Senior reporter Maya Dukmasova's recent investigation of a UIC crime lab involved submitting more than 45 FOIA request, reviewing more than 8k pages of documents, and interviewing more than 50 people. If you've got questions or want to learn more about her process, join us on Reddit! buff.ly/BnaI0DC

New this morning: a Cook County judge with a history of alleged inappropriate physical conduct with colleagues has been reassigned after a clerk accused her of battery www.injusticewatch.org/judges/judic...

Charles Beach, 55, was elected Cook County chief judge this evening, defeating 24-year incumbent Timothy Evans. He’ll take over control over a vast court bureaucracy as well as judicial assignments when his term starts Dec. 1. Story by @mdoukmas.bsky.social. www.injusticewatch.org/judges/court...

This will have strong political implications for the Cook County juvenile detention center, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Chief Judge. The current superintendent was appointed by Evans in 2015 and, to the bewilderment of many, kept around despite persistent concerns about his leadership.

BEAKING NEWS: COOK COUNTY HAS A NEW CHIEF JUDGE - Charles Beach

I'm on the 17th floor of the Daley Center where Cook County's circuit judges are gathering for the secret conclave style election of their Chief Judge. As one irate litigant just commented, coming out hot from a nearby hearing: "It's a goofy ass fucking place!" Follow along for updates!

The next JTDC Advisory Board is on Oct. 7, same time and place. Thanks for following along. Please stay tuned to the secret election for Chief Judge happening in just a few... here's a great piece on what to expect from my colleague @mdoukmas.bsky.social www.injusticewatch.org/judges/court...

Congratulations to @mdoukmas.bsky.social of @injusticewatch.org on winning the September Sidney for her innovative and engaging exposé of forensic junk science in Chicago:

Will the man who's led the country's second largest court system for a quarter century be once again chosen for the post on Wednesday? We'll see... It's the most contested election for the post since 2001.

It's been a pleasure to be involved in this important project!! Huge congrats to @amyqin.bsky.social @estheryjkang.bsky.social and the rest of the @wbez.org team and our collaborators at @miurbanchicago.bsky.social The work @writeralejandra.bsky.social and I began with #TheTenantTrap continues!

Ok @kellygarcia.bsky.social is back on the "DOES THIS COOK COUNTY OFFICIAL EVEN LIVE IN COOK COUNTY?!" beat www.injusticewatch.org/juvenile-cou...

I'm not buying shit from a brand having a "summer's over sale"

NEW: @chicagoappleseed.org dropped a new eviction court-watching report! We haven't had one in a WHILE. Findings include: -most tenants are Black or Brown women/feminine-presenting people w/out lawyers -the court is regularly failing to provide interpreters www.chicagoappleseed.org/2025/08/27/n...

Wow!

📻 Tune in to WVON 1690AM tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. to hear senior reporter Maya Dukmasova discussing her investigation of a rogue crime lab at the University of Illinois Chicago.

To me the point of this story wasn't just to give an account of this one lab. There are real tangible changes our state can make to our forensic science oversight system and there needs to be political will to take on the Illinois State Police to make them. www.injusticewatch.org/project/fore...

Looking for your Sunday read? Take a journey into the wild world of forensic science labs and the terrifying result of a near total lack of oversight over what's happening in this corner of the criminal legal system www.injusticewatch.org/project/fore...

If you missed me live on @abc7.bsky.social this morning check out the segment here abc7chicago.com/post/new-fal...

📺 Tune in to ABC 7 Chicago tomorrow (Saturday) around 8:45 a.m. to hear senior reporter Maya Dukmasova discussing her latest investigation.

What happens when there is no meaningful oversight of crime labs? In Illinois, innocent people are convicted of driving high. A really important investigative deep dive by @mdoukmas.bsky.social www.injusticewatch.org/project/fore...

There are so many wtf moments in this piece I just COULD NOT put it down. Don't tell my boss I've been reading all morning. Great investigation by my colleague @mdoukmas.bsky.social www.injusticewatch.org/project/fore...

My latest investigation! A story about some wild things that happened at a UIC forensics lab and how inadequate crime lab oversight is in our state. In the course of reporting I: -filed 45+ FOIA requests -did 100+ interviews -reviewed 8000+ pages of records www.injusticewatch.org/project/fore...

Valentina Galvis’s unlawful detention in a Chicago area hotel room while ICE claimed she was 700 miles away in DC is chilling. (1/2)

A Chicago woman went to immigration court. Her case was dismissed; she and her infant were taken by federal agents who turned her over to contractor MVM. They spent five days confined at the Sonesta O'Hare hotel without communication to the outside world. My first byline at @injusticewatch.org:

The cast of Reno 911 is still an assembly of the best comedic talent in America

Reminiscing about old Twitter. I used to post stuff about how the sausage is made in investigative reporting. Is that something that interests people? What sorts of questions do you have?

So proud of my colleagues, esp. @writeralejandra.bsky.social and @mdoukmas.bsky.social, for this recognition of their work. Congrats to all the finalists!

There's a record low number of countrywide judicial vacancies in the 2026 election cycle. Last week the Cook County Democrats, in typical tribal fashion, doled out their endorsements #CheckYourJudges (link fixed) www.injusticewatch.org/judges/judic...

If you're talking about lack of media messaging WITHOUT taking into account the crisis in journalism, especially local journalists in smaller areas, then you're not really looking at the whole picture. www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/new-...

Greetings from City Hall, where Mayor Brandon Johnson begins his news conference in full-on campaign mode, focusing on articles showcasing his opponents’ efforts by highlighting this article by @tonia.thetriibe.com for @thetriibe.com: thetriibe.com/2025/06/whos...

Psyched to share that an online version of our workshop on how to use public databases to research Chicago building conditions and property ownership is live! There's a step by step guide to all the tools we covered at our events and instructional videos! www.injusticewatch.org/civil-courts...

“We have yet to see any tenant win a retaliation lawsuit or come out with any kind of recognition of that retaliation.”   www.injusticewatch.org/civil-courts... By @injusticewatch.org's @writeralejandra.bsky.social #housing+ #urbanism+ #urbanism

Mind-blowing from @writeralejandra.bsky.social: tenants in substandard apts assert their legal rights, landlord retaliates, tenants sue over retaliation, landlord files evictions anyway. Then, to drop the evictions, landlord requires tenants to sign NDAs. www.injusticewatch.org/civil-courts...

I'm not going to dignify that garbage Sun Times story about the alleged teen carjackers with a link but it if anyone is teaching journalism these days and needs examples of what media copaganda looks like there's your story. Unserious, racist, and lazy. What an embarrassment.

and i say this as someone who is and has been the target of a lot of internet criticism/abuse/attacks! get over it! no one forced you to engage in public life!

Based on @cb-312.bsky.social's investigation into how IL property owners who fall behind on taxes lose their homes, @injusticewatch.org is fundraising for mailing a resource guide to 811 seniors at imminent risk. We're $927.50 away from reaching everyone on the list! www.injusticewatch.org/donate/

Of 14,777 unique articles on the NYT's homepage over the 310 days from 1/1/24 to Election Day, 293 articles–almost one a day–focused on Biden’s age compared with just 27 articles focused on Project 2025, a ratio of 10.9 to one mediabiasdetector.seas.upenn.edu/blog/new-yor...

We're 70% of the way there. Our campaign to add 200 new readers ends Tuesday, May 26. As a reminder, we train incarcerated writers to be journalists and publish their stories. Share our weekly newsletter, The Inside Story, with a friend! Sign up here: prisonjournalismproject.org/newsletter/?...

My brother was one of seven people who died during an illegal strike by corrections officers in February. My family is desperate to know why.

Magnificent new story from my colleague @cb-312.bsky.social and Emeline Posner from @raceandequityproject.org about the “most abusive property tax forfeiture system” in the country. www.injusticewatch.org/civil-courts...

👥 This week, we launched a newsletter campaign to add 200 new readers. Can you help us reach our goal? Invite your friends to sign up for the Sunday newsletter. ⤵️

Gotta say @johncusack.bsky.social is a real one! Supporting press freedom and local journalism through @freedom.press!

And follow another great journalist I met tonight at @freedom.press event ⬇️

Coming up in a couple of weeks! This is a scary time for folks to be at public events so if you feel relatively safe I encourage you to come out and learn and pass on this knowledge privately to those who don't have the luxury

New Pope better not be eating ketchup on hot dogs

Our workshop on researching building conditions and ownership will be available in Spanish Memorial Day weekend! Join @writeralejandra.bsky.social for an informative session on navigating these free public records databases!

Sovereignty beats Journalism at the Kentucky Derby...

Detainees at the Bluebonnet immigrant detention center in the small city of Anson, Texas, sent the outside world a message this week: S-O-S. With a Reuters drone flying nearby, 31 men formed the letters in the dirt yard of the facility on Monday.

I've acquired volumes of records about unaccompanied pregnant minors giving birth to US citizens born into custody. The infants are assigned Alien Numbers; the disposition of their release matches the mother. In dozens of cases across Obama, Trump, and Biden, infants were deported* with the mother.

I'm so PSYCHED that the cat's finally out of the bag that @aurabogado.bsky.social is joining @injusticewatch.org!! I've admired her reporting for so long and can't wait to be working together and learning from her under the same roof!