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 "county jail" ...
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"Deporting Justice"
In an ongoing television series, WFAA-TV reveals that thousands of felons accused of murder, rape and assault are often deported instead of standing trial. In Dallas, many of the accused felons are Mexican citizens who, instead of facing criminal trial in the states, are put on a bus and shuttled back to Mexico where they are set free. Deporting the accused felons also decreases the chance of "jail overcrowding."
Tags: deportation; Dallas County; immigration; ICE; Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
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Nobody's Fault
"The intersection of our mental health and criminal justice systems as seen through the death of one mentally ill man in the county jail."
Tags: treatment; Humboldt State; privacy protection; superior court; suicide;
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Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Jails series
The series examined individuals who have died suspiciously while in the custody of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who proclaims himself to be "America's Toughest Sheriff." Specifically, the stories examined the death of an inmate, Juan Mendoza Farias, who entered the county jail in good health and arrived at the county morgue two days later--covered with bruises and lacerations. The series also covered ongoing federal class-action lawsuit brought by the ACLU against Arpaio. During the process of that lawsuit, Arpaio lost his federal jail accreditation, which is require by Arizona law. Dickerson has been covering the lawsuit since 2007 and broke the story that the county's top lawman was himself breaking a state law by losing the accreditation of his jails. The series also investigated the care of pregnant inmates and their babies in the jail, finding that many women are malnourished and miscarry as a result of the jail conditions and food.
Tags: police misconduct; sheriff's office; pregnant inmates; prisoner abuse; Arizona
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Inhumanity Has a Price
This story examined the human and financial costs of jail conditions in the fourth largest U.S. country. It quantified the costs of those conditions by comparing statistical data about the jail to statistics from similar-sized jails in the country. The story found that the custodian of this jail has been sued thousands of times more than the custodian of larger jails, that the combined cost to defend, settle and insure against these lawsuits was $41.4 million, that the country has not implemented changes recommended by national experts, and that the county's Environmental Services inspectors have documented environmental health concerns in the jails.
Tags: jail costs; county jail; corruption; justice system; health concerns; prison conditions
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Living Nightmare
This investigation exposes a dramatic revenge plot, in which a Fresno County jail guard spent nearly ten months sending at least a dozen racially charged letters to violent gang members, all in the name of machine operator Paul Perry, who angered the guard over a traffic ticket.
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Bullies with Badges
Johson County, TX has had allegations of prisoner abuse, and the Fort Worth Weekly discovered that the county sheriff admitted to abuse happening in the prisons. It was found that one police force in Johnson County has been arresting about 10 percent of the population annually, leading to the near full prison.
Tags: maximum security; jail; cops; officer; Patsy Keifer; Bob Alford
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The Wait of Conviction
The poor people in Richmond County that were sentenced to lengthy prison terms, and almost half were not able to appeal their cases. Of those who were able to appeal, on in five would win some sort of relief, while three men died in prison without any review of their convictions.
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Dumping Ground
Ex-convicts and former prisoners are sent to live in Pierce County into the work-release programs to help them ease back into society. Pierce County has three of these programs- RAP, Progress, and Lincoln Park houses- to help rehabilitate prisoners. But the programs are adding to the already large number of ex-cons living in Pierce County, and the number is increasing.
Tags: jail; inmate; correctional facility; Gerry Horne; pre-release; correction
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Police Torture in Chicago
A police torture ring existed in Chicago for many years after a 16-year period of ongoing coverage in the Chicago Reader. It turns out that Cook County state's authority, along with mayor Richard M. Daley, allowed the ring to continue for decades.
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Sheriff Lee Baca & L.A. City Jails
"These stories provide a penetrating look at conditions inside the nation's largest county jail system and show how the violence within cannot be contained. With the jails seriously overcrowded by felony defendants awaiting trial, 150,000 less serious offenders have been released since 2002 after serving fractions of their sentences."
Tags: Castaic; violence; riots; fights; correctional facility; inmate