For the past year, Willow Higgins and I have been looking into NY’s conviction integrity units. They promised justice for the wrongfully incarcerated. But our investigation, in collab w/ New York Focus and Columbia Journalism School Investigations, shows they have fallen short. 🧵

NY’s conviction integrity units promise justice for the wrongfully convicted. But an investigation by New York Focus and Columbia Journalism School Investigations found that nearly half of the county units have yet to support a single exoneration. Link below

centralcurrent.org/das-promised-t…

NY’s conviction integrity units promise justice for the wrongfully convicted. But an investigation by New York Focus and Columbia Journalism School Investigations found that nearly half of the county units have yet to support a single exoneration. rochesterbeacon.com/2025/02/13/das…

For New York Focus / CJI Investigations, M.A. Columbia Journ alums and CJI fellows Willow Higgins (MA Politics '23) and Ryan Kost (MA Politics '23) report that DAs promised to help wrongfully convicted New Yorkers - but, in many cases, they made things worse. nysfocus.com/2025/02/13/wro…

Calvin Buari had served 21 years of a 50-year sentence for a double homicide he didn’t commit when he applied to the Bronx conviction integrity unit. Five new witnesses had come forward to name a different suspect and provide Buari an alibi.

The Bronx CIU promised Buari a “fair and independent” review. But his attorneys soon heard that investigators were intimidating witnesses. One witness was evicted from a domestic violence shelter as a result.

The witness said she felt pressured by CIU investigators and remembers them warning that she could get in trouble if she testified. “It seemed like a threat,” she said. “Like if I testified and said the wrong thing, that I could wind up getting locked up.”

Another witness called the investigators’ behavior “harmful” to her health, according to Buari’s legal filings. The experience prompted her to bring a doctor’s note detailing her heart and anxiety conditions to a court hearing months after her CIU interview.

A year later, theBronx CIU denied Buari’s innocence claim. Four months after that, a judge overturned his conviction, calling the CIU’s treatment of witnesses “unconscionable.”

Buari called his experience with the Bronx CIU “a waste of time.” “They felt like I was a drug dealer, so I didn’t matter,” he said. Read his story: nysfocus.com/2025/02/13/wro…

The CIU rejected Miller’s application, though there were disagreements among committee members, according to a former member. A year later, the court overturned his conviction and dismissed his indictment, citing “considerable, objective evidence” of his innocence.

“The pain and suffering is legit when it comes to being imprisoned for a crime you did not do,” Miller wrote while fighting his case. In October, a judge awarded Miller $3 million for his wrongful conviction. nysfocus.com/2025/02/13/wro…

Our investigation identified dozens of cases in which a wrongful conviction unit denied someone’s application, only for a judge to later exonerate them. Reporters Ryan Kost and Willow Higgins discussed the story with WJFF Radio Catskill. Link below:

Conviction integrity units were designed to correct wrongful convictions. But when prosecutors are the ones at fault, CIUs often stay silent. An investigation by @NeogiOishika Ryan Kost Curtis Brodner Willow Higgins, edited by Kristen Lombardi, reveals WHY🧐 nysfocus.com/2025/03/13/con…

Nothing last forever. #stopprotectingabusers

I believe the courageous women who are sharing these awful experiences. As for the media: Stop protecting abusers in your newsrooms. Enough of the hypocrisy. Like we say in Puerto Rico: Deja de predicar la moral en carsoncillos. cjr.org/feature-2/wesl…

A department within New York’s attorney general’s office is tasked with reviewing wrongful conviction claims—but deference to DAs is baked into the structure, New York Focus and Columbia Journalism School Investigations found. nysfocus.com/2025/09/10/wro…

New York’s Attorney General Wanted to Review Innocence Claims. Prosecutor Politics Got in the Way. Willow Higgins and Curtis Brodner report for New York Focus and Columbia Journalism School Investigations. nysfocus.com/2025/09/10/wro…

Fifteen years ago, Chris Hamby and I exposed the extreme dangers associated with hydrofluoric acid at dozens of U.S. oil refineries. Last week, Maxine Waters introduced legislation that would give refiners five years to phase out use of the chemical. publicintegrity.org/inequality-pov…