Michigan Public reporter Sarah Cwiek has been selected as a winner of the 2025 Wade H. McCree Advancement of Justice Awards, sponsored by the Michigan Press Association Foundation. Sarah was honored for her story: “A wrongful conviction, and a Detroit serial rapist who stayed free: Here's how it happened”. This is Sarah’s third McCree Award.
Her previous awards were for these stories: “Tax foreclosure lawsuit asks how much can government take from property owners” (2021) and “They say their son needs to be in a psychiatric hospital; he went to jail instead” (2020).
The awards were presented at the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame induction dinner on Saturday, April 13, 2025, at the Kellogg Center on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing.
The McCree Awards recognize Michigan journalists who foster greater public understanding of our legal system, with reporting that can change and improve the legal and law enforcement systems. The winners were determined by a panel of four judges representing law and media, who independently reviewed 10 entries from across Michigan.
The McCree awards are named for Judge Wade H. McCree, one of the most distinguished lawyers and jurists in Michigan history and a staunch advocate for equal rights and open, accountable government.
Other winners of 2025 McCree Journalism Awards were Detroit Free Press reporters Dave Boucher and Darcie Moran for a series of stories on “Judicial Accountability;” reporters Heather Catallo, Johnny N. Sartin, Jr., Randy Lundquist and Tim Kochenderer of WXYZ-TV for their reporting on “Improper conduct by a powerful probate judge;” and Cole Waterman and Gus Burns of MLive Media Group for “Michigan State Police’s Secure Cities Program.”
