Emily Hoerner, Senior Reporter at Injustice Watch

Emily Hoerner

Emily Hoerner was a reporter for Injustice Watch from 2016 to 2021, where she covered policing, judges, and other aspects of the criminal justice system. She won numerous awards for her work at Injustice Watch, including an Ancil Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism and a National Headline Club award, and was a finalist for the Online News Association's Knight Award for Public Service.

In Plain View

U.S. House subcommittee investigates cops tied to racist, xenophobic Facebook posts

The departments were all named in Injustice Watch’s “In Plain View” investigation into troubling social media posts by law enforcement officers.

by Carlos Ballesteros and Emily Hoerner September 28, 2020December 5, 2023

Missouri Attorney General’s Office pushes to keep innocent people in prison

Its decades-long commitment to upholding convictions—even those marred by police or prosecutorial misconduct—has left Missourians languishing in prison for years.

by Emily Hoerner September 11, 2020January 8, 2024

Less than Life

Judge cuts sentence in half for Chicago man charged with murder at 16

Dimitri Buffer was eligible for resentencing after the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in his case last year that a 41-year sentence is equivalent to life for a juvenile.

by Emily Hoerner August 25, 2020January 8, 2024

In Plain View

Q&A: The history of imagery in Black social movements

A year after publishing In Plain View, Injustice Watch spoke with professor Leigh Raiford about the role imagery and photography play both in upholding white supremacy and in defining Black-led social movements.

by Emily Hoerner July 7, 2020January 8, 2024

Illinois Prisons

Illinois released white inmates at disproportionately high rates amid pandemic, report shows

State prisons now hold an even larger proportion of Black and Latinx prisoners than before COVID-19 hit, according to a new analysis.

by Emily Hoerner and Carlos Ballesteros June 17, 2020January 8, 2024

Flynn controversy surfaces in Missouri wrongful conviction fight

The dispute marks the latest clash in the ongoing battle over Lamar Johnson’s case, which could determine the future of prosecutor-led conviction integrity units in the state of Missouri.

by Emily Hoerner May 21, 2020January 8, 2024

Illinois Prisons

Hundreds of Illinois prisoners released as COVID-19 spreads, but few elderly see reprieve

The Illinois Department of Corrections has begun utilizing a once controversial tool to release hundreds of inmates using sentencing credits. But the releases have not been uniform across the state.

by Emily Hoerner May 6, 2020January 8, 2024

The Long Wait

Appellate court denies new trial for Chicago man convicted months after judge accepted a bribe in mob case

The appellate court panel ruled there was no connection between the judge’s acquittal of a mob hitman and Ronnie Carrasquillo’s murder trial. The court did grant Carrasquillo a chance to develop other claims that his 200 to 600-year sentence is unconstitutional.

by Emily Hoerner April 8, 2020December 5, 2023

Parole and Clemency

Prisoner Review Board delays parole rehearing for two elderly inmates as COVID-19 spreads behind bars

After parole rehearings are requested for two men one vote short of winning parole, advocates fear relief may come too late.

by Emily Hoerner March 31, 2020December 5, 2023

Illinois Prisons

Elderly inmates are at high risk for coronavirus. Why are there so many of them in Illinois’s prisons?

Older inmates have mostly been left behind by criminal justice reforms. Now, after one inmate has already died from COVID-19, more than two thousand of them are at serious risk.

by Emily Hoerner and Jonah Newman March 30, 2020December 5, 2023

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