MFIA Clinic Helps Journalist Uncover Jail Secrets

Investigative journalist Brittany Hailer taught creative writing to incarcerated persons in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Her work with them alerted her to a jail media policy that prohibited employees from speaking to the press. Alarmed by the policy, Hailer sought assistance from the Society of Professional Journalists, which in turn led her to Yale Law School’s Media Freedom and Information Access (MFIA) Clinic. The clinic mounted a challenge to that jail policy as a First Amendment violation. As a result of a settlement in the case, the jail revised its policies and reaffirmed the right of its employees to speak to the press.

Hailer’s case started with the death of Daniel Pastrick, an elderly man who died in the jail’s mental health unit.

“It didn’t occur to me that my students might not survive their incarceration,” Hailer recalled. The lack of details about his death drove her to file public records requests regarding them, but her requests were initially denied. 

First representing herself in court, and ultimately being assisted by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Hailer’s reporting led to the creation of Pennsylvania’s first-ever database of jail death autopsies and reports, accessible to journalists across the state, in 2023.

After years of receiving tips about issues within the jail from employees who would not talk on the record. The broad scope of the jail’s media policy that Hailer obtained — which explicitly restricted employees from talking to journalists — became a catalyst for Hailer to mount a legal challenge. “I had just become really obsessed, honestly, with trying to get information out of Allegheny County Jail,” she explained.

Hailer’s reporting uncovered a dual reality: a public narrative shaped by official accounts and an unspoken one shared by incarcerated individuals and corrections officers. “At first, it was the incarcerated who were breaking the news,” she said, describing how people inside the jail called her with updates during the pandemic. Over time, corrections staff also began reaching out, motivated by a shared desire for transparency. “They told me, ‘Look, I cannot be on record. You can’t even share this information because it’s going to identify me, and I’m going to lose my job.’”

Her case was taken up by the MFIA clinic, which sued to block the gag imposed on employee speech by the jail. The parties engaged in court supervised mediation with the jail, ultimately agreeing to adopt revised media policies. Hailer credits the MFIA law students and attorneys for their comprehensive work. 

“They wrote it. They came up with the new policy,” she said. “They were so good that they gave it to the county, and the county was like, ‘Holy Moses, thank you.’”

Hailer describes working with the MFIA legal team, supervised by Clinical Lecturer in Law Jennifer Borg and local counsel Paula Knudsen Burke of the Reporters Committee, as transformative. 

“Jennifer earned the trust of folks who were very afraid of the press… She’s the only person who did all the same research as me and knows everything that I know,” she said.

The successful resolution of this case showcased how research — which included a 50-state survey of jail media policies — and a collaborative process could bring about systemic change. 

Hailer lauded the “incredible” work of MFIA students, including Isaac May ’24, Victoria Maras ’25, and Federico Roitman ’25. Reflecting on the uncommon collaboration with the jail’s lawyers that ultimately emerged, she added, “People from different backgrounds, different experiences, different knowledge sets came together and made something work.”

The case has already made an impact. 

“The workers themselves now feel protected and are having conversations with the public,” Hailer said. The case also made journalists aware about the pervasiveness of similar speech policies. “Almost any journalist in this country could file a gag order suit just like the one I did,” she said.

For Hailer, the case shows how pushing back against restrictive speech policies can yield results. “Maybe it doesn’t have to be a lawsuit,” she suggested. “Maybe just pushing back and saying, ‘Hey, did you know this case happened?’” Her hope is the settlement will inspire journalists to challenge institutional barriers without feeling intimidated by the complexities of litigation.

According to Hailer, the policy in Allegheny County provides a framework for journalists nationwide to fight restrictions on the speech of government employees. The settlement also demonstrated that contentious issues can be addressed through good faith discussions with policymakers.