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 "first amendment" ...
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Criminalizing Cartoons
The investigation exposes a police chief's desperate attempt to acquire the name of an anonymous cartoonist, mocking his department on the Internet. A person going by the moniker MrFiddlesticks (and other names) was airing internal affairs dirty laundry in the form of parody. To find out who, the city prosecutor, police chief and a local judge teamed up to craft a criminal search warrant. KIRO-TV's investigative unit not only uncovered questionable legal tactics (like prosecutor shopping), but later caught police shredding hundreds of records related the case. First Amendment and FOIA issues are central to this ongoing investigation.
Tags: cartoonist; search warrant; shredding
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"Under Attack, Credit Raters Turn to the First Amendment"
Credit rating agencies claim they are protected by the First Amendment right of free speech and therefore cannot be held accountable for their mistakes. Huffington Post Investigative Fund reporters looked deeply into credit raters' claims and found a "potential crack" in their argument.
Tags: free speech; credit rating agency; SEC; Charles E. Schumer; Christopher Cox
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Head on a Skewer
This story described the behind-the-scenes machinations by powerful law enforcement authorities in Maricopa County, Ariz. to secure a criminal indictment against a reporter (and a newspaper) for allegedly violating an arcane law. Mining newly released documents and other sources, the writer uncovered previously unknown information about this unprecedented and novel attack on the First Amendment.
Tags: First Amendment rights; Arizona; Joe Arpaio; , Phoenix New Times; first amendment law
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Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America's Soul
Monkey Girl is an investigative book based on the federal court case Kitzmiller v. Dover, a modern version of the Scopes Monkey Trial. The book examines what to teach children in the classroom when it comes down to evolution and intelligent design. The First Amendment lawsuit against the local Pennsylvania school board had the potential to change school practices nationwide, bringing up the question of whether intelligent design is a scientific or religious idea.
Tags: God; creationism; Darwin;
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Target Practice
A grand jury subpoena requested that all of the Phoenix New Times' notes, tapes, stories and other material regarding Sheriff Joe Arpaio since January 1, 2004 be seized. The prosecutor even demanded names of any person who visited the newspaper's website since 2004 as well. This series tells the story of the New Times' struggle against over-reaching public officials, as well as a larger story about diminishing rights to privacy and freedom of expression.
Tags: Andrew Thomas; Dennis Wilenchik; freedom of speech; courts; city government; state government; law enforcement; internet; First Amendment
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South Dakotans No. 1 in permits to conceal guns
"The story was the culmination of a major First Amendment project that involved the collection of more than 41,000 state-issued permits to carry concealed weapons. Analysis showed that South Dakota had issued more concealed weapons permits per capita than any state."
Tags: guns; concealed weapon permit; fire arms
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Outsourcing Justice? That's Obscene
"The Bush administration has contracted with a Christian right organization, Morality in Media, to receive citizens' complaints about online obscenity. Since the early 1960s, Morality in Media has opposed pornography of all types, including constitutionally protected material. The Justice Department, duty-bound to uphold the Constitution, is thus allying itself with an organization that holds much of today's First Amendment law in contempt."
Tags: justice; freedom of speech; obscenity; religion; separation of church and state; internet
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Charity Investigation
This story reports about charities that hide behind the supreme court rulings that gives certain privileges to charities under the First Amendment ruling. This report looks at how some people set up worthy sounding charities to only to make some money.It showcases the working of some unscrupulous charity organizations.
Tags: Charities; First Amendment; charity filings; FOIA; State and Federal Prosecutors; Institute of American Philanthropy
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Access Denied
The Trib sets out to test how government employees around the state were handling public records request made by citizens. They discover that bureaucrats have largely rendered meaningless, one of the strongest public record laws in the nation. Forty-three percent of the agencies audited violated the records law in some way. Also, public employees tried to force reporters, who were posing as citizens, to reveal personal information or explain why they wanted the records.
Tags: Chris Davis; Matt Doig; First Amendment Foundation; FAF; Florida Press Association; Bob Ford; Welaka; Mayor Gordon Sands
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Sometimes, Settling is the Best Policy: Districts Often Decide Not to Fight Lawsuits
Palm Beach High School student Peter Riera wore a Cuban-flag necklace to school but the school district said he couldn't wear the necklace because they viewed it as a gang symbol.
Tags: Palm Beach High School; Peter Riera; Cuban; freedom of speech; first amendment; high school; free expression in the classroom; education