Melvin Claxton

Melvin L. Claxton (born 1958) is an American journalist, author, and entrepreneur. He has written about crime, corruption, and the abuse of political power. He is best known for his 1995 series of investigative reports on corruption in the criminal justice system in the U.S. Virgin Islands and its links to the region's crime rate. His series earned the Virgin Islands Daily News the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1995.[1][2][3] Another series by Claxton, this time on the criminal justice system in Detroit, was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2003.[4][5] Claxton has won a number of national reporting awards and his work has been honored several times by the Associated Press managing editors.[6] He is the founder and CEO of Epic 4D, an educational video game company.

Melvin Claxton
Born
Melvin L. Claxton

1958
Antigua
NationalityUnited States
Alma materUniversity of the Virgin Islands
OccupationCEO, Epic 4D LLC
Years active1982–present
Known forPulitzer Prize for Public Service (Winner, 1995; Finalist, 2003)

Career

Claxton began his journalism career at The Virgin Islands Daily News as an intern in 1983 while majoring in economics and journalism at the University of the Virgin Islands. Two years later, he became the newspaper's seventh full-time reporter. He went on to hold senior investigative reporting positions at The Chicago Tribune, The Detroit News, and The Tennessean.[7] He featured in a segment of Prime Time, the popular ABC-TV news magazine show.

The "Virgin Islands Crime: Who's to Blame?" series

In December 1994, Claxton wrote a series of reports for The Virgin Islands Daily News. The reports resulted in a series titled "Virgin Island Crime: Who's to Blame?" and identified numerous issues: criminals getting guns easily, law-enforcement corruption and incompetence, inept criminal prosecutions, judges handing out light sentences and a flawed probation system. The reports revealed the extent of criminal infiltration into the territory of the criminal justice system. The publication of the series had a significant impact on the whole judicial system of the islands that a new police commissioner and attorney general were appointed and a narcotics official resigned. In 1995, the series was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.[1][2][3] The Pulitzer committee stated: "Awarded to The Virgin Islands Daily News, St. Thomas, for its disclosure of the links between the region's rampant crime rate and corruption in the local criminal justice system. The reporting, largely the work of Melvin Claxton, initiated political reforms."[1][8]

Career timeline
  • 2013–present: CEO Epic 4D LLC
  • 2010–2013: Senior managing partner, Premier 3D Animation
  • 2005–2007: Senior investigative reporter, The Tennessean
  • 1998–2005: Senior investigative reporter, The Detroit News
  • 1997–1998: Investigative reporter, Chicago Tribune Media Group[9]
  • 1994–1997: Reporter, Virgin Islands Daily News, St. Croix, Virgin Islands.

Publications

Books
  • Uncommon Valor: A Story of Race, Patriotism, and Glory in the Final Battles of the Civil War (2006). Melvin Claxton and Mark Puls. Wiley publishers, ISBN 0471468231.[10][11]
  • The Book Of Love. (2009). Melvin Claxton, Ira Claxton. BookSurge, ISBN 9781439219904.[12]

Notable articles
  • "Public Housing/Public Shame" (1983). Melvin Claxton. Virgin Islands Daily News.
  • "Virgin Islands crime: who's to blame?" (1995). Melvin Claxton. Virgin Islands Daily News [13]
  • "Fire Sale: America’s unchecked gun market" (December 1997). Melvin Claxton and William Gaines. Chicago Tribune.[14]
  • "The government bought or manufactured millions of firearms..." (December 1997). William Gaines and Melvin Claxton.[15]
  • "Detroit Fire Department: Out of Service" (2000). Melvin Claxton and Charles Hunt.[16]
  • "Hiding in Plain View" (2002). Melvin Claxton, Norman Sinclair and Ronald Hansen. Detroit News.[17]
  • "The Cost of Murder" (2006). Tennessean, Nashville, TN.[18]
  • "Sexual abuse behind bars" (February 2008).[19]

Awards and recognition

References
  1. "The 1995 Pulitzer Prize Winners – Public Service". pulitzer.org. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  2. "The Pulitzer Prizes: Journalism and the Arts Bestow a Most Prestigious Honor". The New York Times. April 19, 1995. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  3. "Virgin Islands Daily News Wins Pulitzer for Public Service". Associated Press. April 18, 1995.
  4. "Washington Post and Los Angeles Times Each Win Three Pulitzer Prizes". The New York Times. April 8, 2003. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  5. "Winners, finalists for Pulitzer Prizes". The Chicago Tribune. April 8, 2003. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  6. "2000 IRE Awards winners". The Civil Rights Cold Case Project. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  7. Richard Prince (August 16, 2007). "Outraged by the Violence - Melvin Claxton Takes Tennessean Buyout". Maynard Institute. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  8. "Blacks Win Pulitzer Prizes for 1995". Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. 87 (26): 23. May 8, 1995. ISSN 0021-5996.
  9. Gaines, William; Claxton, Melvin (December 29, 1997). "M-1 Garand Cuts A Violent Path". The Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois: The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  10. Claxton, Melvin; Puls, Mark. Uncommon Valor: a story of race, patriotism, and glory in the final battles of the Civil War.
  11. Beard, David (June 29, 2006). "A little-told tale of Civil War bravery gets deserved attention". The Boston Globe.
  12. Claxton, Melvin; Claxton, Ira. The Book Of Love. LLCPublication. p. 72. ISBN 9781439219904.
  13. "Virgin Islands crime : who's to blame?". Virgin Islands Daily News. Tarlton Law Library, Jamail Center for Legal Research, The University of Texas School of Law: Virgin Islands Daily News. December 1994.
  14. "Fire Sale: America's unchecked gun market". Investigative Reporters and Editors. 2000. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  15. Gaines, William; Claxton, Melvin (December 29, 1997). "M-1 Garand Cuts A Violent Path". The Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois: The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  16. Claxton, Melvin. "Detroit Fire Department: Out of Service". The Detroit News. Detroit: The Detroit News. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  17. "Former Award Recipients: The Clark Mollenhoff Award - Past Winners". The Fund for American Studies. 2003. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  18. Melvin Claxton (November 1, 2007). "Nashville murders cost more than $18 million a year". The Tennessean. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  19. Claxton, Melvin. "Sexual Abuse Behind Bars : Detroit News Special Report". The Detroit News. Detroit. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  20. Boucher, Geoff (May 2, 1997). "O.C. Times Photojournalist Wins Robert Kennedy Award". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  21. Source staff (April 4, 2001). "Claxton continues winning streak". St. Thomas Source. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  22. "National Headliner Awards Winners". Associated Press. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  23. "2000 IRE Awards winners". Investigative Reporters and Editors. 2000. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  24. Staff, The Observer (February 26, 1998). "Observer Writer Wins Education Award". The Dallas Observer. Dallas. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  25. "Al Nakkula Award Winners". Denver Press Club. 1995. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  26. "Nakkula Award – Past Winners". University of Colorado Boulder. February 20, 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  27. "Scripps Howard Awards: Past Winners" (PDF). Scripps Howard Foundation. 1994. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
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