A Center for Public Integrity investigation that revealed an under-the-radar effort pushing state high courts rightward — with far-reaching consequences — is a finalist for a Toner Prize honoring excellence in political reporting.
“High Courts, High Stakes” is one of six projects recognized in the journalism contest’s national category. Other finalists include ProPublica’s investigative reporting on the U.S. Supreme Court, an NPR investigation into a far-right campaign targeting a voter-roll partnership, and stories from The New York Times and The Washington Post.
The winner of that category and a separate one for local reporting will be announced March 25.
Public Integrity reporter Aaron Mendelson’s five-story series started with a deceptively simple question: If state high courts are the most powerful entity you hardly ever hear about, what should we know?
What he discovered is that conservative politicians and groups were remaking those courts in their own image. They used seemingly minor changes, like tweaking the membership of a nominating commission, to flip their state supreme court or turn it yet more conservative — the judicial equivalent of gerrymandering.
Related Investigation
Mendelson detailed the consequences for voting rights, abortion access and other issues with profound effects on people’s lives, especially residents of color, women and LGBTQ+ Americans. A story about the recently reconstituted North Carolina high court showed how machinations there resulted in tens of thousands of residents losing a right to vote they’d just regained.
And he showed why weak rules about judicial ethics at state high courts pose problems for a system built on the promise of impartial decisions. The North Carolina Supreme Court’s chief justice heard six cases involving a company in which his family has a financial stake — siding with the company each time.
“State high court justices are some of the most powerful political actors in the country, yet they’re among the lowest-profile. We wanted to go beyond headlines to explore how power was shifting on these courts, and what the decisions issued from these benches meant for everyday Americans,” Mendelson said. “I’m honored that the Toner Prize recognized the work our newsroom has done on this issue.”
The series featured important contributions from Public Integrity data journalist Pratheek Rebala and fellow Ileana Garnand.
“This powerful reporting shows why it’s so important to watchdog the systems that dictate and interpret the rules we must live with,” said Jamie Smith Hopkins, the project editor. “State high courts’ decisions don’t affect everyone equally. I’m grateful Public Integrity gives talented journalists the room to do time-consuming work in the public interest.”
Related Investigation
Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications runs the Toner Prize. The contest is named for a university alumna, Robin Toner, The New York Times’ first female national political correspondent.
Public Integrity’s journalists have been recognized with numerous other honors in recent months, including the Paul Tobenkin Award, a Peabody Award nomination, a National Headliner Award, an Excellence in Financial Journalism award, a National Association of Black Journalists Salute to Excellence Award, the Sigma Award recognizing the world’s best data journalism, two finalist honors for the Shaufler Prize for reporting about underserved people, the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing’s “Best in Business” awards, the Gracie Awards honoring media produced by and for women, the D.C. chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Dateline Awards and nominations for Peabody and Ambie awards.
In August, the newsroom was named a finalist for the Online Journalism Awards’ general excellence award and won a national Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence.
Founded in 1989, the Center for Public Integrity is one of the oldest nonprofit news organizations in the country and is dedicated to investigating systems and circumstances that contribute to inequality in the United States.