Resource Center

Stories

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 "heath" ...

  • Locked up

    A USA TODAY investigation found that the U.S. Justice Department was using its legal authority to decide who gets locked up for how long in ways that reward the guilty and punish the innocent. Our examination found that government lawyers were trying to keep dozens of men who they conceded were “legally innocent” imprisoned anyway. We found that the Justice Department had kept accused sexual predators locked up for years past the end of their prison sentences on the basis of faulty psychological assessments. And exposed a brazen pay-to-snitch enterprise that illustrated how the government rewards its informants — often hardened criminals — with shorter prison sentences.

    Tags: U.S. Justice Department; lawyers; sexual predators; criminals; prison sentences

    By Brad Heath

    USA Today

    2012

  • Guns in America & The ATF's "Fast and Furious" Experiment

    The year-long investigation exposed myriad lapses and loopholes in the nation's gun laws and regulations that have fueled the drug

    Tags: guns; NRA; ATF; National Instant Criminal Background Check System

    By Rick Schmitt; John Solomon; David Heath; Gordon Witkin, Corbin Hiar; Emma Schwartz

    Center for Public Integrity

    2011

  • Guns in America & The ATF's "Fast and Furious" Experiment

    The year-long investigation exposed myriad lapses and loopholes in the nation's gun laws and regulations that have fueled the drug

    Tags: guns; NRA; ATF; National Instant Criminal Background Check System

    By Rick Schmitt; John Solomon; David Heath; Gordon Witkin, Corbin Hiar; Emma Schwartz

    Center for Public Integrity

    2011

  • Debt Deception?

    Although the financial crisis exposed the perils of predatory lending, some of the worst practices continue to elude regulators. The Center for Public Integrity's "Debt Deception" series takes a penetrating look at some of the most egregious lending practices afflicting consumers today.

    Tags: financial crisis; debt; deception; lending practices

    By David Heath, Michael Hudson, Benjamin Hallman, Laura Strickler

    The Center For Public Integrity

    2011

  • Pay Day Lenders Skirt Law

    The story revealed how a high end race car driver who is also a convicted felon is partnering with an Indian tribe to run a multi-million dollar payday loan business. By partnering with the tribe the lenders do not have to follow any state laws. The lender is currently under multiple investigations by attorneys general.

    Tags: payday loan; Better Business Bureau; property tax records

    By Armen Keteyian; Laura Strickler; David Heath; Keith Summa; Patricia Shevlin; Scott Pelley

    CBS News

    2011

  • Justice in the Balance

    The investigation documents the occurrences of federal prosecutors violating the law to win cases while the Justice Department looks the other way. Rarely are the prosecutors punished, and often times their abuses set guilty people free and put innocent people in jail.

    Tags: Justice Department; prosecutor; federal prosecutor; violation; federal court

    By Brad Heath; Kevin McCoy

    USA Today (McLean, Va.)

    2010

  • "Justice in the Balance"

    USA Today started investigating the topic of potentially corrupt federal prosecutors after the case against Sen. Ted Stevens was dropped. Reporters looked at "tens of thousands"of "routine cases" that were filed in federal court to locate any mishandling of the proceedings. The outcome was startling. Federal prosecutors have "violated the law to win convictions," setting guilty people free and landing "innocent people in jail."

    Tags: Ted Stevens; prosecutors; U.S. Justice Department; Nino Lyons; Lexis; PACER; database; FOIA

    By Kevin McCoy; Brad Heath

    USA Today (McLean, Va.)

    2010

  • "Inside the Collapse"

    Kerry Killinger, former CEO of Washington Mutual, refused to take blame for the bank's collapse. Instead, he cited the faltering housing market and "credit crisis." An investigation by The Seattle Times reveals Killinger and his employees used "reckless" and "predatory practices," like encouraging high-risk loans, to increase the bank's profits. The greed-fueled decisions eventually led to the bank's collapse.

    Tags: WaMu; Kerry Killinger; Lehman Brothers; Washington Mutual; Countrywide Financial

    By David Heath; Drew DeSilver

    Seattle Times

    2009

  • Under the Radar

    Every year the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been given a grant, which then will be distributed to airports. The question is where does this money come from and how is it spent? The answer to the first half is the commercial-airline passengers, who pay the ticket taxes which in turn becomes the grant. The second part of the question is answered by not the improvement of airline travel, but rather the private pilots who fly corporate and recreational planes.

    Tags: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); Federal fund; grants; airports; planes; airlines; commercial-airline; passengers; ticket taxes; pilots; private airplanes; flights

    By Thomas Frank; Brad Heath

    USA Today (McLean, Va.)

    2009

  • "At Top Subprime Mortgage Lender, Policies Were Invitation to Fraud

    Amid a nationwide lending crisis, reporters found policies at Long Beach Mortgage "encouraged rampant fraud." Company policies made it easy for employees to submit "fake documents" and override "bad loans." Loan reviewers were often bribed with money or expensive items to approve bad loans.

    Tags: Long Beach Mortgage; investment; banking; lending; Wall Street

    By David Heath; Christine MacDonald; Amanda Zamora; Lagan Sebert

    Huffington Post Investigative Fund

    2009