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Shoshana Walter

Staff Writer

She/her

I report on public health and criminal justice, with a special focus on the unintended consequences of our nation’s drug laws, from pregnancy surveillance to the widespread reporting of families to the child welfare system.

My Background

I am the author of “Rehab: An American Scandal,” forthcoming from Simon & Schuster. At The Marshall Project, I’ve exposed how hospitals across the country routinely drug test patients who give birth and report them to child welfare authorities based on the results of faulty drug tests.

At the Center for Investigative Reporting, I was the lead reporter-producer on the popular investigative podcast “American Rehab,” which focused on drug treatment programs that put participants to work without pay at for-profit companies.

My reporting has prompted criminal and congressional probes and new laws, and has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, on NPR, on CNN and in newspapers across the country. I have also been honored as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and won numerous awards, including the Livingston Award, the IRE Medal and the Murrow Award.

I live with my family in Oakland, California.

Contact Me About...

If you know about pregnant people who were reported to criminal justice and child welfare authorities, please get in touch. I’m also interested in any tips or stories ideas related to criminal justice and health care.

phone (510) 295-4920
email swalter@themarshallproject.org
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Three items are arranged on a white surface: a salad in a white bowl, a copy of a sonogram, and a printout of a false positive drug test result.
Feature June 9
From New York to Arizona, More States Consider Curbing Drug Testing at Childbirth
Some bills followed an investigation by The Marshall Project and Reveal that exposed the harms of widespread drug testing of pregnant patients.
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A White female doctor, wearing glasses, a gray jacket and blue scrubs, sits at her desk. Papers of children's hand drawings hang on the wall.
Feature April 2
Why Some Doctors Are Pushing to End Routine Drug Testing During Childbirth
Hospitals routinely report parents to child welfare authorities based on error-prone drug tests. Some hospitals are changing policy as a result.
By
A White woman, wearing glasses and a red dress, sits at the front door of her house. One of her children stands behind her inside. A children's bike is stationed on the right side of the door.
Feature December 11, 2024
Hospitals Gave Patients Meds During Childbirth, Then Reported Them For Positive Drug Tests
Mothers were reported after they were given medications used routinely for pain or in epidurals, to reduce anxiety or to manage blood pressure during cesarean sections.
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A person wearing a blue uniform and black messenger bag walks toward the entrance of a hospital with a blue sign that reads, "Virtua Health Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital."
Closing Argument October 5, 2024
Drug Testing of Pregnant Patients Is Discriminatory, Lawsuit Claims
The Marshall Project recently investigated how faulty drug tests at hospitals lead to pregnant women being reported to authorities and at times separated from their children.
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Susan Horton, a White woman wearing a black tank top, arranges her children’s toys on top of a table.
Feature September 9, 2024
She Ate a Poppy Seed Salad Just Before Giving Birth. Then They Took Her Baby Away.
Hospitals use drug tests that return false positives from poppy seed bagels, decongestants and Zantac. Yet newborns are being taken from parents based on the results.
By
A security guard makes his rounds at Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg, Maryland, in February 2017.
Closing Argument May 11, 2024
When Bad Cops Become Private Security Guards
There’s growing evidence that former officers with troubling histories of abuse can easily find second careers in private security.
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