Students’ grades are supposed to be a private matter, known only to school administrators, the student and whomever the student chooses to tell. But if one Chicago prosecutor has her way, students at the Medill Innocence Project of Northwestern University will be forced to turn over their grades as well as unpublished notes and course syllabi to her office.

The Medill Innocence Project is not unlike Point Park University’s own Innocence Institute. Both organizations teach students investigative journalism by having them investigate cases of wrongful convictions. Both organizations have also been rather successful at it. The Innocence Institute has helped exonerate 14 people in the last decade, while the Innocence Project has helped exonerate 11 without issue.

“I’ve had a cooperative relationship with previous prosecutors for more than a decade,” Professor David Protess, director of the Medill Innocence Project, said in an e-mail interview. He said that’s partly the reason why his project has been able to get exonerations.

But the cooperative relationship Protess enjoyed has turned into what he calls an adversary one thanks to the arrival of State Attorney Anita Alvarez, who alleges that Protess’ students paid people for their statements and used a variety of unethical tactics.

Alvarez was elected to her Cook County position in late 2008, and she began challenging the Innocence Project on its motives just months after assuming office. Her primary concern was a case students were working on involving convicted murderer Anthony McKinney. Alvarez subpoenaed students’ grades as well as unpublished interviews and notes. She calls it doing her job, but others call it harassment.

I’m not certain harassment is the best word, but without a doubt, Alvarez’s zealous pursuit of this case is ridiculous. Despite what she may say, I believe her true motives revolve not around doing her job, but around the notion that prosecutors, police and other officials do not like to be told they are wrong. I have come to learn this firsthand while doing my own work researching cases for the Innocence Institute.

I was told by a secretary at the Allegheny Courthouse once that a person whose case information I was seeking was a “frequent flier” and “did not seem very innocent” to her. Another secretary said I should be careful about what I am getting myself into.

These commentaries should not be coming from on-duty court officials. The attitudes and ideas behind these remarks only promote the kind of situation that Protess and his students have found themselves in.

And that situation has gotten ugly.

Alvarez’s office leaked internal memos to reporters for “background,” which included unsubstantiated claims of misconduct on the part of Protess’ students. According to Chicago Magazine, Alvarez demanded to see student’s grades based on a statement from a witness who told investigators students were nice to him so he would grant them an interview. They allegedly told him the interview would have given them better grades.

Alvarez posed this question in the article: Would a student do this and why?

Actually, I do believe that in some cases a student may use this approach or a similar one and not be guilty of misconduct.

I was involved in an incident in which I had to ask a court representative why I had been given misinformation. I told the representative that I had been working on a story for class, and that my teacher was upset that I was unable to produce it because I didn’t have the right information.

I didn’t say this to manipulate anybody; I said it to relate to the person. Professionals understand wanting to do well in school, and that understanding is a way to get them to do what you need them to. Talking to a person in a way that will get them to help you is just a part of the job of a journalist.

It is understood that a witness is not necessarily the same as a courthouse professional, but the principle still applies. If those students got A’s on the assignment, does that mean they are guilty of malice? If they each received F’s, would the scrutiny end? The answers are no and absolutely not.

Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn wrote in an opinion article that in light of Alvarez’s actions, perhaps defense attorneys should be able to browse performance reviews of law enforcement personnel to determine patterns that might “inspire them to look a certain way at the evidence or disregard the statements of certain witnesses.”

Why not? If there was no such thing as prosecutorial misconduct, innocence projects would be put out of business because wrongful convictions would be a much rarer occurrence.

And let’s not forget that these students are journalists; Alvarez needs to take that into consideration. The students are gathering news for stories, not evidence for trials. There is no constitutional right for newsgathering, but that doesn’t mean students should be persecuted for it if they are following the law.

Most people agree that journalists should not pay people for their interviews. But even if they did, it’s not a crime. It may be unethical, but it’s certainly not illegal. In that vein, criminal prosecutors have absolutely no business trying to tell police something like the Society of Professional Journalists’ code of ethics.

The American justice system is highly flawed, and prosecutors like Alvarez make it worse by launching crusades like the one against the Medill Innocence Project. It’s simply a distraction from the real situation - a potentially wrongfully convicted man trying to receive vindication with the help of publicity from a well-intentioned professor and his students.

story originally published in The Globe

Local students dance for homeless kids' 'chance' (print)

C.H.A.N.C.E., a student organization at Clairton Education Center in Clairton, Pa., put on its third annual spring dance show this April. Trevor Miles, a Point Park student, served as lead choreographer for the production. Proceeds from the show benefited the Homeless Children's Education Fund.

A Giving Community

Clairton is a small steel town nestled along the edges of the Mon River just outside McKeesport. When the steel industry collapsed, the city went with it. What’s left of this once-flourishing area is a modest community facing many of the problems typical of a distressed inner city: crime, drugs and even poverty.

But adversity hasn’t stopped the giving nature of its residents, particularly the younger ones.

In 2007, Clairton High School students created C.H.A.N.C.E., an organization aimed at raising money for charities that serve homeless and otherwise underprivileged populations.

“This is really a leadership group,” said Maureen McGarvey, a school counselor and head of the organization, whose acronym stands for Creating Hope and Newfound Courage Everywhere. She says her students were inspired to start their own charity after seeing a presentation from another charity group, the Friends of Danang, which raises money for humanitarian efforts around the city of Danang, Vietnam.

Dancing from the Heart

Since its inception his senior year of high school, Trevor Miles, now an Ad/PR major at Point Park University, has served as a head choreographer for the annual C.H.A.N.C.E. spring dance show, a series that has come to be known as Dance for their Chance. It is the organization’s biggest and most popular event of the year.

The show has traditionally supported the Friends of Danang, but this year students decided to help out another charity, the Homeless Children’s Education Fund, or the HCEF.

“The kids wanted to switch it up this year,” Miles said. “We all thought this group was so fitting for us.”

Since he is no longer a student at Clairton, Miles made bi-weekly trips from his downtown residence back to his alma mater to work with the kids on the routines he says he created in his spare time outside of class.

“It can be tough having to travel out there, but dancing and performing is something I love to do,” he said. “Teaching these kids is not only fun for me, but it’s fun for them. The fact that we can have fun and help other people at the same time is a win-win situation.”

The Big Show click the picture to launch the slideshow

About 100 people, young and old, filed into the Clairton Education Center on April 16 to see the performance. Lining the hallway outside the auditorium sat tables filled with items up for bid in a Chinese auction. All items were all donated by members of the community and all of the proceeds went directly to the HCEF.

The show began with a brief introduction from McGarvey who introduced the members of C.H.A.N.C.E.. Dionne Cahillane, a board member from the HCEF, spoke to express her sincere gratitude to the organization for choosing to support her cause.

Then, it was time for the dancing to begin. Miles’ choreography incorporated various genres of dance, ranging from modern to hip hop and from vogue to step. Many of the routines were set to long tracks with mixes of songs from a broad range of artists. Songs from Lady Gaga, Kid Sister, Me’Shelle N’degecello and Mary J. Blige were all featured in a single routine.

Miles says he doesn’t like to dance to the same song for too long because he gets “bored” and believes the audience will too. He says he also likes to entertain the crowd with tricks like acrobatics and flips. At one point in the show, he did a backward somersault off the stage onto the floor several feet below.

It is a tradition to end every show with a teacher’s dance. It’s the number that usually gets the most audience fanfare, and this year was no exception.

Miles’ choreographed the routine to “Work,” a high-energy club song by R&B singer Ciara. The routine had elements of hip-hop and vogue, a dance of expression started in the underground clubs of New York in the early 80s and popularized by Madonna soon after.

Miles had students and teachers “battling” on the dance floor before having everyone come together for some synchronized group moves. Watch the video below to see the routine in its entirety.

By the time the show was over, C.H.A.N.C.E. raised over $1,700 for the HCEF through ticket sales and the Chinese auction. Besides doing a lot of good, the show proved to be entertaining for the audience.

“Those dances were incredible,” said Ashley Zink, a Clairton junior who attended the show. “All those students did their thing up there.”

Miles was pleased, too.

“We did it, I pulled it off,” he said immediately after the show, still trying to catch his breath.

Miles says that he is already hard at work on routines for next year’s show. He plans to begin rehearsals earlier this year than in the past—in the beginning of May once he finishes up with school.

"Work" Routine