Withheld evidence

Introduction

The prominent black lung defense firm Jackson Kelly PLLC has a record of withholding key evidence, the Center for Public Integrity found as part of the yearlong investigation “Breathless and Burdened.” Here are five examples from confidential case files obtained by the Center. Each stack of paper represents a miner’s file, with the earliest filings and evidence at the bottom. The red paper shows when in the progression of the case a key piece of evidence was generated. These reports were not disclosed until months or years later, and, in some cases, they showed that a miner’s previous defeat had rested on incomplete or misleading evidence.