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 "civil defense" ...
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(Dis)Service, Fallen and Forgotten
Families of immigrant service members who were killed were never told that they were eligible for immigration benefits among certain immediate family. The Department of Defense nor U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services were informing the relatives of the benefits.
Tags: survivors; posthumous citizenship; casualty; green card; civil rights;
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Conflicted Justice
The series found "major problems with a little-known but significant aspect of indigent defense in Nevada. When two or more indigent defendants are charge in the same case, each defendant's testimony might implicate another. To avoid conflicts of interest that would occur if co-defendants were represented by a county public defender, that office represents only one, and private lawyers are hired by judges to represent the rest. Alan Maimon's reporting revealed that some conflict attorneys claimed to work more than 24 hours in a single day. Some spent excessive time on certain cases that paid a higher hourly rate, and tended to hastily offer guilty pleas on cases that did not pay as well."
Tags: courts; legal; justice; conflict attorneys; criminal defense; court corruption; lawyers; civil defense
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Detroit's Terror Trial
In 2003, three men in Detroit were tried on charges of terror-related crimes. They were all of Arab descent and had phony passports. After all three were convicted, reporters conducted an investigation of the trial and found that at least a hundred documents had been withheld from defense lawyers and the chief witness against the men was an international con-artist. The convictions were thrown out and the prosecutor was charged with misconduct.
Tags: war on terror; attorney general John Ashcroft; Patriot Act; sleeper-cells; terrorism; consititutional rights; civil rights; FBI; justice department; federal court
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Serial Tiller
A con man with 27 felony convictions decided to shift his act over to fleecing prisoners and their families. John Gary Tiller previously took advantage of banks and small businesses but when he formed the Civil Rights Legal Defense Team he found a con that would get little criticism. The CRLDT was a law firm that advertised help for inmates and their families in fighting for their release. Once the families or prisoners paid money upfront Tiller's law firm would disappear or perform very little work. As a law firm it was a sham anyway since Tiller did not hold a law degree. Only one member of the CRLDT actually was a lawyer and he was disbarred. Tiller got away with all of it. Fleecing businessmen was illegal but taking advantage of inmates was not as big a deal.
Tags: criminal justice; corrections; cons; law; lawyers; civil defense; inmates; prisoners; prisons; jail
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A Changing Landscape; Learning Curve; Painful Decisions; Public Discontent
An ABA four-story package examines the new developments in tort law, and how they have influenced the work of civil justice institutions. The first story looks at the battles over tort legislation, and describes how different states have implemented the changes. The report quotes a 1993 study by the Coalition for Consumer Rights, which has indicated that states with the lowest per capita expenditures on medical care are more likely to have enacted the fewest tort reforms overall. The second story reveals that lawyers are changing their litigation strategies in response to the new tort law. The third story reports on the risks that await both plaintiff and defense lawyers. The fourth story features lawyers' opinions expressed during a round table debate on tort law. "The debate goes beyond tort law, it's about lawyers," the magazine finds.
Tags: American Tort Reform Association; lobbying; lobbyists; product liability; medical malpractice; punitive damages; juries; jury awards; civil justice; courts; lawyers
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Soft on Crime Fighters
Crogan investigates the case of L.A. County Deputy District Attorney Richard Ceballos, who is suing his supervisors and former D.A. Gil Garcetti in federal court "claiming they retaliated against him after he alleged that L.A. County Sheriff's deputies made up information to obtain a search warrant in an auto-parts theft case." Ceballos goes on the say that there is a "historical custom and practice in the D.A.'s office to protect and cover up police officer who engage in misconduct." The suit stems from a 1999 incident in which a defense attorney alleged that several sheriff's deputies lied on a search warrant affidavit in the auto-parts case which they subsequently discovered narcotics. Trouble began for Ceballos after he investigated the incident further and took his information to his supervisors. Ceballos claims his supervisors neglected his investigation and "kowtowed" to the department's fear of civil litigation. Ceballos' supervisors maintain they did nothing unethical or illegal and that Ceballos was upset over a missed promotion.
Tags: Criminal Justice; Los Angeles; corruption
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Weapons of Mass Confusion: How pork trumps preparedness in the fight against terrorism
The 1995 sarin gas attack that killed 12 people and injured 5,000 others on a Tokyo subway alerted U.S. officials to the potential for biological and chemical terrorism on U.S. soil. In 1996, Congress passed the Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 1996, which authorized spending billions to prepare local officials for attacks and to create specialized military response teams. Now, five years after the law was passed, Green writes, pork-barrel politics has prevented the anti-terrorism effort from fulfilling its duties. "The billions of dollars spent to prepare for an attack has only created an expensive and uncoordinated mess...In the end, more than 40 agencies, overseen by a dozen congressional committees, received a role in the nation's terrorism defense plan. The waste was enormous...The (law) spawned 90 different programs for the single purpose of training local officials. Today they compete just to find clients." After 3 years and $137 million, the U.S. Army National Guard team that was designated to respond to terrorist attacks, has not yet been certified by the Defense Department as ready for duty.
Tags: Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act; Nunn-Lugar-Domenici Act; domestic terrorism; Aum Shinrikyo cult; Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team; chemical weapons; biological weapons; pork barrel politics; U.S. Army National Guard
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Detroit Police: Lethal Force, Lasting Questions
The series analyzed FBI data and found out that 'The Detroit Police department leads the nation's largest cities in its officers' rate of fatal shootings...Police executives have failed to create a comprehensive risk management program to identify problem officers, practices and policies that have cost the city nearly $ 124 million since 1987." The investigative team dissected a dozen questionable police shootings, "revealing how detectives ignored evidence and witnesses in their haste to clear officers." After the four-part series had been produced, the reporters obtained a copy and published the findings of a secret report that documented the Detroit Police Department's shortcomings.
Tags: FBI; Detroit; police officers; fatal shootings; civilians; self-defense; civil courts; lawsuits; city officials; the Detroit Police Commission; the U.S. Department of Justice
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No title (id: 9255)
Scripps Howard News Service (Washington, D.C.) reports on the execution of mentally retarded defendants and the moral and legal questions raised by the common practice; interviews more than 150 prosecutors, correction officials, defense attorneys, judges, families of victims, mental retardation experts, law professors, civil rights advocates and mentally retarded death row inmates, May 9 - 10, 1992.
Tags: DC MacPherson Bennett
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No title (id: 6331)
Evansville (Ind.) Courier uncovers illegal bank accounts maintained for more than 30 years by the county's civil defense department; members collected donations from citizens and pocketed the cash, April - May 1989.
Tags: Derk Marynell James Bucsko Edman civil defense department