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 "death row appeals" ...
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Writs Gone Wrong
The Austin American-Statesman investigates as writs of habeas corpus are found to have errors when submitted to the court. These writs are essential in death row appeals because they "help ensure that the right person will be executed and that verdicts are obtained in accordance with the U.S. and state constitutions." But the newspaper found that "court appointed lawyers routinely submit shockingly botched writs applications. Some are incomplete, incomprehensible or improperly argued. Others are duplicated, poorly, from previous appeals." Yet, these lawyers are not held accountable for these mistakes.
Tags: Writ of Habeas Corpus; death row appeals; court-appointed lawyers; lazy lawyers; overworked lawyers; case load
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Slow death: The capital punishment gridlock
For this two-part series, the Mercury News reported that while California sends inmates to death row "with the eagerness of 'death belt states like Texas and Florida, the eagerness stops there." Inmates on death row spend years wating for their appeals go through a "ponderous legal system." This story also contrasts California's system with Virginia's -- "the nation's locomotive of capital punishment."
Tags: death penalty; death row; inmates; capital punishment
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Death Row Justice Derailed: The Failure of the Death Penalty in Illinois
A Chicago Tribune investigation of all 285 death penalty cases in Illinois since capital punishment was reinstated revealed "a system so riddled with faulty evidence, unscrupulous trial tactics and legal incompetence that justice has been forsaken." Among the investigation's findings: "at least 33 times, a defendant sentenced to die was represented by an attorney who had been disbarred or suspended" and "at least 35 times, a defendant sentenced to die was black and the jury that determined guilt or sentencing was all white."
Tags: courts; death row; Illinois; misconduct capital punishment racism criminal justice system DNA evidence bias unprofessional incompetence jailhouse informants police torture forced confessions appeals
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No title (id: 13320)
The ABA Journal reports on the nation's 20 death penalty resource centers that provide representation to many death row inmates in their federal appeals and help others to find representation. With federally funded appeals from capital punishment on the way out, lawyers are wrestling with questions about who will pursue the arguments to keep condemned inmates from death's door.
Tags: Hansen From death's door Execution Courts Collateral review Habeas corpus
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Unjust Punishment: When Innocence Gets Short Shrift
The Christian Science Monitor reports that "As the public clamors for tougher treatment of criminals, the federal crime bill attaches the death penalty to 52 offenses, and avenues of appeal are being choked off. Yet illegal conduct by prosecutors in numerous capital cases raises alarms about protecting rights of the accused.
Tags: death row sentence prosecutorial misconduct capital cases
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Life in the Balance; Is time running out on Pennsylvania's death row?
The Tribune-Review examines Pennsylvania's capital punishment law, finding that there are a lot of problems with the law and the way it is applied; state court records show that the outcome of capital murder cases may be influenced by race, geography, and whether the accused opts for a jury trial or a trial by a judge.