Brad Heath brings a prosecutor's rigor to his Reuters reporting on the U.S. justice system, specializing in:
Brad Heath's trajectory exemplifies the power of persistent investigative rigor in public service journalism. Beginning at regional papers like the Utica Observer-Dispatch, he honed his skills in local accountability reporting before joining USA Today's investigative team. His early work exposing environmental hazards in schools through FOIA requests established his reputation for marrying data analysis with human-impact storytelling.
At Reuters since 2018, Heath has become a leading voice on federal law enforcement practices. His current beat combines three interlocking domains:
This 2024 investigation revealed how Homeland Security redirected specialized units—including child exploitation and financial crime teams—to conduct workplace immigration raids. Heath's analysis of internal ICE deployment records showed a 217% increase in non-specialized enforcement actions since 2021. The piece contextualized this shift through interviews with 43 current/former agents, uncovering morale issues and mission creep concerns.
Methodologically significant for its layered sourcing, the article combined:
Heath's examination of the Justice Department's renewed focus on ethical violations built upon his decade-long tracking of Brady disclosure failures. Through a first-of-its-kind analysis of OPR disciplinary records, he identified a 48% increase in sustained misconduct findings since 2020. The piece crucially differentiated between intentional violations (14% of cases) and systemic training failures (86%).
"When prosecutors hide evidence, they're not just breaking rules—they're breaking the public's trust in justice itself."
This earlier work at USA Today demonstrated Heath's ability to convert technical FOIA responses into actionable public health reporting. By compiling lead level reports from 37 state education departments, the investigation revealed 1.2 million students in affected districts. The project's interactive database became a model for local advocacy groups pushing remediation funding.
Heath prioritizes stories anchored in primary documents—court filings, internal agency memos, or authenticated datasets. A successful 2023 pitch about Customs and Border Protection's drone use paired FOIA-obtained procurement records with 911 call logs showing surveillance impacts on border communities. When approaching Heath, always specify document sources and their accessibility timeline.
His coverage of prosecutor misconduct expanded after identifying a recurring flaw in DOJ's CaseView database that undercounted Brady violations. Pitches should highlight how discrete incidents reveal larger institutional failures, particularly in federal agencies' self-policing mechanisms.
Heath's analysis of ICE enforcement tactics gained traction by contrasting practices across Boston, El Paso, and Seattle field offices. Effective pitches might compare sentencing disparities between federal districts or divergent approaches to police accountability reforms.
While deeply engaged with legal theory, Heath avoids "what if" scenarios about pending legislation. His focus remains on documented outcomes—e.g., how specific sentencing guidelines actually get applied rather than proposed reforms.
A 2024 scoop about DEA's narcotics seizure patterns originated from Heath's discovery of an unpublicized USDA crop yield database. Pitches identifying little-used government data streams (particularly those with spatial or temporal dimensions) align with his investigative approach.
At PressContact, we aim to help you discover the most relevant journalists for your PR efforts. If you're looking to pitch to more journalists who write on Crime, here are some other real estate journalist profiles you may find relevant:
