Steve Mills –

Daniel Taylor pauses for a moment before taking his belongings up to his new apartment in Evanston on July 22, 2013 after his release from prison the month prior.

Steve Mills: Wrongfully convicted man’s 2-decade fight for freedom exposed criminal justice system’s flaws

May 31, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.

Editor's note: This was previously published by ProPublica and has been edited for length. When guards first brought Daniel Taylor into a room at Stateville Correctional Center outside Chicago, we...

Questions remain unanswered in the death of inmate Terrance Jenkins, who died in October 2015 at Pontiac Correctional Center in Pontiac, Ill.

How did Terrance Jenkins die? Guards, prisoners disagree on details in inmate’s death

May 22, 2019 at 11:41 p.m.

In the moments after a confrontation with prison guards left inmate Terrance Jenkins unresponsive, the paramedics trying to save his life made a troubling discovery: five small, crumpled balls of...

Alstory Simon is released from the Jacksonville Correctional Center in Jacksonville, Ill., on Oct. 30, 2014.

Alvarez backed inmate’s release despite aides’ findings, report shows

May 22, 2019 at 11:31 p.m.

Nearly three years ago, then-Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez threw out the murder conviction of Alstory Simon, saying that an investigation into the case and the "interests of justice"...

Man who served 20 years of life sentence for arson conviction to be freed

May 22, 2019 at 11:23 p.m.

Cook County prosecutors granted Adam Gray his freedom Wednesday after deciding that advancements in fire science raised too many questions about his conviction for setting a fire in 1993 that...

Guards arrive for work during a shift change at the Cook County Department of Corrections Division 11 on Nov. 15, 2016.

Prison officials appear to have shelved controversial ‘pay-to-stay’ lawsuits

May 22, 2019 at 11:14 p.m.

The Illinois Department of Corrections appears to have shelved its widely criticized practice of suing prisoners to recover the costs of their incarceration in spite of Gov. Bruce Rauner's support...

New hope of freedom for those given mandatory life sentences as juveniles

June 5, 2018 at 9:36 p.m.

Not long ago, Steven Hawthorne did something he dared not do for more than three decades: hang a calendar near the top bunk of his prison cell and begin counting...

Reginald Wilson maintained buses for the Chicago Transit Authority after graduating from Illinos State University in 1992. He and his girlfriend, Felicia Lewis, 20, were murdered in 1994.

Controversial ex-forensic lab analyst focus of another inmate’s appeal

May 22, 2019 at 5:05 p.m.

The last time controversial forensic analyst Pamela Fish played a role in a prisoner's appeal was close to a decade ago, when DNA testing cleared a man of sexual assault,...

Shawn Green, ex-college basketball player who fought brain cancer, dies at 41

June 8, 2018 at 3:31 p.m.

Shawn Green's motto, especially after he got cancer, was that every day is a good day. He even had it tattooed on his left side. And his relationship with his...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel gets ready for talk to reporters after a Nov. 30 Chicago City Council meeting.

Emanuel is ordered to produce index of messages as Tribune presses records suit

May 22, 2019 at 11:05 p.m.

A Cook County judge on Friday ordered the city and Mayor Rahm Emanuel to produce an index of certain emails and text messages that the mayor sent and received on...

Inmate held on 1974 parole violation even though officials want him freed

June 8, 2018 at 10:13 p.m.

After completing four decades in an Arizona prison for two rapes he insists he did not commit, Adell Henderson was set to be paroled. But instead of being released last...

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