From April 2020 to June 2021, I worked a team of about 10 news assistants and student freelancers, led by reporter Timothy Williams, to cover the pandemic's impact on people in prisons and jails. Our team (the "Prison Peeps") was part of a broader 100+ person project that received the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. For much of the pandemic, we spent at least three days a week logging coronavirus cases and clusters by hand, taking note of trends and reporting out breaking stories and larger enterprise and investigative projects.
Below is a sampling of some of the work I contributed to.
Incarcerated and Infected: How the Virus Tore Through the U.S. Prison System
Our magnum opus, tying together a year's worth of data work and reporting to expose the pandemic's devastating toll on incarcerated populations.
Mississippi Prison Officials Tout Low Rates of Covid. The Reason May Be Fewer Tests.
I took the lead on this story about Mississippi prisons, which for months were not releasing death counts and had abysmally low testing numbers. After pushing for answers and speaking with several inmates inside, Mississippi prison officials finally revealed the death toll to the public.
Granted Parole or Awaiting Trial, Inmates Died of Covid-19 Behind Bars
I created a separate jails database, which helped fuel this investigation of preventable COVID-19 deaths among parole-eligible and pretrial inmates.
The Real Toll From Prison Covid Cases May Be Higher Than Reported
I tracked down autopsy reports and spoke with infectious disease experts for this investigation into unmarked COVID-19 jail deaths.
Coronavirus Cases Rise Sharply in Prisons Even as They Plateau Nationwide
This was one of the first stories I contributed to on the team. It was cited in several court cases and submitted in the Pulitzer-winning package.
