Emily Hamer

Investigative reporter for Lee Enterprises’ Public Service Journalism team. Formerly @WiStateJournal, @WisconsinWatch and @badgerherald. @UWMadison alum.

[Emily Hamer @ehamer7]

Been in what I like to call my “writing hole” for the last year working on this series. First installment out today:

https://t.co/S4Riq4kqlz

[Emily Bregel @EmilyBregel]

A 79-year-old Cuban asylum seeker with worsening dementia, who uses a wheelchair, has been detained in Eloy, AZ for nine months, despite her family's pleas to let them care for her. @TucsonStar https://t.co/7m7cwQKUIk

[Emily Hamer @ehamer7]

Afghans who risked their lives alongside U.S. troops are making a plea to @realDonaldTrump to lift the June travel ban or make an exemption so they can reunite with their families.

They haven’t seen their wives and children in four years. Four years.
https://t.co/c9EhQGeDFe

[Emily Hamer @ehamer7]

@Shalena78 Thank you for sharing your story!

[Emily Hamer @ehamer7]

Out today: Women say they have been treated like “second-class citizens” in a religious sect called The Message.

One woman said she was scolded for using the words “I think” and “I feel.” Now she and others are speaking out.
https://t.co/AkLFsHJnaH

[Emily Hamer @ehamer7]

@ErwinVarga Best way to reach me is via email! [email protected]

Do you have an experience in The Message that you want to share?

[Emily Hamer @ehamer7]

Been in what I like to call my “writing hole” for the last year working on this series. First installment out today:

https://t.co/S4Riq4kqlz

[Emily Hamer @ehamer7]

A man accused of child molesting admitted to some of it in a phone call with me and my fellow reporter Tim Steller. The pastor also admitted he knew about the allegations and failed to report them — also a felony.

Wild stuff in this story:
https://t.co/a24DQ5k6Hf

[Emily Hamer @ehamer7]

@howard_hardee Thank you, Howard!

[Emily Hamer @ehamer7]

@Meadepr Thank you!

[Emily Hamer @ehamer7]

Hopping on here for the first time in like a year to share a few photos from my wedding day 10.19.24 🤍
Sarah Jordan Photography did an amazing job.

[Corey Jones @JonesingToWrite]

1/ A special report to kick off the 2024 election cycle:

Closed primaries shut out millions of voters, divide Americans into ‘warring camps’
https://t.co/thpTSly8ZO

[Emily Hamer @ehamer7]

This made me so happy. Love you, Madison 🥰

[Emily Hamer @ehamer7]

@bethabeyer @USATODAY Omg congratulations!!

[Emily Hamer @ehamer7]

"The college football fans who buy it pay more for a single T-shirt than he makes in a day."

Really amazing work from my colleague @hayleighcolombo on the conditions faced by factory workers who make our university apparel.
https://t.co/7tJ0gSGSNG

[Steve Myers @myersnews]

6 years ago, Mississippi's Supreme Court told judges around the state to file plans saying how they provide lawyers for poor criminal defendants.

This summer, the 1st of the state's 23 circuit courts complied.

https://t.co/CsAYgIoyGV

[Emily Hamer @ehamer7]

@ellewilson I have not. There’s so many states to look into, and every one I’ve looked at has public defense problems. I haven’t looked at NH in much depth. The Sixth Amendment Center does amazing work though. I’ll have to take a look at that report.

[Emily Hamer @ehamer7]

Really proud of my first investigative series for Lee Enterprises' Public Service Journalism team.

'Broken Defense' reveals that people's Sixth Amendment right to counsel is routinely violated across the West. First story out today. More to come.
https://t.co/HAzpBAaXHb

[Emily Hamer @ehamer7]

@ellewilson I did some more digging and found a report that says the NH Public Defender had 11,000 open cases July 1 and expected 23,000 annual cases going forward. With 133 attorneys, that's about 250 cases each. But can't compare to the standards without case types.
https://t.co/KiGFpRHzJe

[Emily Hamer @ehamer7]

@ellewilson The only reason they gave via email was "we are not able to provide caseload data." I should have pushed back on them a little harder.

[Emily Hamer @ehamer7]

"The system is completely broken at this point," one Oregon man told me. He sat in jail for 3+ months without a lawyer.

Read more about how overburdened public defense systems upend people's lives in my first story on this topic:
https://t.co/boJwViJ73T

[Emily Hamer @ehamer7]

Public defenders across America work 3 times more cases than they can effectively handle, new data show.

Their overwhelming workloads threaten the Sixth Amendment right to counsel and have devastating impacts on their clients' lives.

My latest:
https://t.co/e7O3lTAnNj

[Emily Hamer @ehamer7]

I found some public defenders who handled upwards of 10x more cases than the maximum under the standards.

The @ABAesq says attorneys should "never" exceed national standards. And yet thousands of lawyers are double, triple and quadruple the limit.