Best Investigative Journalism Award

2026 Winner

, Medium Division

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.

Forensic Failures Aug. 14, 2025