Radley Balko
radley.responses-at-gmail.com

Overview
Writer and editor specializing in investigative reporting on civil liberties, the drug war, and the criminal justice system.

Current Employment

Senior Writer, Huffington Post

Investigative reporter covering civil liberties and the criminal justice system. Write a biweekly column and occasional features. Also write about music and culture in Nashville, Tennessee.

Previous Employment

Senior Editor, Reason magazine.
Reported, wrote and edited articles for reason magazine. I also wrote a weekly column on crime and the criminal justice system.

Policy Analyst, Cato Institute.
Focused primarily on vice and civil liberties, including police militarization, alcohol and tobacco control, drug prohibition, obesity, gambling, and the Nanny State.

Publication Credits

• I wrote a paper on alcohol neoprohibition, and a widely-cited, ground-breaking study on police militarization for the Cato Institute.
• I’ve been published in Playboy, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Forbes, Time, Worth, Slate, the Economist.com, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and numerous other daily newspapers, magazine, and websites.
• I’ve been interviewed and profiled by the Economist and the Atlantic about my reporting.
• My research and reporting on police militarization has been featured in the New York Times, the Economist, NPR, and the Washington Post, and was cited by the U.S. Supreme Court (Hudson v. Michigan, dissent, Breyer). I’ve also testified before Congress on the subjects of Internet gambling and police militarization.
• My reporting on the Cory Maye case was cited by the Mississippi Supreme Court (Mississippi v. Edmonds, concurring, Diaz), profiled in National Journal, and covered by blogs, newspapers, and online publications across the country. My reason magazine feature on the Maye case was a 2006 finalist for a Los Angeles Press Club award in investigative reporting.
• My reporting on the prosecution of the Colomb family in Louisiana won second place in investigative reporting from the Los Angeles Press Club in 2008.
• My reporting on a corrupt Mississippi medical examiner was cited by that state’s supreme court, won second place for the 2007 investigative reporting prize from the Los Angeles Press Club, led to a new trial and acquittal for a 13-year-old convicted of murder, and helped bring about his termination as a contracted state medical examiner. A 2009 follow-up article about forensics fraud in a Louisiana murder case won the Western Publications Association’s 2010 Maggie Award for investigative reporting.
• 2011 finalist for The Week‘s “Opinion Columnist of the Year”.
• 2011 winner of the L.A. Press Club’s “Journalist of the Year” award.
• I wrote a biweekly column for FoxNews.com for seven years, and I publish a personal weblog: www.theagitator.com, which averages about 35,000 daily visitors. I’ve been quoted in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Christian Science Monitor, Newsweek, Slate, the BBC, the Economist, The American Prospect, and National Journal, among other places.

TV, Radio, Etc.
I’ve appeared on the BBC, MSNBC, Fox News, CNBC, CNN, NPR, and dozens of radio stations around the country.

Education
Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
B.A. in journalism and political science, December 1997.

Interests
Sports fan, music buff, and political junkie. I dabble in photography and love to travel.  I have an adorable Australian shepherd mix named Daisy.