Blair Paddock
@blairpaddock.bsky.social
prisons + investigations for @wttw.bsky.social bpaddock@wttw.com mouseartsandletters.org
NEW: Cook County judges often ordered accused people to be detained while awaiting trial despite, by the court’s own assessments, being at low risk of rearrest or missing court. news.wttw.com/2026/07/30/c...
Cook County Judges Often Detain Pretrial Defendants Deemed a Low Risk of Reoffending or Missing Court, Report Says
A recent report from the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice says Cook County judges often ordered accused people to be detained while awaiting trial despite, by the court’s own assessments, being a...
news.wttw.com
Today :-) from 3 - 5 :-)
Blair Paddock@blairpaddock.bsky.social · 3w agoA couple of nights ago, Eric and Amy went to the black-crowned night heron rookery at the Lincoln Park Zoo to capture their calls. Next Sunday, we will break down their sounds, transforming them into a reimagined soundscape. RSVP (free) as spots are limited: events.ticketleap.com/tickets/mous...
There have been more than 70 fires, including a dozen cases of self-immolation, in the last three years at an Illinois prison that was supposed to be a model of prioritizing mental health treatment and healing instead of punishment.
How An Illinois Prison Drove Desperate Men to Set Themselves on Fire
Designed to help people with serious mental illness, Joliet Treatment Center repeatedly failed to prevent or respond to fires, despite two deaths.
themarshallproject.org
New from me: A WTTW News analysis of CPS disciplinary records offers a rare look at employee misconduct findings & the system leaders use to punish workers. Records shed a light on a process affecting hundreds each year that many employees say remains difficult to understand, navigate or challenge.
More Than 700 CPS Employees Disciplined for Misconduct Over 1 Year, 10 Faced Allegations of Sexual Abuse
One year of employee discipline data, obtained by WTTW News, reveals more than 700 cases of misbehavior across Chicago Public Schools. Case outcomes ranged from verbal warnings and written reprimands ...
news.wttw.com
A couple of nights ago, Eric and Amy went to the black-crowned night heron rookery at the Lincoln Park Zoo to capture their calls. Next Sunday, we will break down their sounds, transforming them into a reimagined soundscape. RSVP (free) as spots are limited: events.ticketleap.com/tickets/mous...
“At 7 AM on a Saturday, I participated in a mass-casualty simulation drill held in the firefighter training area of O’Hare International Airport.” New: Morley Musick participates in a fake plane crash. www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...
Disaster Rehearsal | Morley Musick
At 7 AM on a Saturday in September 2025, I participated in a mass-casualty simulation drill held in the firefighter training area of O’Hare International Airport.
nplusonemag.com
Update: Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed this legislation into law. Read our work below with @boltsmag.org to see how Illinois is raising the compensation for wrongfully convicted people, who often leave prison with few means to rebuild their lives.
Injustice Watch@injusticewatch.org · 2mo agoIllinois has lagged behind other states when it comes to state compensation for people who are wrongfully convicted. A new bill aims to change that. (Co-published with @boltsmag.org) buff.ly/DbhCj4f
NEW: California continues to resist restrictions on solitary confinement. Prison officials had implemented some minor reforms in 2023, as a sort of compromise when Newsom vetoed a bill meant to ban the more torturous aspects of solitary confinement. But they're now dialing even those back.
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back for Solitary Reforms in California - Bolts
California officials dial back the minor reforms they've made to isolation in prison, four years after Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation to rein in solitary confinement.
boltsmag.org
NEW: 375 days without stepping foot outside. Three men at Menard Correctional Center allege they were kept in solitary confinement for months on end, instead confined to filthy and unventilated cells so small they couldn’t fully extend their arms. They're suing IDOC. news.wttw.com/2026/07/14/3...
375 Days Without Stepping Foot Outside: Lawsuit Alleges No Yard Time for Some Incarcerated at Menard Prison
Three men filed a lawsuit Monday against administrators at the Illinois Department of Corrections and Menard Correctional Center, alleging that they inflicted cruel and unusual punishment on the plain...
news.wttw.com
"She will spend the remainder of the film playing and overplaying the part of the tearful bride, dabbing her cheeks dozens of times while men dance like sparrows around her, throwing axes into each other’s hands." from @morleymusick.bsky.social chicagoreader.com/film-tv/movi...
Home movies tell the story of Chicago’s Polish diaspora - Chicago Reader
Film scholar Agata Zborowska’s “Not-So-Ordinary” project archives and restores amateur films from the city’s Polish immigrant community.
chicagoreader.com
FYI, Pritzker signed SB248 into law last Friday. Incarcerated people who committed crimes when they were under 21 will get another chance at challenging their convictions. news.wttw.com/2026/06/30/b...
Bill Awaiting Pritzker’s Signature Would Clear Hurdle for People Challenging Sentences on Crimes Committed When Under 21
This bill would expand on prior laws and court rulings that have increasingly required judges to take defendants’ youth into account.
news.wttw.com
NEW: Illinois is rebuilding the state’s largest women’s prison outside of Chicago. I spoke with incarcerated women and employees about the 140 mile move. news.wttw.com/2026/07/13/l...
Logan Prison Is Moving 140 Miles North. Here’s What Employees, Incarcerated Women Have to Say
Logan Correctional Center, the largest women’s prison in Illinois, will be rebuilt with an 800-bed capacity about 140 miles north of its current location. As of this spring, Logan housed around 1,200 ...
news.wttw.com
Palestinian olive oil importers contend with drought, tariffs, and settler violence to bring their product to Chicago. https://bit.ly/4vi8lRs
Palestinian American olive oil importers in Chicago are struggling
Palestinian olive oil importers contend with drought, tariffs, and settler violence to bring their product to Chicago.
chicagoreader.com
“This has nothing to do with Judaism. This has nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestine conflict. This has to do with foie gras.” from @morleymusick.bsky.social and some photos from me chicagoreader.com/food/food-dr...
Are the animal rights protests at Galit anti-foie gras or anti-Israel?
The foie gras wars at Lincoln Park restaurant Galit have reached a stalemate.
chicagoreader.com
The bill, SB248, would remove a procedural hurdle for incarcerated people who were sentenced when under the age of 21 to challenge their convictions. https://to.wttw.com/4gO0JlU
Bill Awaiting Pritzker’s Signature Would Clear Hurdle for People Challenging Sentences on Crimes Committed When Under 21
This bill would expand on prior laws and court rulings that have increasingly required judges to take defendants’ youth into account.
to.wttw.com
For my latest, I reported from Florida, where more death-row prisoners have been executed since 2025 than all other states combined. I looked at how this accelerated pace is affecting people on the ground, beginning with a priest who ministers to men on death row. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/30/m...
Capital Punishment Is on the Decline. Except in Ron DeSantis’s Florida.
nytimes.com
Big Deal for those filing post-conviction petitions: A bill awaiting Pritzker’s signature would remove a procedural hurdle for incarcerated people who commited a crime <21 to challenge their sentence. news.wttw.com/2026/06/30/b...
Bill Awaiting Pritzker’s Signature Would Clear Hurdle for People Challenging Sentences on Crimes Committed When Under 21
This bill would expand on prior laws and court rulings that have increasingly required judges to take defendants’ youth into account.
news.wttw.com
illinoisanswers.org/2026/06/24/a... Our story on Illinois lawmakers including Gov. JB Pritzker balancing the budget off the backs of gamblers. Last year people in the state lost $7.7 billion gambling. Of those losses, more than $4.1 billion went to sportsbooks, slot machines and casino operators
Addicted to Gambling in Illinois: ‘Someone Has Decided They Can Make Money Off You’
People in Illinois lost more than $7.7 billion gambling last year. As lawmakers increasingly bet on gambling to pay the state’s bills, they have only spare change to treat compulsive gamblers
illinoisanswers.org
Cook County has been called the wrongful conviction capital of the country. But who is giving the county this title? In her new book, “Crime Fictions: How Racist Lies Built a System of Mass Wrongful Conviction,” author Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve tries to answer that. news.wttw.com/2026/06/23/c...
Cook County Has Been Called the Wrongful Conviction Capital of the US. New Book Explores Why
Illinois makes up about 15% of wrongful conviction cases nationwide, according to Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve, the author behind “Crime Fictions: How Racist Lies Built a System of Mass Wrongful Convicti...
news.wttw.com
Hello, if you are in NY, please come!
Blair Paddock@blairpaddock.bsky.social · 3mo agoNYC’s first News Night. June 14 :-)
You can listen to records made inside Midwest jails and prisons at Walls Turned Sideways next week. I spoke with the duo behind the event. news.wttw.com/2026/06/04/c...
Chicago Gallery to Play Records and Other Recordings Created Inside Midwest Prisons and Jails
Albums recorded in Midwest jails and prisons that will be spun at the gallery Walls Turned Sideways on June 12. After the live listening event, a group discussion will allow audience members to debrie...
news.wttw.com
Exclusive: How a prisoner ended up alone in the war court in a death penalty case at Guantanamo Bay. --A look back at a most unusual pretrial hearing in the long-drawn-out 9/11 case at the place the Pentagon calls Camp Justice. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/03/u...
How a Prisoner Ended Up Alone in Court in a Death Penalty Case
nytimes.com
Please join us at Mouse on Wednesday, June 3, to hear from @nvancleve.bsky.social about her new book, “Crime Fictions”.
Please join us at Mouse on Wednesday, June 3, to hear from @nvancleve.bsky.social about her new book, “Crime Fictions”.
catch me, @gracehauck.bsky.social and @knibbs.bsky.social @ the mouse arts & letters club this coming wednesday! 🐀🔎📰
