Joaquin Sapien
Joaquin Sapien is a reporter at ProPublica covering criminal justice and social services.
Need to Get in Touch?
Joaquin Sapien was one of the first reporters hired at ProPublica in its first year of publishing in 2008. Since then, his journalism has explored a broad range of topics, including criminal justice, social services, and the environment. In 2019, he was a co-producer and correspondent for “Right to Fail,” a film for the PBS documentary series Frontline. The film was based on his 2018 examination of a flawed housing program for New Yorkers with mental illness, which appeared in the New York Times. The story immediately prompted a federal judge to order an independent investigation into the program. It won a Deadline Club Award and a Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability.
In 2015, Sapien wrote about care for troubled children, beginning with a story in the California Sunday Magazine on a group home that descended into chaos. His work helped an abused boy receive a $12 million jury award and led to the closure of another embattled home in Long Beach.
Past areas of focus include New York City Family Court, prosecutorial misconduct, traumatic brain injury, natural gas drilling, and contaminated drywall used to rebuild after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Sapien’s work has earned awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Society of Environmental Journalists, and Investigative Reporters and Editors. He was a four-time finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists. Before joining ProPublica, Sapien was a reporter at the Center for Public Integrity.
In Complicated Patz Case, Informant Could Testify About Suspect Not on Trial
The defense in the Patz murder trial will argue another man is more likelier the killer of the young boy. Jack Colbert might help make that case.
New York City Will Pay $10 Million to Settle Wrongful Conviction Case
Revelations about the prosecution of Jabbar Collins, who served 15 years for a murder he did not commit, helped to bring down longtime Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes
New York State to Pay Millions in Wrongful Conviction Case
A Brooklyn man who spent more than a dozen years in prison for a crime he likely did not commit will receive $3 million from New York State. He may get even more from New York City.
For a Respected Prosecutor, An Unpardonable Failure
Evidence of a convicted murderer’s possible innocence sat buried in a case file for more than two decades. Now, a prosecutor in Brooklyn will have to answer for the mistake.
Attorney General Holder Requires Recording of Interrogations, Unlike New York City
A new Department of Justice policy says federal agents must record interrogations, as a way to protect against coercion and false confessions.
Sentenced to Wait: Efforts to End Prison Rape Stall Again
The Prison Rape Elimination Act was passed in Washington 2003. It still hasn’t been fully implemented.
Death Penalty Report Cites Value of Taping Interrogations
A report advocating death penalty reforms finds that false confessions in capital cases can be limited by recording the questioning of suspects.
Brooklyn Man Walks Out of Court, Cleared of Murder After 24 Years in Prison
Jonathan Fleming and his family were overjoyed today after the Brooklyn District Attorney dismissed murder charges against him based on evidence withheld at his 1990 trial.