Criminal Justice Forum: NBC's Dan Slepian - Correcting Wrongful Convictions

Dan Slepian, award-winning journalist at NBC News and veteran producer of Dateline, will discuss his decades-long work as an investigative reporter researching and advocating for individuals who were wrongfully convicted.

Referred to as “A TV News Gumshoe” by The New York Times, Slepian’s investigations have helped solve cold cases, assisted in exonerating the wrongfully convicted, and sparked changes in laws.

Slepian was a 2024 Pulitzer Prize finalist for his eight-episode podcast, “Letters From Sing Sing,” which documents his 20-year journey investigating the wrongful conviction of Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez. The podcast hit #1 on Apple’s top charts the day of its release.

His debut book, “The Sing Sing Files: One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and a Twenty-Year Fight for Justice” was published in September, 2024.

Slepian conceived, developed and produced “Justice For All”, an NBC News/MSNBC series about the criminal justice system. The week-long event included the first town hall from a maximum security Pr*son as well as Dateline’s Emmy nominated “Life Inside,” an impactful and emotional hour about mass incarceration in which Slepian and anchor Lester Holt spent two nights inside Louisiana’s notorious Angola Pr*son.

In February 2021, NBC premiered Dateline’s first docuseries, “The Widower,” an epic five hour primetime series airing over three nights detailing Slepian’s 13-year investigation into Thomas Randolph, an eccentric M**der suspect who had been married six times, and four of his wives are dead.

In May 2019, Dateline debuted its first podcast with Slepian at its helm. The eight episode series “13 Alibis” chronicles Slepian’s investigation into a confounding M**der case, and helped exonerate an innocent man.

In 2018, Slepian was granted exclusive access to rapper Meek Mill on the day of his highly publicized release from Pr*son. Dateline's special, "Dreams and Nightmares" featured Lester Holt's exclusive interview with Meek hours after his release.

Most notably, Slepian is known for his in-depth reporting about the criminal legal system and specifically, wrongful convictions. His documentaries on the topic have earned him more than a dozen Emmy nominations.

As a volunteer, Slepian works with incarcerated men at Sing Sing Pr*son where he helped create "Voices From Within," a video featuring deeply personal testimonials intended to help reduce gun violence. He introduced the video during a TEDx talk at Sing Sing.

Before joining NBC News, Slepian began his career with the Phil Donahue talk show.

Host or Publisher Cleveland State University College of Law