What we do

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Committed to seeking the truth, our staff screens potential cases of innocence and responds to calls for help from prisoners. Students enrolled in the investigative journalism class at the Medill School of Journalism, which is supported by the Medill Justice Project, investigate cases over a 10-week period and publish their findings on this site.

Funding for the Project comes from a generous gift by the Alphawood Foundation and individual donors. 

Alec Klein, Professor


Alec KleinAlec Klein, the director of The Medill Justice Project, is an award-winning investigative journalist, bestselling author and professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

For two decades, Klein worked as a newspaper reporter, including eight years as an investigative business reporter at The Washington Post until the summer of 2008 when he joined the Medill faculty. He previously worked at The Wall Street Journal, The Baltimore Sun and The Virginian-Pilot. His investigations have led to significant reforms, congressional hearings, federal law, criminal convictions and more than half a billion dollars in government fines.

Alison Flowers, Research Associate


Alison Flowers joined The Medill Justice Project in 2011 after working as an on-air reporter for a CBS affiliate in Georgia. During her stint there, Flowers broke the story when an Innocence Project board member and forensic expert brought to light DNA evidence thought to have been destroyed in the “Columbus Stocking Stranglings” case. The revelation ultimately led to a stay in a death row inmate’s scheduled execution, resulting in the first-ever DNA tests in the more than 30-year-old case.

Flowers’ multimedia work has appeared nationally, including CNN, CBS and The Huffington Post. Flowers is also a Northwestern University alumna, having earned a master’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism in 2009. Her capstone project at Medill, “Those People,” a short documentary project about a man living with a mental illness, made the short list for the 37th Annual Student Academy Awards. Flowers is a member of KAPPA TAU ALPHA, a journalism honor society.