<!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ --></p> <p>from <a href=""https://calmatters.org/author/sonya-quick/"" title=""Posts" by="" sonya="" quick="" class=""author" url="" fn="" rel=""author"">Sonya Barza</a>CalMatters</p> <figure> <img decoding="async" width=""1200"" height=""675"" src=""https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/anataward.1103-scaled.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1"" class=""attachment-post-thumbnail" size-post-thumbnail="" wp-post-image="" alt="""" decoding=""async"" srcset=""https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/anataward.1103-scaled.png?w=2560&ssl=1" https:="" sizes=""(max-width:"/><figcaption>Graphic by Gabriel Hongsdusit, CalMatters</figcaption></figure> <p>This story was originally published by <a href=""https://calmatters.org/"">CalMatters</a>. <a href=""https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/"">Sign up</a> for their newsletters.</p> <p>CalMatters investigative reporter Anat Rubin won <a href=""https://cacj.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1953036"">Award for Journalistic Integrity</a> from <a href=""https://cacj.org/page/AboutUs"">California Criminal Justice Lawyers</a>.</p> <p>Each year, the organization presents this award only if it believes that a journalist’s work has “helped improve the public’s understanding of the criminal justice system and the rights to a fair trial and equal protection.”</p> <p>Credit goes to Rubin’s reporting, including most notably her investigation,”<a href=""https://calmatters.org/investigation/2025/06/public-defense-investigators/"">The man who didn’t solve a murder</a>.” The project found that poor people accused of crimes, who make up at least 80 percent of defendants, are routinely convicted in California without anyone investigating the charges against them. Nearly half of California’s 58 counties do not employ full-time public defender investigators. Among the remaining counties, defendants’ access to investigators fluctuates widely, but is almost always insufficient.</p> <p>As a companion to her main investigation, Rubin also published a paper summarizing the key findings of her investigation: “<a href=""https://calmatters.org/investigation/2025/06/public-defense-investigators-takeaways/"">California fails to provide a vital protection against wrongful convictions.</a>“</p> <p>“Through rigorous investigation and compelling storytelling, she brought national attention to the urgent need for public defense reform. Rubin’s work exemplifies the highest standards of journalistic integrity and advances the public’s understanding of justice, due process and equal protection,” the organization’s board of directors wrote.</p> <p>Rubin will receive the award at the organization’s December banquet.</p> <p>This article was <a href=""https://calmatters.org/inside-the-newsroom/2025/11/anat-rubin-integrity-award/"">originally published on CalMatters</a> and is republished under <a href=""https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives</a> license.</p> <p> Copy the HTML
