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 "drug sentencing" ...
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Baumgartner
At the start of 2011, the best known and probably most respected judge in Knoxville, Tenn., was Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner, founder of Knox County's successful Drug Court and the judge who recently had presided over trials involving the most shocking crime in local memory, the carjacking, torture and murder of a young couple named Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom. The trials of four suspects led to a death sentence, two life sentences and one very long prison term. But soon after the new year began, Baumgartner took an abrupt leave of absence, ostensible for health reasons.
Tags: judge; Knoxville; trials; criminal court
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Sheila Devereaux Freed From Prison
A synopsis of Sheila Devereux's false conviction of drug trafficking and sentence to prison is investigated, as well as the policemen who were involved in the Devereux's case were investigated for corruption.
Tags: Sheila Devereux; Policemen; Corruption; Drug Trafficking
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Crossing the Line
"We're coming after you." That was the Houston Police Chief's message to thieves when he launched the elite, $5 million a year Crime Reduction Unit. The problem? Some of the department's own officers alleged "we're coming after you" meant violating citizens' rights and search and seizure laws to build flimsy cases and rack up arrest numbers that ultimately did little to fight crime. KHOU-TV identified how CRU officers routinely stopped, handcuffed and interrogated citizens for petty infractions such as jaywalking or riding a bicycle without a light. The vast majority of the time these citizens were let go, but if police did make an arrest, it was usually for trace levels of drugs, which often resulted in plea bargain prosecutions for minimal jail sentences. One veteran defense attorney described the CRU as nothing more than "a mill to get convictions."
Tags: Houston; Texas; law enforcement; arrest; Texas Public Information Act; Crime Reduction Unit
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Adolfo's Story
Adolfo Davis has been in jail since the age of fourteen, sentence to life in prison without parole for murder. In Illinois, it's legal to question a fourteen-year-old without the presence of a defense attorney so long as a youth officer is present, and the child is made aware of his rights.
Tags: accountability; murder; drug territory; parole; probation officer; testimony; sentencing
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Locking up criminals locks in rising costs
The paper examined the state's philosophy on being tough on crime but in a time of economic downturn, it may be better to increase the use of less costly probation for nonviolent offenders.
Tags: incarceration; drug problem; sentencing; imprisonment rate; computer-assisted analysis; treatment;
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Question of Justice
A senior probation and parole officer obtained for her son a sentence of five and a half months of drug rehabilitation instead of the 20-years-to-life sentence standard for the Class A Felony he committed.
Tags: Probation; parole; meth; methamphetamine; stolen weapons; Class A Felony; parole officers
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Crackpot Crackdown
Police and the DA in Jackson County, Texas, ran a series of drug busts for minor infractions. All of the suspects were African-Americans and were intimidated into pleading guilty rather than face much harsher sentences. The entire sting operation was based on the testimony of a single confidential police informant. Civil rights lawyers are now involved in trying to remedy some of the most flagrant miscarriages of justice.
Tags: Minorities; selective prosecution; racism; drug arrests; racial profiling
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Guess Who's Not Going to Jail
The Austin Chronicle uncovers shocking disparity in how whites and blacks are treated and prosecuted for their crimes in Williamson County. This observation is reinforced by the cases of drug dealers: two white men found with more than 200 grams of meth were fined and sent to prison for less than 6 months, while several blacks in possession of less than 45 grams of crack were sentenced to 15 months to life.
Tags: jail; prison; white; black; race; racism; plea bargain; crime; sentence; FOIA; drug; methamphetamine; crack; NAACP
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Where Hope is Locked Away: California's Youth Prisons. A Mercury News Special Report.
This series examines California's failing youth prison system. The state pledged that all youth would receive counseling and rehabilitative treatment, but it seems like the system is too flawed to keep those promises. Now, tear gas, gang violence, and fear are much more common than progress. The reporters specifically focused on five issues: education, treatment, sentencing, parole and alternatives. They compare the California system to better ones in Texas and Missouri.
Tags: Youth Authority; juvenile delinquents; abuse; sex offenders; therapy; mental health; rehabilitation; drugs
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Behind the Prop
California's Proposition 36 aims to help drug offenders out of prison, saving the taxpayers millions. But as Stephen James uncovers, the goal of this plan isn't necessarily fulfilled. Proposition 36, also known as the Substance Abues and Crime Prevention Act of 2000 (SACPA), received great praise from its sponsor, the Drug Policy Alliance, who said that the plan would save California taxpayers $1.5 billion over five years. But James discovers that the law just may be a very expensive failure. SACPA allows for criminal offenders convicted of nonviolent drug possession to be sentenced to drug teatment instead of probation without treatment or jail time. James found that only about 10 percent of SACPA defendants actually complete the entire program.
Tags: Proposition 36; drug offenders; incarceration costs; inmate drug treatment; SACPA; Substance Abuses and Crime Prevention Act of 2000