Topher Sanders
I report on injustice of any kind, but particularly in race, inequality and the legal system.
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What I Cover
I report on injustice of any kind, but particularly in race, inequality and the legal system. I’m focused on how the second Trump administration will impact justice in America, but I’m always looking for under-covered stories that affect everyday folks.
My Background
In 2023, I was part of a team of reporters that exposed the challenges communities face when freight trains block railroad crossings for days, endangering schoolchildren. Before that, my colleagues and I produced the multipart investigation “Walking While Black,” which explored how jaywalking citations are disproportionately given to Black pedestrians, and was part of a team that probed President Trump’s family separation policy. The former won the Al Nakkula award while the latter won Peabody and George Polk awards and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
My work has spurred grand juries and investigations into prosecutors, changed federal rules and forced police departments to drop charges against the unlawfully arrested.
In 2016 I co-founded the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit working to increase the number of investigative reporters and editors of color. I am a graduate of Tuskegee University and I started my journalism career at the Montgomery Advertiser in Alabama.
You can send me feedback, story tips and documents via email at [email protected], or by Signal or WhatsApp at 904-254-0393
Refugios para jóvenes inmigrantes: “Si eres un depredador, es una mina de oro”
Obtuvimos informes policiales y registros de llamadas de más de dos tercios de los albergues que hospedan a niños inmigrantes. Esto es lo que muestran.
The Curious Case of the Twice-Fired FBI Analyst
Said Barodi, a Muslim American, had been deemed an “excellent” employee over a decade of work with the bureau before he was fired after a run-in at an airport. He won his appeal to get his job back, only to be fired again. He says his heritage made him a target. “I was the enemy within,” he says.
Jacksonville Sheriff Uses Misleading Data to Defend Pedestrian Ticketing
Sheriff Mike Williams has sought to counter the findings of racial disparities in pedestrian ticketing with his own set of numbers. They don’t add up.
NAACP Legal Defense Fund in Jacksonville Over Pedestrian Ticket Enforcement
Reporting by The Florida Times-Union and ProPublica prompts the Legal Defense Fund to start on-the-ground interviews.
The FBI — ‘Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity’ — Still Working on Diversity
The nation’s top federal law enforcement agency is overwhelmingly white, and its top officials acknowledge that’s “a huge operational risk.”
Sheriff’s Officers Working Black Section of Jacksonville to Get Bias Training
The effort comes as Jacksonville has seen controversial police shootings, arrests of activists and calls to suspend pedestrian ticketing in light of racial disparities.
Jacksonville City Council President and Local Public Defender Call for Suspension of Pedestrian Ticket Writing
A legal bulletin by the Jacksonville state attorney supports the finding that sheriff’s officers have been issuing hundreds of tickets in error, a disproportionate number of them to blacks.
Sheriff’s Office Directs Officers Not to Ticket Pedestrians for Failing to Carry ID
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has told its officers not to ticket pedestrians for not carrying a driver’s license and is voiding six such citations it erroneously issued.
Florida Police Issue Hundreds of Bad Pedestrian Tickets Every Year
The tickets for failing to cross in a crosswalk don’t just carry fines; they can damage credit rating and lead to the suspensions of driver’s licenses. A Florida Times-Union/ProPublica examination shows lots of them never should have been issued.
Pedestrian Tickets Lead to Hundreds of Suspended Driver’s Licenses
In Jacksonville, not paying your jaywalking ticket can cost you the ability to get to school or work. Again, blacks bear a disproportionate impact.