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The Medill Justice Project, founded in 1999 at Northwestern University, is an investigative journalism enterprise that examines potentially wrongful convictions. As journalists, we advocate only for the truth.

In May 2013, the Chicago Headline Club, the largest chapter of the national Society of Professional Journalists, awarded The Medill Justice Project “Best Feature Story Online” for our published investigative articles and multimedia spotlight on shaken-baby syndrome.

In August 2012, the national Society of Professional Journalists honored the Medill Innocence Project, now called The Medill Justice Project, with the Sunshine Award for our investigation of Donald Watkins’ first-degree murder conviction. The Medill Innocence Project was recognized alongside two other recipients of the award, Bloomberg News and the Republican-American, a media outlet in Connecticut. The SPJ board of directors and Freedom of Information Committee honor people or organizations each year for their notable contributions to open government.

In April 2013, a panel of Medill professors selected The Medill Justice Project’s published investigative articles and multimedia spotlight on shaken-baby syndrome to be featured at the Medill Student Showcase.

In April 2013, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) selected The Medill Justice Project to conduct a panel session on teaching journalism students how to investigate potentially wrongful convictions and teaching teachers how to teach such investigations. The session will be held in Washington, D.C., at the AEJMC’s annual conference.

In March 2013, the Alumnae of Northwestern University's Gifts and Grants Committee awarded The Medill Justice Project a generous grant to support our research on the creation of a national database on shaken-baby syndrome cases.

In March 2013, the Society of Professional Journalists’ Chicago Chapter and the Chicago Headline Club named The Medill Justice Project a finalist for a Peter Lisagor Award for our spotlight on shaken-baby syndrome.

In 2012, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication recognized the Medill Innocence Project, now called The Medill Justice Project, with third place for the national Journalism Project Award for our Donald Watkins investigation.

In 2012, the Society of Professional Journalists’ Chicago Chapter and the Chicago Headline Club named the Medill Innocence Project, now called The Medill Justice Project, a finalist for a Peter Lisagor Award for our Donald Watkins investigation.

In 2012, a panel of Medill professors selected the published investigations of the Medill Innocence Project, now called The Medill Justice Project, of the Donald Watkins case to be featured in the Medill Student Showcase.

April 30, 2013: Key Medical Evidence Turned Over in Shaken-Baby Syndrome Case: Medill Justice Project sought records for a year

April 25, 2013: Chicago-Area Day Care Owner Seeks Clemency from Governor: Prisoner’s attorney cites Medill Justice Project revelatory findings

April 24, 2013: Federal Innocence Hearing Reopened After Medill Justice Project Uncovers New Evidence: Rare decision in Chicago-area day care worker's shaken-baby syndrome murder case

March 25, 2013: Attorney Says Newly Discovered Evidence ‘Undercuts’ Conclusion About Infant’s Death: Evidence dug up by Medill Justice Project probe of day care worker’s murder conviction

March 19, 2013: The Jennifer Del Prete Case: How a Murder Case Hinged on Expert Witnesses: Medill Justice Project investigation of shaken-baby syndrome case raises questions about the role of expert testimony

March 19, 2013: The Jennifer Del Prete Case: Medical Experts Offer New Theories About an Infant’s Cause of Death: Federal judge weighing evidence in day care worker’s murder case

March 19, 2013: The Jennifer Del Prete Case: For the first time, The Medill Justice Project records an on-camera interview with Del Prete in prison.

March 19, 2013: The Pamela Jacobazzi Case: For the first time, The Medill Justice Project records an on-camera interview with Jacobazzi in prison.

Feb. 28, 2013: Illinois Prisons Allow Medill Justice Project to Record Video of Prisoners for First Time: The action follows First Amendment challenge

Feb. 15, 2013: Methodology: Overcoming Hurdles: How The Medill Justice Project is Creating a U.S. Database on Shaken-Baby Syndrome: National criminal-justice experts weigh in on methodology

Feb. 12, 2013: Federal Judge Opens Infant’s Records in Response to Medill Justice Project: Students seeking medical documents in shaken-baby syndrome case investigation

Comments on stories and letters to the editor are welcome. They are edited for clarity and sometimes shortened for space. Opinions expressed are the reader’s own.

The Medill Justice Project supports the research of Northwestern University journalism classes on investigative reporting in which students look into cases that potentially involve miscarriages of justice, with priority given to murder cases and with a commitment to transparency and publication.

As members of the Medill community, all of our academic, professional, media, journalism and marketing communications work must meet the standards of the Medill Integrity code. This code commits us to honesty and fairness, as well as avoiding and identifying conflicts of interest.

[Read the full Medill Integrity Code]

You may republish our investigative stories so long as you follow these rules:

1. You can’t edit our material.
2. You have to link to us and include all of the links from our story.
3. You can’t sell our material.
4. You need to select stories to be republished individually; you may not copy our site in full.
5. You cannot republish our photographs without specific permission.
6. You have to credit us in the byline.

To request a condensed version of our articles, please contact us at 847-491-5840 or e-mail medilljusticeproject@northwestern.edu

The Medill Justice Project Illinois Criminal Justice Primer

The Medill Justice Project Safety Manual

The Medill Justice Project Handbook

Guide to Illinois Freedom of Information Act

Sample Illinois FOIA letter

March 19, 2013: The Medill Justice Project probes expert witnesses in 'shaken-baby' murder conviction

Dec. 11, 2012: The Medill Justice Project Investigation Finds Lingering Questions in Shaken-Baby Syndrome case

Oct. 2, 2012: The Medill Justice Project Examines Convictions in Deaths Attributed to Shaken-Baby Syndrome