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Weihua Li

Data Reporter

My Background

Weihua Li was a data reporter at The Marshall Project. She uses data analysis and visualization to tell stories about the criminal justice system. She studied journalism and comparative politics at Boston University and graduated from Columbia University with a master's degree in data journalism.

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A photo illustration shows a grid of black-and-white Ohio driver’s licenses. One license is highlighted in red.
Cleveland December 19, 2024
Relief Coming to Ohio Drivers Suspended Over Lack of Money
A Marshall Project and News 5 investigation inspired a bipartisan bill to address the license suspension crisis affecting hundreds of thousands of Ohioans.
By , The Marshall Project, and Tara Morgan, News 5 Cleveland
A White woman, wearing glasses and a red dress, sits at the front door of her house. One of her children stands behind her inside. A children's bike is stationed on the right side of the door.
Feature December 11, 2024
Hospitals Gave Patients Meds During Childbirth, Then Reported Them For Positive Drug Tests
Mothers were reported after they were given medications used routinely for pain or in epidurals, to reduce anxiety or to manage blood pressure during cesarean sections.
By
Susan Horton, a White woman wearing a black tank top, arranges her children’s toys on top of a table.
Feature September 9, 2024
She Ate a Poppy Seed Salad Just Before Giving Birth. Then They Took Her Baby Away.
Hospitals use drug tests that return false positives from poppy seed bagels, decongestants and Zantac. Yet newborns are being taken from parents based on the results.
By
A photo diptych shows former President Donald Trump, a White man wearing a dark blue suit and red tie, gesturing with his arm, on the left, and President Joe Biden, a White man in a dark blue suit and striped blue and white tie, gesturing with his arm, on the right.
Election 2024 June 27, 2024
Crime Rates and the 2024 Election: What You Need to Know
As crime data again becomes a flashpoint in the presidential campaign, experts push for better national statistics.
By and
An illustration shows silhouettes of a close-up face, a side profile of a person, and an IV bag hanging from a pole. Prison bars are in the foreground.
Feature June 9, 2024
They Were in a Mental Health Crisis at a Hospital. This Is How They Landed in Jail.
Washington, like most states, has a law intended to protect health care workers. Instead, it’s led to prosecutions of people with severe mental illness.
By , Sydney Brownstone and Esmy Jimenez
A photo collage in black and white and blue tones shows, from left, an excerpt of a transcript that reads: “I hereby submit the following report into the matter of Sandra Birchmore, and into the possible violations…procedure, rules and regulations of the Stoughton Pol…”; a sign reading “Stoughton”, the silhouette of a police officer; the words “Sandra Birchmore”; an excerpt of a transcript that reads “The relationship continue…many years and included…and communications while…was on duty for the Stoug…Police Department.”; and a photo of Sandra Birchmore.
Feature May 1, 2024
In This Police Youth Program, a Trail of Sexual Abuse Across the U.S.
Explorer posts, overseen by the Boy Scouts, are supposed to foster an interest in policing. They have faced nearly 200 allegations of misconduct.
By , and
A group of migrants exit from a bus parked in the middle of a street. The U.S. Capitol can be seen in the background.
Closing Argument February 17, 2024
What Crime Data Says About the Effects of Texas Busing Migrants
The influx has sparked fears of rising crime in some cities. The Marshall Project looked at policing data to see if the anxiety reflects reality.
By , and
A person walks down the steps of a looming courthouse, while hundred dollar bills that are the same size and scale as the courthouse columns fly off to the right.
Feature February 12, 2024
If You Can’t Afford an Attorney, One Will Be Appointed. And You May Get a Huge Bill
In Iowa, people too poor to pay for a lawyer are on the hook for big fees they can’t afford.
By Lauren Gill and
A collage illustration shows three layered scenes: on the left, light-skinned hands place a bumper sticker on the back of a car that reads “NOW HIRING” circled in red. In the center, the back of a man with light skin tone shows him wearing a white T-shirt that says “ACADEMY” on the back. He holds his hands clasped behind his head and looks downward. On the right, over a textural layer of barbed wire, a line of corrections officers representing diverse genders and ethnicities walks away. A red hand-drawn scribble underlays the image, which is also toned red.
News January 10, 2024
New Data Shows How Dire the Prison Staffing Shortage Really Is
The stubborn staffing crisis affects almost every aspect of life in prison, for employees and the incarcerated alike.
By and
Analysis November 3, 2023
New Data Shows Violent Crime Is Up… And Also Down.
Property crime and violence against young people are both up, recent federal data shows, but other crime trends are murkier.
By and
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