Injustice Watch
Forensic Failures
Over about eight years, a forensic toxicology lab at the University of Illinois Chicago tested people’s bodily fluids for DUI-cannabis investigations using scientifically discredited methods and faulty machinery — problems of which lab managers were aware, Injustice Watch reported. Those failures led to wrongful convictions based on scant evidence. The investigation spurred legal changes and raised questions about how flawed science and other failures in the justice system can impede defendants’ rights and case outcomes.
A judge praised the work as a “fantastic piece of investigative journalism.” They said the reporting was important and impactful, and described it as “action-packed yet precise, with strong storytelling that remains clear, persuasive, and grounded in detail.”
“Impeccable work,” they wrote.
Read the Winning Work
Forensic Failures Aug. 14, 2025
Finalists
MLK50: Justice Through Journalism
No School, No Fresh Air and Isolated: Memphis Youth Held in Solitary Confinement
Rebecca Cadenhead, Charity Scott, Andrea Morales, Kevin Wurm
The Imprint
State-Sponsored Abandonment
Sara Tiano