Mississippi Today reporters Anna Wolfe and Michelle Liu won the 2021 John Jay College/Harry Frank Guggenheim awards for Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting, which is among the most prestigious journalism awards in the nation.
Their investigation, reported for Mississippi Today and The Marshall Project, exposed Mississippi’s practice of forcing individuals convicted of low-level felony offenses to work off their fines and other court debts at low-wage jobs during the day while they are confined in locked facilities at night until the debts are paid.
THE REPORTING: Want out of Jail? First You Have To Take a Fast-Food Job
The investigation was a collaboration between The Marshall Project and Mississippi Today, and was also published by the USA Today Network, the Clarion-Ledger, the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, and Mississippi Public Broadcasting. Data analysis was provided by The Marshall Project’s Andrew R. Calderon. Leslie Eaton of The Marshall Project and R.L. Nave of Mississippi Today edited the project. Liu, who was a reporter for Mississippi Today between 2018 and 2020, now works for The Associated Press.
This is the third national award the investigation has won. In February 2020, the reporting won the Sidney Award. In September 2020, it won the Online News Association’s Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award.
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