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 "judge corruption" ...
-
Judge Sylvia James: Access Denied, Chief Judge Under fire
This series examines a chief judge who appears to be using her power and position to do as she pleases. WXYZ used FOIA extensively in their investigation which lead the city to put her on administrative leave as well as leading to inquiries and audits from the State Court Administrator, the Judicial Tenure Commission and a formal complaint containing 192 specific allegations.
Tags: judges; corruption; broadcast
-
Probate Court: A Troubled System
The investigation exposed a corrupt system within Arizona's probate courts that permitted lawyers and for-profit fiduciary businesses to take advantage of the welfare of vulnerable adults. The Arizona Republic found that in many cases, lawyers appointed to protect the welfare of incapacitated adults were actually paying themselves enormous fees out of their assets of these individuals. Judges, state regulators, and social service agencies violated court orders, disregarded procedure, and failed to keep this from happening.
Tags: probate courts; legal system; court corruption; elderly; welfare
-
Juvenile Justice
“A massive conspiracy had corrupted the juvenile system of one Pennsylvania County”. Two judges, who are to use their power for good were using it to make money. They were working together to send teen offenders to prisons, even for their first minor offenses. These judges were making money from a private jail owners for every teen sent to prison.
Tags: Mark Ciavarella; courtroom; court; legal system; Michael Conahan; detention center; law enforcement
-
Above the Law
"Despite that no one wanted this information revealed, our stories document a disturbing pattern of abuse of power, ethical misconduct and corruption by the Chief Federal Judge of the U.S. District Court of Colorado."
Tags: witness tampering; perjury; U.S. district court; Colorado; judge; abuse of power; corruption; misconduct; ethics; FOIA
-
The Mysterious Death of Janie Ward
This hour-long report is a result of a five-year investigation into the death of a 16-year-old girl 20 years ago in a small town in the Ozarks. It's about two daughters -- one wealthy and popular (a cheerleader and beauty queen); the other poor and self-conscious. It's about two fathers -- one a powerful judge who allegedly shielded his daughter from the law he's sworn to uphold; the other a bail bondsman who is trying to avenge his daughter's death. And it's about one family's fight for justice against what they believe is a corrupt judicial system that closed ranks around the powerful judge to cover-up a murder. When 16-year-old Jamie Ward fell off a 9-inch porch in the woods near Marshall, Ark., on September 9, 1989, her parents refused to blieve that the fall had killed their healthy teenager. Instead, they began to suspect to suspect she was murdered by the judge's daughter. After years of demanding an investigation into her death, an independent medical examiner associated with Parents for Murdered Children exhumed Janie's body a second time for an extremely rare third autopsy. Because the case was 20 years old, most of the files were not digital; rather, the investigation focused on old-fashioned reporting: finding and interviewing eyewitnesses (all of whom had not been reinterviewed since the original investigation); analyzing inconsistencies in the witness statements, double-checking the forensics with independent experts.
Tags: autopsy; unsolved death; forensic science; criminal justice system; reopened cases; Arkansas
-
Victory and Ruins
The series revealed how a community's blink embrace of a successful team compromised judges, prosecutors, police agencies, a university and the media. The University of Washington's 2000 team was its last to go to the Rose Bowl, but at least two dozen players on that team were arrested while at UW.
Tags: athlete; football; scholarship; corruption; FERPA; higher education; lawsuit; sports; National Football League
-
Conflicted Justice
The series found "major problems with a little-known but significant aspect of indigent defense in Nevada. When two or more indigent defendants are charge in the same case, each defendant's testimony might implicate another. To avoid conflicts of interest that would occur if co-defendants were represented by a county public defender, that office represents only one, and private lawyers are hired by judges to represent the rest. Alan Maimon's reporting revealed that some conflict attorneys claimed to work more than 24 hours in a single day. Some spent excessive time on certain cases that paid a higher hourly rate, and tended to hastily offer guilty pleas on cases that did not pay as well."
Tags: courts; legal; justice; conflict attorneys; criminal defense; court corruption; lawyers; civil defense
-
Hidden Dockets/ Secret Cases
In Florida hundreds of state cases have been hidden from the public for decades. "These cases included the divorces of politicians, judges, lawyers and businessmen, and the criminal cases of informants. Judges failed to obey public access law when sealing off those cases. In Miami, judges and prosecutors Miami also falsified public criminal court records, violating a state criminal statute and covering up evidence of embarrassing public corruption and an unsolved murder."
Tags: court; criminal cases; divorce; judges; murder; public access law; sealed cases; Miami; Florida
-
Salon.com Bush Series
This story is a duplicate. Go to 23221 for the actual file.
Tags: Judge James H. Payne; Judge Terrence Boyle; U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Judges; George W. Bush; presidential malfeasance; corruption; buying Judges
-
Tainted Trials, Stolen Justice
Reporter Fred Tulsky conducted an in-depth analysis of the justice system in Santa Clara County. His findings highlighted the inconsistencies, failures and corruption that led to the incarceration of several innocent people.
Tags: justice; corruption; criminal justice; courts; jury trials; prosecution; defense; judges; Santa Clara County; CAR; evidence; incarceration; innocence