Didn’t Happen. Years Later, She’s Still Fighting.
The Illinois student’s long ordeal shows the extraordinary effort it can take to overturn a school-related ticket. Her case — involving a missing pair of AirPods — is heading to a jury trial.
by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica,
Illinois Will Investigate Possible Civil Rights Violations in Student Ticketing
The Illinois attorney general’s office said it is trying to determine if a suburban Chicago school district violated students’ civil rights when police ticketed them for minor misbehavior.
by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica,
Illinois Will Stop Helping Cities Collect Some School Ticket Debt From Students
Since a Chicago Tribune-ProPublica investigation, school officials say they’re reevaluating when to involve law enforcement in student discipline.
by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica, and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune,