"There is nothing to prevent sex offenders and others with criminal records from becoming alcohol and drug counselors in California, even though such roles give them direct contact with people, including teens, at their most vulnerable," according to an investigation by the Center for Investigative Reporting.

"An American-Statesman analysis shows that, unlike Cole, other district attorneys, as well as judges and elected officials, have chosen to remain in office after their DWIs. In some cases, they have tried to separate their professional work from their personal mistakes. When Tarrant County state District Judge Elizabeth Berry was arrested for drinking and driving in 2008, other judges handled her DWI cases until charges against her were dropped, recalled Warren St. John, then president of the Tarrant County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association." Read the American-Statesman's full investigation here.

Faltering Courts, Mired in Delays | The New York Times
“The Bronx courts are failing. With criminal cases languishing for years, a plague of delays in the Bronx criminal courts is undermining one of the central ideals of the justice system, the promise of a speedy trial.”

The Curse of Fertilizer | National Geographic Magazine
"Runaway nitrogen is suffocating wildlife in lakes and estuaries, contaminating groundwater, and even warming the globe’s climate. As a hungry world looks ahead to billions more mouths needing nitrogen-rich protein, how much clean water and air will survive our demand for fertile fields?"

Nuclear byproduct levels ...

"A trio of men, indicted last week for their role in selling and manufacturing the synthetic marijuana product, were warned about the murky legal territory of their multimillion-dollar K2 operation, as well as the potential health dangers of the substance," according to an investigation by the Lawrence Journal-World.

According to documents obtained by the Center for Investigative Reporting, applicants who have sought sensitive law enforcement jobs in recent years with the U.S. Border Patrol and its parent agency, Customs and Border Protection, admitted to a host of astonishing crimes during the application process, including rape, kidnapping.

"The records – official summaries of more than 200 polygraph admissions – raise alarms about the thousands of employees Customs and Border Protection has hired over the past six years before it began mandatory polygraph tests for all applicants six months ago," according to CIR. "The required polygraphs come at the tail end ...

Over the last decade, federal prosecutors pursued only eight domestic gun-trafficking cases in Minnesota, according to court records examined by the Star Tribune. Federal law enforcement officials say their limited presence in the state and significant constraints in federal law present serious obstacles to cracking down on illegal gun trafficking. Minnesota U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones, whom President Obama has nominated to lead the ATF, said the agency has gone “a long time without the resources it needs to really be healthier.” The ATF’s Minnesota office has among the fewest inspectors in the nation to watch over the ...

The Star Tribune tells the story of how one cheap semi-automatic handgun was stolen, and then used in three violent crimes in Minneapolis. The long and shadowy circulation of handguns like the Hi-Point often confounds police and can elude gun control laws.

“A Tampa Bay Times' investigation found 20 murderers housed at work release centers across the state, including one who lives at the facility next to where Tifft was speaking. While work release centers are often described as a way for nonviolent offenders to transition back into society, a Times' analysis found that hundreds of inmates living in them have been convicted of violent crimes."

As officials try to raise awareness about the existence of people who have been trafficked, a Seattle woman tells her unusual story. Her mother’s family was victimized by her father, a Ph.D. and concert violinist who worked with the U.N.

Some of Arizona’s most severely troubled youths have reportedly been sexually and physically abused in residential treatment centers amid lax oversight by the state agencies that license, monitor, fund and assign children to the facilities, an Arizona Republic investigation has found.