Cheryl Corley
Cheryl Corley is a Chicago-based NPR correspondent who works for the National Desk. She primarily covers criminal justice issues as well as breaking news in the Midwest and across the country.
In her role as a criminal justice correspondent, Corley works as part of a collaborative team and has a particular interest on issues and reform efforts that affect women, girls, and juveniles. She's reported on programs that help incarcerated mothers raise babies in prison, on pre-apprenticeships in prison designed to help cut recidivism of women, on the efforts by Illinois officials to rethink the state's juvenile justice system and on the push to revamp the use of solitary confinement in North Dakota prisons.
For more than two decades with NPR, Corley has covered some of the country's most important news stories. She's reported on the political turmoil in Virginia over the governor's office and a blackface photo, the infamous Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida, on mass shootings in Orlando, Florida; Charleston, South Carolina; Chicago; and other locations. She's also reported on the election of Chicago's first black female and lesbian mayor, on the campaign and re-election of President Barack Obama, on the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina and oil spills along the Gulf Coast, as well as numerous other disasters, and on the funeral of the "queen of soul," Aretha Franklin.
Corley also has served as a fill-in host for NPR shows, including Weekend All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and defunct shows Tell Me More and News and Notes.
Prior to joining NPR, Corley was the news director at Chicago's public radio station, WBEZ, where she supervised an award-winning team of reporters. She also worked as the City Hall reporter covering the administration of the city's first black mayor, Harold Washington, and others that followed. She also has been a frequent panelist on television news-affairs programs in Chicago.
Corley has received awards for her work from a number of organizations including the National Association of Black Journalists, the Associated Press, the Public Radio News Directors Association, and the Society of Professional Journalists. She earned the Community Media Workshop's Studs Terkel Award for excellence in reporting on Chicago's diverse communities and a Herman Kogan Award for reporting on immigration issues.
A Chicago native, Corley graduated cum laude from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, and is a former Bradley University trustee. While in Peoria, Corley worked as a reporter and news director for public radio station WCBU and as a television director for the NBC affiliate, WEEK-TV. She is a past President of the Association for Women Journalists in Chicago (AWJ-Chicago).
She is also the co-creator of the Cindy Bandle Young Critics Program. The critics/journalism training program for female high school students was originally collaboration between AWJ-Chicago and the Goodman Theatre. Corley has also served as a board member and president of Community Television Network, an organization that trains Chicago youth in video and multimedia production.
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Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed sweeping criminal justice legislation Monday that also requires police agencies to equip officers with body cameras and sets stricter rules for their use of force.
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In at least one case, the suspect was 11 years old. Police and cities want to enforce the law, but also offer help to juveniles on the wrong path. -
Carjackings have increased by huge numbers in several cities and many of the suspects are juveniles. Communities are grappling with enforcing the law while also embracing rehabilitation.
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Illinois will be the first state to eliminate all cash bail payments for jail release before trial. Part of a sweeping reform bill, it now awaits the governor's signature. Police say they oppose it.
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The U.S. Supreme Court vacated several lower court orders blocking her execution by lethal injection, clearing the way for the first federal execution of a female inmate in more than 67 years. -
Lisa Montgomery is to be put to death next week. The woman she killed was eight months pregnant. Montgomery's lawyers filed for clemency, saying she was tortured as a child and is mentally ill.
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Experts say crime across the U.S. in 2020 was like no other year as COVID-19 ravaged the country and protests flared. It was a seesaw of dips for some crimes and spikes for others, such as homicide. -
Data show that a rise in certain crimes has coincided with the grip of the pandemic. NPR discusses what was happening in cities and whether the spike in homicides can be curbed.
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Building trust between police and residents is a key effort of community policing. A Chicago initiative puts police in communities to build trust. But officer turnover has left some skeptical.
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Reform-minded prosecutors who want to change the criminal justice system from the inside won big in November. It's momentum for a small, but growing movement.
