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 "Supreme Court" ...
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Buying the Election
“Never Mind the Super PACs: How Big Business Is Buying the Election” investigates previously unreported ways that businesses have taken advantage of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, which overturned a century of campaign finance law and allowed corporations to spend directly on behalf of candidates. The piece debunks a common misperception that businesses have taken advantage of their new political spending powers primarily through so-called Super PACs. In fact, most Super PAC donations have come from extremely wealthy individuals, not corporations. The investigation shows how corporations have instead used a variety of 501(c) nonprofits, primarily 501(c)(6) “trade associations,” to direct substantial corporate money on federal elections. As one prominent advisor to GOP candidates as well as corporations points out, "many corporations will not risk running ads on their own," for fear of the reputational damage, but the trade groups make these ad buys nearly anonymous. In 2010, 501(c)(6) trade associations and 501(c)(4) issue-advocacy groups outspent Super PACs $141 million to $65 million. The investigation shows that the growth of trade association political spending has had a number of significant ramifications, such as increased leverage during beltway lobbying campaigns. Most troublingly, legal loopholes allow foreign interests to use trade associations to directly influence American elections. One of the most significant revelations in the piece was that the American Petroleum Institute, a trade association for the oil and gas industry, had funneled corporate cash to groups that had run hard-hitting campaign ads while being led in part by a lobbyist for the Saudi Arabian government, Tofiq Al-Gabsani. As an API board member, Al-Gabsani was part of the team that directed these efforts, which helped defeat candidates who supported legislation that would move American energy policy away from its focus on fossil fuels. Federal law prevents Al-Gabsani, as a foreign national, from leading a political action committee, or PAC. But nothing in the law stopped him from leading a trade group that made campaign expenditures just as a PAC would.
Tags: Elections; campaign finance; corporations; Super PACs
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'Perversion files' show locals helped cover up
On June 14, 2012, following a civil trial, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that decades of the Boy Scouts’ confidential files would be made public. They would first need to allow the Scouts and plaintiffs’ attorneys time to redact the files of sensitive information. Given a months-long head start, editor Terry Petty and reporter Nigel Duara began the process of negotiating the unredacted files from a longtime source. The negotiations took two months and required the guarantee of an embargo. In August, they received a CD with 20,000 pages of perversion files. Duara and Petty combed through the files, looking for patterns. The Scouts’ concealment of the abuse has been reported before, beginning with an exhaustive series in the early 1990s from the Washington Times. But the AP team found something else: Locals helped. County attorneys, newspaper editors, mayors and police officers were all detailed in the files helping keep the Scouts’ name out of charging documents and off the front page. Indeed, a local county attorney proudly reported to Scouts leaders that he quashed an investigation in which a man confessed to sexually abusing two brothers “to protect the name of Scouting.”
Tags: Boy scouts; abuse; record
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Seattle Police:Vanishing Videos
This story began as a relatively simple venture; how to get copies of police dashboard camera videos to provide watchdog oversight of a police department facing growing criticism. It grew into a major expose of questionable police tactics and a battle for public access to critical public records that is currently before the state Supreme Court. Over the course of a year and a half, KOMO TV’s fight for videos and the video database became a game of strategy and attrition as the Seattle Police Department denied us access to public records at every opportunity. We tried every means at our disposal to get these records including direct appeals to elected officials. Finally, with no other recourse, KOMO TV sued the SPD and the city of Seattle. Only then did we make our fight for these records public. What followed in 2012 was a cascade of stories; people coming forward alleging police misconduct and an attempt to hide the videos that would tell the truth. In addition to KOMO TV’s public records lawsuit, our investigation has prompted state legislators and other open records advocates to pursue changes in state law to ensure these records can no longer stay hidden.
Tags: police; camera videos; SPD; Seattle Police Department; public records
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Supreme Court Spat
This story, produced by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism and Wisconsin Public Radio, was first to report on a June 13 altercation in which Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser placed his hands on the neck of fellow Justice Ann Walsh Bradley in a dispute in her office in front of other members of the court. The article reported that the argument concerned the timing of the court's release of a decision upholding Republican Gov. Scott Walker's controversial bill to curb the collective bargaining rights of the state's public employees, and that the Capitol Police Department and the Wisconsin Judicial Commission were informed of the incident. The story also revealed that the Capitol police chief had come in to speak to the court's seven members about it. Although the initial story relied on anonymous sources, all of the facts were subsequently confirmed by on-the-record interviews, and later by police reports.
Tags: Wisconsin Supreme Court; police
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Follow the Unlimited Money
Following the Supreme Court decision allowing unlimited donations to political campaigns from outside groups, the Sunlight Foundation launched a tool to track the activities and campaign contributions of organizations.
Tags: campaign; campaign contributions; politics; spending; donation
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Cracked
Fetlz's investigation "exposes how junk science has allowed Texas to keep mentally retarded inmates on death row - and execute several of them - despite a 2002 Supreme Court decision, Atkins v. Virginia, that bans such punishment for these defendants.
Tags: capital punishment; criminal justice; mental retardation; death row; execution; Texas; Atkins v. Virginia
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"Greed v. Guardianship"
This investigation reveals serious flaws in the Maricopa County Probate Court. Families have complained of being "violated" by their court appointed guardian, which was most often the Sun Valley Group. Families accused SVG of taking control of their finances, selling anything of value and keeping the money. Some were even kept from visiting sick loved ones who had been placed in care facilities.
Tags: Sun Valley Group; probate court; Maricopa County; Arizona Supreme Court; public records; court documents; guardianship
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"Arpaio Investigation"
An investigation by KPHO-TV found that Sheriff Joe Arpaio often used his popularity as a means to "retaliate" when claims were made against him. The retaliation was often in the form of "SWAT raids" or "full-blown criminal investigations." Some of his victims included the mayor of Phoenix, Supreme Court judges and local police chiefs. KPHO found the FBI was also investigating the sheriff for "abuse of power."
Tags: Joe Arpaio; Mesa Police Chief; Mesa City Hall; Sheriff Arpaio; Department of Justice; Maricopa County
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Connected
“Two former judges, already facing charges for accepting kickbacks, are accused of fixing a $3.5 million defamation case against The Citizens’ Voice newspaper at the behest of a convicted mob boss. The stories establish various ties between the judges and the mobster. The state Supreme Court eventually granted the newspaper a new trial.”
Tags: William D'Elia; Michael T. Conahan; Mark A. Ciavarella; court system; jail; verdict; direct connections; Robert J. Kulick; gambling site; court cases
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The DAS Espionage
SEMANA Magazine explores illegal tracking of opposition party leaders, journalists and Supreme Court magistrates conducted by members of the Colombian president, Cosa de Narino's, team.
Tags: Cosa de Narino; Colombia; Presidency; espionage; recording; tracking; opposition party; journalists; supreme court; democracy