The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Sunshine Laws" ...
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Your Right to Know
A team of 52 Journal News reporters gathered evidence through a FOI audit of 121 agencies in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam. The audit revealed that school districts and counties generally received an A for their compliance of FOI law. But police departments failed miserably, with a mere 37 percent of them giving out arrest data. Worse, New York's toothless Sunshine Law stifled access to public information and provided little incentive for government agencies to comply.
Tags: FOIA audit; Freedom of Information Act; data negotiation; open records; state government; city government; watchdog journalism
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Unpaid Wages
The author found that thousands of Maryland workers relied on the Maryland Employment Standards Service to help them file claims for unpaid wages. The office's funding was cut in 2005, and many workers who need to recoup unpaid wages do not have any where else to turn for help.
Tags: Maryland Public Information Act request; Sunshine Law; data analysis; state government; Maryland Employment Standards Service; data negotiation; labor
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Firefighters Under Fire
This three part series investigates the San Francisco Fire Department based on information revealed from unnamed firefighters. In "Light Duty", hidden cameras show one officer works just 16 hours a week at his full time job, but still gets paid for 40 hours. Other light duty-or injured firefighters-get paid to watch for alarms, a job that could be eliminated and save tax dollars if the system was automated. Light duty officers are supposed to be restricted to one year of this recovery work, but this rule was not enforced. "Fire Raid" shows alcohol and drug use are problems at fire stations. One officer was found on duty with a blood alcohol level above the accepted limit and another tested positive for marijuana. A third officer drove a fire truck while taking medication that warns against operating hazardous machinery. In "EMS Mistake", the paramedic team is accused of not following protocol in response to an accident and causing the victim to be paralyzed. The investigation finds that other on-going investigations accuse paramedics of assault and even leaving a live woman for dead.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; FOIA; sunshine law; firefighter; fire department; EMS; emergency medical service; hidden camera; light duty; drugs; alcohol; marijuana
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Out of bounds: Inside the NBA's culture of rape, violence, & crime
This book exposes the "culture of lawlessness" sweeping through the ranks of the NBA, particularly with respect to crimes against women. The investigation found that 40 percent of NBA players have a police record involving a serious crime. The author had to overcome two chilling effects upon his reporting: law enforcement and court officials who were reluctant to release public records on account of fear of litigation or other repercussions from the players and their attorneys, and witnesses and individuals familiar with the players and their crimes who were afraid to sit through interviews.
Tags: BOOK; NBA; National Basketball Association; professional athletes; crime; rape; sexual assault; FOIA; Freedom of Information Act; sunshine laws
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That Great Sucking Sound. How well do nonprofits with city contracts comply with San Francisco's sunshine laws? Most of them don't.
This brief article documents the San Francisco Bay Guardian's attempts to gather documents and information from nonprofit groups in the San Francisco area. Most of the nonprofit organizations the paper interacted with did not comply with the law.
Tags: nonprofits; money; non profits; tax; taxes; tax payers; San Francisco; cash; law; information; finances
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The Jack in the Box Shootings
The Post-Dispatch refutes the official police version about the shooting of two suspects by undercover drug detectives in June 2000. The story reveals that -- contrary to what the detectives claimed -- the suspects' car was moving away from the detectives when they fired, not forward toward the detectives.
Tags: crime; collision expertise; Missouri Sunshine Law; law enforcement; self-defense; African Americans; U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency
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Escambia County Commission
The News-Journals investigates bribery and Sunshine Law violations at the Escambia county government. The stories reveal that the county commissioners voted for the purchase of a dilapidated soccer complex "real-estate agent Joe Elliott, a buddy of then Commission Chairman W.D. Childers, the former Dean of the Florida senate." The county later proceeded with a second purchase from Elliott, a defunct car dealership. The land purchases totalled $6.2 million, at a time of tight budget and halt of major county projects. As a result of the publications, the Attorney General of Florida started an investigation that ended with indictments of four of the five county commissioners.
Tags: bribes; land transactions; money laundering; secrecy; reals estate; elected officials; financial disclosure statements; Willie Junior; public office
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City Council Sunshine
In Florida, the state's landmark Government-in-the-Sunshine Law prohibits elected officials from discussing government business behind closed doors. The law is among the strictest in the nation, prohibiting two or more members of the same council from meeting with one another unless the public is notified and invited. But records reviewed by the Sentinel indicate that since 1996, Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood and members of the City Council held more than 200 semiprivate meetings to talk about important city issues, in effect deciding the people's business outside the public eye. They held more of these shadow meetings, in fact, than regular council meetings. The unofficial meetings were ostensibly open to the public, but in reality were often kept quiet and held in the mayor's private office, in restaurants and private clubs, or even in some council member's homes.
Tags: FOIA; public officials
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KC Government gabfest runs up taxpayers' bill. Oversight of cell phones is lax
The Kansas City Star found that employee abuse of city cellular phones and inadequate monitoring by City Hall is costing Kansas City taxpayers thousands of dollars. Municipal employees and council members used city cell phones to make personal calls. Using the state's Sunshine Law, the newspaper obtained a summary of city cell phone expenses.
Tags: cell phones; taxpayers
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Open Records
The Joplin Globe explores how the public is treated when making requests for public records. The two-article series reveals that some local government agencies in Missouri fail to comply with the state's Sunshine Law. For example, one sheriff's department refused to release any records, and one city suspected the researcher of being engaged in "improper criminal discovery." The city of Pineville, Missouri, failed to respond to a written open-records request for more than three months.The probe discovers that Joplin City Council has been improperly meeting in secret during dinner sessions.
Tags: Missouri Sunshine Law; FOI requests; local government; personnel