For-profit nursing homes are cutting corners on safety and draining resources with financial shenanigans − especially at midsize chains that dodge public scrutiny (The Conversation)

With The Conversation’s investigative unit Inquiry, I delved into the nursing home industry, where for-profit facilities make up more than 72% of the nation’s nearly 14,900 facilities. For the story, I teamed up with nursing home academic expert Charlene Harrington and used the most recent government data on ownership, facility information and penalties, combined with CMS data on affiliated entities for nursing homes. The national story contained a primer on possible actions that can be taken to address the issues, and a highly condensed version published with multiple local outlets. Modified versions of the main story tailored to issues in Massachusetts and South Carolina also published with local outlets the Boston Business Journal and South Carolina Daily Gazette, respectively. I spoke with Wisconsin Public Radio about the issue in April.

Reality TV Copaganda Is Back and Worse Than Ever (Slate)

In the post–George Floyd summer of 2020, reality policing shows like Cops and Live PD faced not just a reckoning but an outright extinction. But the shows started coming back before the end of the year, and now they are as popular as ever. What's more, research has continually shown shows these programs are far more influential than their fictional counterparts in swaying people's feelings on the police, gun ownership, and crime; New Harvard research showed the have real-world impacts on how police police.

This Cop Unleashed a Reign of Terror, Say the Wrongfully Accused (Rolling Stone)

For years, people in Raleigh were arrested for heroin possession—without having the drug. Now, they’re demanding answers.

Does Da Zappala’s Criminal Justice Strategy Unfairly Punish Black People? (Black Pittsburgh)

An analysis of criminal court cases in Allegheny County shows that Black people have been prosecuted by the DA’s office at 5.8 times the rate of white people and charged with felonies more frequently, even for minor offenses.

A Jail In Crisis: Gerald Thomas Is One Of 17 Who Died At Allegheny County Jail Since 2020 (Black Pittsburgh & Pittsburgh City Paper)

Gerald Thomas is one of 17 who have died at the Allegheny County jail since 2020. Meanwhile, incarcerees are left without healthcare and a depleted staff continues doling out solitary confinement despite a new countywide ban.

Questions remain about county justice system one year after Gerald Thomas died in jail (Black Pittsburgh & Pittsburgh City Paper)

In 2022, Gerald Thomas was sent to the Allegheny County Jail after charges against him were dropped, and died inside 17 days later. The judge who berated him is now facing a federal lawsuit on his probation policies. This is the first of a two-part series that examines the justice system in Allegheny County through Thomas's death

Between White Backlash and Privilege: Did race play a part in sentences for protesters charged with federal crimes during Pittsburgh’s George Floyd Protest? (Black Pittsburgh)

This article examines the outcomes of people who were sentenced under federal crimes. In one egregious incident, a young white man was sentenced to a day in custody, while the Black men involved were given multiple years in prison.

The BLM Mystery: Where did the money go? (New York Magazine)

Feature investigation that was produced for New York Magazine’s special issue, Ten Years Since Trayvon. The feature story examines the struggle of local organizers, the lack of financial transparency with the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, and the role of corporate influence in the modern civil rights movement.

Doctors Without Borders saves lives every day. Some insiders say it is also a racist workplace where non-white workers get worse pay, less security, and inferior medical care. (Insider, PDF link)

The Nursing Home Didn’t Send Her to the Hospital, and She Died. (ProPublica)

In early April, before COVID-19 hit her state hard, Palestine Howze was in a Durham, North Carolina, nursing home, living in pain. Palestine Howze didn’t have COVID-19, but a law enacted to protect health providers during the pandemic derailed her family’s wrongful death suit. The story was later covered nationally by WYNC/NPR, and given the Excellence in Journalism Award by the North Carolina Advocates for Justice.

The Craigslist of Guns (The Trace & The Verge)

This story takes the reader inside Armslist, the online ‘gun show that never ends.’ This investigation was later cited as the basis for a lawsuit filed against Armlist.com.

In Flint, Gunfire is Killing Kids at a Devastating Rate (The Trace & Flint Beat)

Tapped out by its battles over lead-tainted water, the Michigan city is grappling with another public health crisis: It’s losing kids to guns at nearly twice the rate of Chicago and Detroit.

In New York, the Neighborhood You’re Shot in May Determine Whether You Survive. (The Trace & THE CITY)

A bullet wound in Queens is more likely to be fatal than anywhere else in the city. A single trauma center serves the borough’s southern reaches, and it’s struggling to keep up. This investigation sparked conversations about trauma care in Queens, promises for action from local politicians, and discussion within the data journalism community on combining gun violence and health reporting. It was selected as one of the best political investigations of 2019 by City & State New York, and an editor of a medical journal based out of Columbia University asked us to consider publishing our analysis with his journal.

How We Reported on Gunshot Victims’ Access to Trauma Care (Source, an OpenNews project)

We mapped 12,000 gunshots to reveal a hole in New York City’s trauma system, and other newsrooms can do the same in their areas.

Shoot Someone In A Major US City, And Odds Are You’ll Get Away With It. (The Trace & BuzzFeed)

This investigation won a Sidney Award from the Hillman Foundation, influenced Baltimore politicians, helped free a man from prison, and the series won 2020 Les Payne Award for Coverage on Communities of Color from the Deadline Club.

The CDC Is Publishing Unreliable Data On Gun Injuries. People Are Using It Anyway. (FiveThirtyEight & The Trace)

The agency has more confidence in its estimates of BB gun injuries than firearms. This investigation, and a follow-up article, prompted official inquiry of the Department of Health and Human Services by 11 senators, including Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, and Robert Menendez. After my third article on the issue, the CDC committed resources to fixing its data. The work has been cited in academic publications and policy briefs, and my methodology for analyzing gunshot injuries has been adopted by advocacy groups.

Plans for 3D-Printed Guns Are Still Accessible on Twitter and YouTube. (The Trace)

The platforms say they don’t allow users to post blueprints or how-tos for building ghost guns. But the files continue to circulate. After this reporting, Twitter retroactively began banning users and changed its policy on sharing gun files.