St. John Barned-Smith is a reporter, currently covering public safety for the Houston Chronicle. He reports on Texas's criminal justice system, major natural disasters, state policies that denied special education to tens of thousands of Texas children, and corrupt narcotics officers and lackluster policing in Harris County.Previously, Barned-Smith reported for newspapers in Boston, Philadelphia and suburban Maryland. He served in the Peace Corps in Paraguay from 2010 to 2012.Barned-Smith received his B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was Assistant Editor of Soapbox Magazine and a reporter and photographer for The Daily Pennsylvanian.