NY FOCUS: DAs Promised to Help Wrongfully Convicted New Yorkers. In Many Cases, They Made Things Worse

Ryan Kost and Willow Higgins, who recently published an in-depth investigation into Conviction Integrity Units (CIUs) in New York at NY FOCUS .Their reporting uncovered troubling findings about how these units, meant to correct wrongful convictions, often fail the people they were created to help.This story is a collaboration between New York Focus and Columbia Journalism Investigations, an investigative reporting unit at the Columbia Journalism School.CIUs operate within district attorney offices and are intended to review cases where wrongful convictions may have occurred. But as Ryan and Willow’s reporting reveals, many of these units lack transparency, oversight, and effectiveness. Some CIUs have denied applicants’ claims, only for the courts to later exonerate them.