Molly Parker
Investigative Reporter | Capitol News IllinoisVeteran journalist Molly Parker joined Capitol News Illinois in July 2023 as an investigative reporter. Her hiring further expands the news organization’s presence in southern Illinois.
Parker joins the news organization to bolster its investigative team. Most recently, she was a member of the Lee Enterprises Midwest Public Service Journalism team. Prior to accepting that position last year, she was a reporter at the Southern Illinoisan in Carbondale since 2014. In that role, Parker exposed a housing crisis in Cairo, the state’s southernmost city, that resulted in a federal takeover of the county’s housing authority and the relocation of about 400 people from two dilapidated, WWII-era apartment complexes.
Parker is also an assistant professor of journalism at Southern Illinois University and a distinguished fellow with ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network, which creates partnerships between nonprofit and local newsrooms.
“I’ve watched Capitol News Illinois grow over a few short years into a preeminent media wire service that gives readers a critical view inside the state Capitol,” Parker said. “It’s proven itself capable of deeply reported investigative reporting that holds government officials to account. It understands the importance of revealing how government decisions made under the dome are playing out in cities and towns from Chicago to Cairo. The news team isn’t flashy. It’s small but tough and committed to truth and fairness – as a news outlet should be.”
Parker lives and works in Murphysboro. She is a graduate of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
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The state of Illinois is asking for the end of court oversight of its system of care for people with developmental disabilities. But some advocates say it’s too soon. -
The chief judge over the Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center in rural southern Illinois abruptly moved to close it as of Dec. 31, citing staffing shortages that made it difficult to meet new state standards governing the treatment of youth in custody. -
State audits point to troubling conditions in juvenile detention centers, but no agency has strong enough oversight to bring about change. -
A new report by an advocacy agency details how abuse and neglect at Choate have continued despite calls for and promises of reform. Now, the Illinois Department of Human Services has reversed its decision to keep Choate’s top leadership in place. -
Prompted by an outcry over abuse, Illinois proposed moving residents from Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center to similar facilities in the state. New reporting shows the problems at Choate are common throughout the statewide system. -
On Wednesday, the state announced plans to dramatically reduce the number of patients with developmental disabilities who live at the embattled state-run Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center. -
Ongoing investigations of the state-run facility have revealed culture of abuse and cover-ups. -
Newly obtained documents echo ProPublica's reporting on abuse, cover-ups and a “sense of impunity” at an Illinois institution for people with mental illnesses and developmental disorders. The governor has said Choate must be reformed. -
Federal and state officials have urged reforms at the rural facility for people with mental and developmental disabilities. But the state-run center still has more allegations of abuse and neglect than any other in Illinois. -
The 24-year-old with developmental disabilities was brutally beaten by his caretakers inside an Illinois-run facility with a long history of patient abuse.
