Willow Higgins is a New York City-based journalist whose reporting focuses on criminal justice, wrongful convictions, and social issues. Her investigations have appeared in New York Focus and The Texas Observer, examining how institutions respond to people seeking justice and support.
A graduate of Columbia Journalism School, Higgins has worked on investigations into New York conviction review programmes and organisations serving trafficking survivors in Texas. Her collaborative reporting on wrongful convictions received recognition from two journalism awards programmes in 2026. Alongside investigative projects, she has covered local government, racial equity policies and community issues in New York City.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Full name | Willow Higgins |
| Profession | Journalist and investigative reporter |
| Professional base | New York City |
| Education | Master of Arts in Journalism |
| University | Columbia Journalism School |
| Academic concentration | Politics |
| Journalism fellowship | Columbia Journalism Investigations |
| Publications | New York Focus, The Texas Observer and Gothamist |
Who Is Willow Higgins?
Higgins is an American-based journalist whose work includes investigations into the criminal justice system, institutional accountability and the treatment of vulnerable communities. Her experience includes investigative reporting, local government coverage, editorial work and postgraduate training at Columbia Journalism School.
She has contributed to New York Focus, which covers public policy and accountability across New York State, and The Texas Observer, where her investigations have examined organisations involved in supporting young trafficking survivors.
One of her most substantial projects explored the effectiveness of conviction integrity units within New York district attorneys’ offices. These units are intended to review potential wrongful convictions, but Higgins and her reporting collaborators examined cases in which the review process had failed to deliver relief.
Her professional record also includes reporting on government policies and neighbourhood developments, demonstrating a range of subjects beyond criminal justice investigations.
How Willow Higgins Developed Her Journalism Experience
Before studying at Columbia Journalism School, Higgins gained reporting and editorial experience in Texas.
Her earlier work included investigating evangelical organisations involved in efforts to combat sex trafficking. She also covered city council affairs, worked as an editor at a fact-checking company, and completed an editorial internship at Texas Monthly.
In June 2023, she graduated from Columbia Journalism School with a Master of Arts in journalism, concentrating on politics.
Later that year, the school announced her selection for the 2023–2024 Columbia Journalism Investigations fellowship. The postgraduate programme brought her into a collaborative investigative reporting environment alongside fellow journalist Ryan Kost.
The fellowship became an important part of her professional development, connecting her earlier reporting experience with a sustained examination of wrongful convictions and the institutions responsible for reviewing them.
Her Investigation into New York Wrongful Convictions
In February 2025, New York Focus published an investigation by Higgins and Ryan Kost examining conviction integrity units within district attorneys’ offices.
These specialised units review claims of wrongful conviction within district attorneys’ offices. Higgins and Kost investigated how those reviews were handled and whether the programmes operated independently of prosecutors’ earlier decisions.
The reporters identified 27 people whose requests for review had been rejected by conviction integrity units but who were subsequently exonerated through the courts.
Their investigation examined the gap between the stated purpose of these programmes and the experiences of people seeking to challenge their convictions.
The reporting involved reviewing records, examining individual cases and gathering accounts from people affected by the justice system. Rather than treating conviction review programmes solely through their official descriptions, the investigation considered what happened to applicants who had sought their assistance.
Published on 13 February 2025, the project formed part of the wider Innocence Ignored investigation, which later received professional recognition.
The 27 cases were those identified through the reporters’ research, rather than a comprehensive count of every unsuccessful conviction review in New York.
Examining the New York Attorney General’s Conviction Review Bureau
Her September 2025 investigation with Curtis Brodner examined the New York Attorney General’s conviction review bureau and the institutional obstacles affecting innocence claims.
Published by New York Focus on 10 September, the investigation examined the New York Attorney General’s conviction review bureau and the limitations affecting its work.
The reporting explored how the bureau operated and the obstacles it encountered when reviewing innocence claims. It also examined tensions involving prosecutors and the institutional arrangements governing conviction reviews.
Unlike the earlier investigation, which concentrated on district attorney conviction integrity units, this report focused on the statewide review process associated with the Attorney General’s office.
The journalists examined records extending back to 2012 to understand how the bureau had developed and how its responsibilities were exercised.
Their investigation examined how institutional restrictions and prosecutor politics affected the bureau’s ability to review innocence claims.
How Higgins Approaches Investigative Reporting
In May 2026, Higgins and Ryan Kost described their investigative methods in a first-person article for Investigative Reporters and Editors.
The two journalists explained that they had initially questioned whether their concerns about conviction integrity units would be supported by the evidence. Their investigation subsequently involved extensive document searches, interviews and comparisons between official processes and individual cases.
They used information from the National Registry of Exonerations, gathered original records and interviewed attorneys, incarcerated people and individuals who had been exonerated.
One approach involved reaching incarcerated people through a prison newsletter. According to their account, this outreach produced more than 100 letters, giving the reporters additional information and potential leads.
The correspondence helped them investigate experiences that might otherwise have been difficult to identify through publicly available institutional records.
Higgins and Kost also discussed the importance of listening carefully to incarcerated people while examining the evidence supporting their accounts.
Their jointly written reflection described a reporting process built around documentary evidence, interviews and the comparison of individual experiences with institutional decisions.
Her Texas Investigations into Trafficking-Survivor Services
Alongside her New York criminal justice reporting, Higgins has investigated organisations providing services to young trafficking survivors in Texas.
On 22 January 2024, The Texas Observer published her investigation, The Lost Promise of Refuge Ranch.
The report examined Refuge Ranch, a Texas programme established to assist young survivors of sex trafficking. Higgins investigated concerns about the organisation’s operations and whether its services were meeting the needs of the people it was intended to support.
She returned to related issues in July 2026, publishing The Fall of Hope Rising in The Texas Observer.
That investigation focused on Hope Rising, a nonprofit based in Brenham, Texas, which had worked to support young trafficking survivors through foster-care services.
The article examined the organisation’s development, difficulties and eventual collapse, placing its experience within broader questions surrounding child welfare services and organisational accountability.
On 29 July 2026, Higgins appeared on Texas Standard to discuss her reporting on Hope Rising and challenges affecting Texas foster-care contractors.
These investigations form a separate strand of her journalism from the New York wrongful conviction series, focusing on organisations responsible for delivering support to vulnerable young people.
Recognition for the Innocence Ignored Investigation
Higgins received professional recognition in 2026 for her contribution to the Innocence Ignored reporting project.
On 17 April, the Institute for Nonprofit News announced the project among the finalists for the 2026 Nonprofit News Awards (INNYs). The recognised reporting team included Higgins, Curtis Brodner, Oishika Neogi and Ryan Kost.
Five days later, on 22 April, the University of Michigan’s Wallace House Center for Journalists announced Higgins, Brodner and Neogi as finalists for the 2026 Livingston Awards in the local reporting category.
Both recognitions concerned investigative work examining failures and limitations within New York’s wrongful conviction review system.
The nominations acknowledged collaborative reporting rather than an individual project completed by Higgins alone.
Willow Higgins’s Reporting Beyond Criminal Justice in 2026
During the second half of 2026, Higgins also published reporting on New York City government and neighbourhood issues for Gothamist.
In September, she covered the city’s racial equity plan, including proposals intended to address inequality and questions about how those policies would be implemented.
One report examined the release of the plan, while a follow-up addressed the challenges of putting a detailed policy document into practice.
Her October reporting included proposed renovations to Tompkins Square Park and disagreements surrounding changes to the public space.
On 17 October, she reported on concerns about the planned park makeover. A subsequent article, published on 28 October, covered an East Village community board’s decision to halt a vote concerning the proposed overhaul.
On 29 October, she reported on New York Police Department enforcement involving e-bikes along an East Village street.
These local assignments followed her earlier investigations into wrongful convictions and organisations supporting trafficking survivors, extending her reporting to neighbourhood development, community decisions and public-space regulation.