Senior reporter at Injustice Watch. Citizen of Flavortown. Chicago Reader alum. Send your courts tips.
Headshot: Varvara Mikushkina
Cover photo: Brian Cassella
Maya Dukmasova
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I wrote about the campaign to criminalize “organized retail theft” in this piece. It’s the only time I’ve written something where I felt like I was going crazy. Theft is already a crime! But retailers lied about the stats, the law, and the causes—they claim that MS-13 and Hezbollah are behind it.
There are 60 judges up for retention in Cook County this fall and we want to know abut YOUR experiences with them! Whether you're a litigant, a lawyer, a relative of someone who's had a case before them, a court worker - you can submit tips confidentially here: www.injusticewatch.org/judges/judic...
This event is a month away and we've seen a ton of interest in it already. Whether you're a forensic science professional, a legal professional, or just someone who's interested in these issues, join us for a webinar moderated by @mdoukmas.bsky.social. RSVP here: airtable.com/appxuo0SNj05...
Join us Wednesday, June 3, at Walls Turned Sideways for an informal conversation about certificates of innocence: what they are, why they matter, and how Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke is trying to make them harder to get. airtable.com/appxuo0SNj05...
personally I think it's a very big deal that the Canada bureau chief for the @nytimes.com — certainly one of the highest-paid journalists in the country — asked an unspecified "AI tool" what Poilievre said & published its AI-hallucinated quotes in her reporting.
Congrats to @mdoukmas.bsky.social and @danhinkel.bsky.social on taking home 1st and 2nd place in the Driehaus Awards for Investigative Reporting last night! I'm proud of the work our team @injusticewatch.org does to shed light on systemic failures in the court system.
Has everyone known about packing cubes all along????
Excited to host this conversation! Ever since I began reporting on the scandal at the UIC forensic toxicology lab my mind has been repeatedly blown by how little oversight exists over these kinds of labs. Whether you work in the courts or are interested in how the courts work this event is for you!
Registration for this event is off the charts so far!! So glad to see this is a topic of such interest to folks in Illinois and beyond. Sign up and join us for this free event on 6/23!
Case in point, new reporting from @abc7chicago.bsky.social this week about yet another case tied to the UIC lab being dropped. The defendant spent a year in jail awaiting trial due to the pad forensic evidence produced by the lab!
abc7chicago.com/post/lake-co...
