
Mollie Simon
I identify documents, sources and specialized datasets to advance investigations.
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What I Cover
I’ve investigated topics spanning education, housing, mental health, consumer finance and the environment. I often dig into archives to understand how history is shaped by, and repeated in, the present.
My Background
My work at ProPublica began in 2020, originally through a fellowship with the Scripps Howard Foundation. Before that, I worked as a researcher at LegiStorm and as a reporter for the Anderson Independent-Mail and Greenville News. In that role, I covered Clemson, South Carolina, as well as broader education stories.
Segregation Academies Across the South Are Getting Millions in Taxpayer Dollars
North Carolina offers an especially telling window into what is happening across this once legally segregated region where legislatures are now rapidly expanding and adopting controversial voucher-style programs.
by Jennifer Berry Hawes and Mollie Simon,
Mississippi Remains an Outlier in Jailing People With Serious Mental Illness Without Charges
At least a dozen states have banned the practice of jailing people without charges while they await mental health treatment. But Mississippi routinely keeps people in jail during the civil commitment process.
by Isabelle Taft, Mississippi Today, and Mollie Simon, ProPublica,
Local Reporting Network
TitleMax Demands High-Interest Payments From Borrowers in Bankruptcy
In Georgia, borrowers looking to alleviate debt through Chapter 13 bankruptcy can’t escape their high-interest title pawns thanks to a legal loophole that TitleMax helped secure.
by Margaret Coker, The Current, and Joel Jacobs and Mollie Simon, ProPublica, illustrations by Laila Milevski, special to ProPublica,
Local Reporting Network
The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”
HomeVestors of America, the self-proclaimed “largest homebuyer in the U.S.,” trains its nearly 1,150 franchisees to zero in on homeowners’ desperation.
by Anjeanette Damon, Byard Duncan and Mollie Simon,
Helene’s Unheard Warnings
As Hurricane Helene barreled toward Yancey County in North Carolina, communities along the Cane River in the Black Mountains were particularly vulnerable. But there were no evacuation orders, and few grasped what was coming.
by Jennifer Berry Hawes, with additional reporting by Cassandra Garibay,
“Incalculable” Damage: How a “We Buy Ugly Houses” Franchise Left a Trail of Financial Wreckage Across Texas
Charles Carrier is accused of orchestrating a yearslong Ponzi scheme, bilking tens of millions of dollars from both wealthy investors and older people with modest incomes. Despite signs of trouble, HomeVestors didn’t intervene.
by Anjeanette Damon and Mollie Simon,
This Lender Said Its Loans Would Help Tennesseans. It Has Sued More Than 110,000 of Them.
The Flex Loan, a type of payday loan pioneered by Advance Financial, has burdened low-income borrowers while generating huge profits for lenders. Tennessee lawmakers declined to rein in the lending business, even as other states did.
by Adam Friedman, Tennessee Lookout,
Local Reporting Network
Wisconsin’s Name-Change Law Raises Safety Risks for Transgender People
A 167-year-old statute requires trans people to publish their old and new names in a newspaper. Families and advocates worry the requirement now poses a risk as President Donald Trump has attacked transgender rights.
by Phoebe Petrovic, Wisconsin Watch,
Local Reporting Network
How a Push to Amend the Constitution Could Help Trump Expand Presidential Power
A draft lawsuit being floated to attorneys general in several states argues Congress must call a convention over the national debt. But the legal theory mixes and matches petitions from states dating back to 1789.
by Phoebe Petrovic, Wisconsin Watch,
Local Reporting Network
U.S. Housing Agency Considers Launching Crypto Experiment
The Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees billions in aid and insures more than a trillion dollars in mortgages, is pondering using the blockchain and a stablecoin. One HUD official derided it as “Monopoly money.”
by Jesse Coburn,
A Rural Alaska School Asked the State to Fund a Repair. Nearly Two Decades Later, the Building Is About to Collapse.
Rural school districts depend on the state to fund construction and maintenance projects. But over the past 25 years, Alaska lawmakers have ignored hundreds of requests for public schools that primarily serve Indigenous children.
by Emily Schwing, KYUK,
Local Reporting Network
As Facebook Abandons Fact-Checking, It’s Also Offering Bonuses for Viral Content
Meta decided to stop working with U.S. fact-checkers at the same time as it’s revamping a program to pay bonuses to creators with high engagement numbers, potentially pouring accelerant on the kind of false posts the company once policed.
by Craig Silverman,
“We’ve Been Essentially Muzzled”: Department of Education Halts Thousands of Civil Rights Investigations Under Trump
Since Inauguration Day, the Office for Civil Rights has only opened about 20 investigations focused on Trump’s priorities, placing more than 10,000 student complaints related to disability access and sexual and racial harassment on hold.
by Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen,
First Came the Warning Signs. Then a Teen Opened Fire on a Nashville School.
Tennessee authorities were alerted to Solomon Henderson’s threatening and violent behavior long before he brought a gun to Antioch High School. It’s unclear how many red flags were heeded.
by Aliyya Swaby, ProPublica, and Paige Pfleger, WPLN/Nashville Public Radio,