Samantha Hogan

133 posts

Samantha Hogan focuses on government accountability projects for The Maine Monitor. She joined the newsroom as its first full-time reporter in 2019 with Report for America. Samantha was named the 2021 Maine’s Journalist of the Year by the Maine Press Association, and spent 2020 reporting on Maine’s court system through the ProPublica Local Reporting Network. Her reporting on county jails recording and listening to attorney-client phone calls won the Silver Gavel award from the American Bar Association and was also a semi-finalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting in 2023. Samantha previously worked for The Frederick News-Post and interned twice for The Washington Post.

A black sign reading "Probate Office" is attached to the wall outside the doorway to the office.

How we investigated Maine’s probate courts

The Maine Monitor spent a year reporting about the state's probate court system. Here's why and how we did so.

BySamantha Hogan

December 24, 2023

A gold glass-stained door to a probate office.

Probate courts ripe for reform

Lawmakers and advocates are looking for ways to strengthen oversight within Maine's probate courts.

BySamantha Hogan

December 17, 2023

Crystal Chappell poses for a photo while holding an image of her mother.

Against Their Will: Maine’s probate courts lack a method to detect fraud. Some other states have robust audit systems.

Families are frustrated by the probate courts' handling of loved one's estates and final wishes.

BySamantha Hogan

December 3, 2023

Police cars outside the Lewiston bar where a mass shooting happened.

Maine’s vast rural expanse complicates the search for Lewiston shooting suspect

Boats and remote vehicles search Androscoggin River as part of massive manhunt.

ByEmily Bader Emmett Gartner Samantha Hogan

October 27, 2023

Lewiston mass shooting suspect seen in a still from surveillance footage.

Mass shooting turns spotlight on Maine’s sparse gun laws

Lawmaker in Gun Safety Caucus says lack of gun safety laws allowed her 'worst nightmare' to happen.

BySamantha Hogan David Dahl Rose Lundy

October 26, 2023

Joe Baldacci and Michele Meyer during a legislative hearing.

Lawmakers eye tighter oversight on guardianships

Committee holds meeting after Monitor reports about eight unexplained deaths of adults in public guardianship.

BySamantha Hogan

October 25, 2023

A drawn illustration of the inside of a courtroom. On the left, an inmate dressed in an orange jumpsuit is looking at the empty seat next to them where their defense attorney should be sitting. On the right, sitting at a separate table, is a prosecutor.

Judges, sheriffs ask Maine Supreme Court to dismiss petition filed by woman held in jail without a lawyer

Angelina Dube Peterson is indigent and unable to afford to hire her own lawyer. She waited for weeks in jail to be assigned an attorney.

BySamantha Hogan

October 13, 2023