Guardians ad litem hold significant weight in child custody cases. But a @kelseyturner.bsky.social investigation of Washington cases found that when they conduct biased investigations or produce shoddy reports, discipline rarely extends beyond a reprimand. www.investigatewest.org/washington-c...

WA courts rarely discipline guardians ad litem

Minimal oversight of court investigators makes it difficult for parents to challenge flawed reports without risking damage to their cases

investigatewest.org

ICE detained Wilfredo Castillo at what he thought was a routine appointment for his asylum case, saying he missed check-ins on an app. He spent 11 months at a detention center, where he was stabbed. Don't miss the latest from @rachelspacek.bsky.social www.investigatewest.org/i-was-trying...

WA asylum seekers detained over questionable violations

Recent court rulings show how ICE is citing missed immigration check-ins — often without evidence — to detain asylum seekers

investigatewest.org

Come join this free event! I'll be sharing how we used police employment and misconduct data in our recent investigation of Idaho prisons.

Invisible Institute@invisible.institute · 5mo ago

Join us and @investigatewest.bsky.social on March 12 to learn how to find police employment and misconduct data in Idaho, Oregon and Washington — and how to use it in real accountability reporting. Register here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Idaho Lawmakers are advancing legislation meant to close a gap in state law that makes it difficult to hold correctional officers accountable for sexually abusing inmates. The bill sponsor said the effort was inspired by our reporting. www.investigatewest.org/idaho-lawmak...

Idaho lawmakers move to close gap in prison sex abuse law

The proposal would expand the definition of illegal sexual contact between prison staff and an inmate to include kissing, groping

investigatewest.org

NEW: After @investigatewest.bsky.social used records from the IDOC & POST Council to report on sexual abuse in Idaho prisons, and @invisible.institute published police employment history data in the state, authorities are now changing policies to conceal both sources of information from the public.

Idaho won’t let public see if a cop was fired or resigned

State agencies will no longer release information about whether an officer retired, resigned or was fired

investigatewest.org

Our reporting on Idaho prisons used public records to identify dozens of guards who resigned after misconduct — and it was met by calls for transparency from the governor. Instead, the state decided those records are no longer public. W/@invisible.institute: www.investigatewest.org/idaho-record...

Idaho won’t let public see if a cop was fired or resigned

State agencies will no longer release information about whether an officer retired, resigned or was fired

investigatewest.org

In 2023, SpaceX safety managers internally expressed concern that a new Starlink lab in Redmond didn't have proper ventilation. Customer support workers next door, given no PPE, then reported symptoms of chemical exposure, including a miscarriage.

Investigate West is kind of like ProPublica, but focusing on the PNW. Outstanding reporting here re multiple credible allegations and lawsuits against Dr. Geoffrey Stiller, who used to be at the forefront of gender affirmation surgery. Trans people, like everyone, deserve safe medical care.

@investigatewest.bsky.social · 8mo ago

A lawsuit filed by a former patient and employee makes alarming claims against the cosmetic surgeon, including that he let an unlicensed staffer help with a surgery, reused implants, sexually harassed staff and performed surgery drunk. www.investigatewest.org/allegations-...

Rep. Tarra Simmons, the first formerly incarcerated lawmaker in WA, had her convictions vacated in 2023 and said it felt like being freed from an "invisible prison." This year, emails show, she supported cuts to legal aid groups that help others do the same. www.investigatewest.org/make-it-make...

WA lawmaker backed cuts to legal aid for people like herself

After being fired from the legal aid group she once led, Rep. Tarra Simmons supported state cuts that crippled similar organizations

investigatewest.org

In the state that incarcerates women at the nation's highest rate, @wilsonc.bsky.social and I uncovered rampant sexual abuse by Idaho women's prison guards. After a year of reporting, we published 6 stories examining the system that failed to protect them. 🧵 1/

Grantees @wbryen.bsky.social & @wilsonc.bsky.social investigated sexual assault reports made by 25 women against more than 40 prison guards and revealed how the Idaho Department of Corrections systematically tolerates the sexual abuse of inmates. @investigatewest.bsky.social 👉 bit.ly/47W9JAz

👇

Prison Policy Initiative@prisonpolicy.org · 9mo ago

"In Idaho prisons, more than two dozen women say guards prey on them with little fear of consequences — and those who speak up are often punished." The U.S. is a leader in women's incarceration, and behind bars, women are anything but safe. 🧵

39 people died in WA prisons last year, a number that rose during the pandemic. At least three other prisoners died of infections during FY 2024, one of whom was 45 years old. Read this story by @brandonblock.bsky.social - www.investigatewest.org/how-a-wa-pri...

From youth labor violations to housing abuses to pandemic aid fraud, Cascade PBS investigative reporters cast light into undercovered corners of Washington. Our final Impact Report and a thread of some of the team's best work: www.cascadepbs.org/impact-repor...

Investigations team caps four years with state law, policy reforms

From youth labor violations to housing abuses to pandemic aid fraud, Cascade PBS investigative reporters cast light into undercovered corners of WA in 2025.

cascadepbs.org

"For the next five minutes, the woman listened as four men — a prosecutor, defense attorney, judge and police detective — debated what, exactly, Rogers meant by vagina." Hard to say what's the most shocking part of this @investigatewest.bsky.social series. But this courtroom dialogue is up there.

@investigatewest.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Idaho's prison sex abuse law only protects inmates when genital contact is involved, making it hard to prosecute prison staff. Even when charges are filed, plea deals allow accused guards to escape prison time while victims serve years for drug offenses, DUIs and parole violations bit.ly/42CqXQE

The Idaho Department of Correction issued a news release in response to our Guarded by Predators series. It repeats agency policies but does not dispute our findings.

Wilson Criscione@wilsonc.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Idaho incarcerates women more often than any other state. Once thrown behind bars, many of those women are sexually abused by guards shielded from consequences — while victims are blamed. Read the latest in our "Guarded by Predators" series www.investigatewest.org/in-idaho-wom...

Highly recommend this series by my colleagues Whitney Bryen & @wilsonc.bsky.social They spent a year interviewing women who were sexually abused by prison guards & staff in Idaho, digging through court recordings, and public records and it SHOWS in this work.

Guarded by Predators

A new series by InvestigateWest exposing rape and abuse by Idaho’s prison guards and the system that shields them.

investigatewest.org

A year of reporting by INVW has uncovered the unjust reality for the roughly 1,300 women currently in Idaho prisons: Once behind bars, they’re kept there by mostly male guards who can harass, grope, and sexually assault them with confidence that it will be kept quiet.

In Idaho women’s prisons, guards get away with sexual abuse and victims are blamed – RANGE Media

A yearlong investigation finds rampant sexual abuse by guards, systemic cover-ups, and punishment for victims

rangemedia.co

Damn, what a story.

@investigatewest.bsky.social · 10mo ago

In summer 2024, 7 women accused Idaho prison workers of sexual misconduct. The allegations spanned decades, took place at various facilities and involved different perpetrators. One thread connects the claims: none were thoroughly investigated by state police. www.investigatewest.org/case-closed-...

This series on rape and sexual abuse by Idaho prison workers has some chilling, enraging and tender writing and reporting throughout - and exposes the ways our system continually lets alleged perpetrators off the hook. Please give it a read:

@investigatewest.bsky.social · 10mo ago

In summer 2024, 7 women accused Idaho prison workers of sexual misconduct. The allegations spanned decades, took place at various facilities and involved different perpetrators. One thread connects the claims: none were thoroughly investigated by state police. www.investigatewest.org/case-closed-...

Idaho incarcerates women more often than any other state. Once thrown behind bars, many of those women are sexually abused by guards shielded from consequences — while victims are blamed. Read the latest in our "Guarded by Predators" series www.investigatewest.org/in-idaho-wom...

In Idaho women’s prisons, guards get away with sex abuse

A yearlong investigation finds rampant sexual abuse by guards, systemic cover-ups, and punishment for victims

investigatewest.org

Just under a year ago, my colleague Whitney Bryen and I began hearing about women in Idaho prisons being sexually abused by staff. We investigated — and what we've found since has shocked us. Today, the first two stories in our 6(!)-part series were published.

Our investigation has found: -At least 59 documented allegations of staff sexually abusing imprisoned women since 2020. It's an undercount. -37 prison workers accused in the last decade -Of those, 18 were guards who resigned. 8 were fired. www.investigatewest.org/staff-sexual...

Staff sex abuse in Idaho women’s prisons largely unchecked

InvestigateWest reporting exposes sexual abuse by guards, retaliation against victims and a system that fails to track the scope of the problem

investigatewest.org

In the first story, @wilsonc.bsky.social and Whitney Bryen look at the only women's prison guard sentenced to prison for sexual misconduct in the last decade. He served a nine-month alternative sentence. www.investigatewest.org/the-idaho-pr...

An Idaho prison guard preyed on women. The system hid it

This is the first installment in a new InvestigateWest series called “Guarded by Predators,” exposing rape and abuse by Idaho’s prison guards and the system that shields them

investigatewest.org

Heavy-hitting story from Kaylee Tornay and Aspen Ford: How Oregon let a wood treater pollute a town's water source www.investigatewest.org/oregon-wood-...

How Oregon let a wood treater pollute a town's water source

Nearby tribe calls on state, federal agencies to end a “decade-long pattern of reckless violations”

investigatewest.org

New story, reported with with the Mercer Island Reporter, about how the school district kept allegations of sexual misconduct by a teacher quiet for years. www.investigatewest.org/a-beloved-me...

A beloved Mercer Island teacher was accused twice of sexual misconduct with students. The school district kept it quiet.

Gary "Chris" Twombley was put on administrative leave in December 2023

investigatewest.org

Our reporter Moe Clark digs into forest management in Washington and the influential "collaboratives" that critics say are too aligned with timber interests: www.investigatewest.org/investigatew...

In wildfire-prone Washington, ‘collaboration’ on forest management gives way to timber interests

Forest collaboratives formed in the wake of the Pacific Northwest’s “Timber Wars” have become major power players operating largely out of the public eye

investigatewest.org

Good journalism matters: The state investigated Providence Sacred Heart only because they read reporting from InvestigateWest about a 12-year-old's death. Officials quickly found deeper issues with the hospital failing to properly screen patients. www.investigatewest.org/investigatew...

Spokane hospital where 12-year-old died endangered other suicidal patients, investigators find

State health records show repeated safety violations at Providence Sacred Heart hospital

investigatewest.org

“Existing data shows Native Americans face the highest risk of deadly police violence in the United States — between three to five times the rate that others face. And that data is likely an undercount of the true figures”

Wilson Criscione@wilsonc.bsky.social · last yr.

In 2020, Bureau of Indian Affairs police shot and killed Kirby Paradise. There was no media coverage or public acknowledgement from BIA. Four years later, the BIA killed his cousin, Cody Whiterock, in Idaho. Reporter Melanie Henshaw with the story: www.investigatewest.org/investigatew...

In 2020, Bureau of Indian Affairs police shot and killed Kirby Paradise. There was no media coverage or public acknowledgement from BIA. Four years later, the BIA killed his cousin, Cody Whiterock, in Idaho. Reporter Melanie Henshaw with the story: www.investigatewest.org/investigatew...

Two killings, no explanation: Families left reeling after Bureau of Indian Affairs shootings

Lack of transparency in BIA police killings leave families searching for answers

investigatewest.org