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 "judicial elections" ...
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Missing from the Bench
WVUE tracked a local judge who was living hundreds of miles from her judicial bench. The series helped prompt a Federal Grand Jury investigation.
Tags: judge; judicial system; court; justice; elected official;
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Judges Under the Influence
The Charlotte Observer found that prominent defense lawyers in three coastal North Carolina counties helped judges get appointed and elected; and rarely lost when they took DWI cases to trial before them.
Tags: Driving while intoxicated; judicial appointment; defense attorneys; lawyers; Department of Human Services; John Nobles; Judicial Standards Commission; buying Judges
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The Governor and His Judges
The Rio Grande Sun investigated the puzzling appointment of their new county judge: Arizona Gov. Bill Richardson appointed Thomas Rodella to the bench despite reports that Rodella had fixed tickets for people during his time as a state police officer in order to get votes and backing for his wife's bid for state office. After the Sun published their expose, the judge was forced to resign.
Tags: politics; state government; Arizona State Police; election campaigns; judicial appointments
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The Battle Over the Courts: How politics, ideology, and special interests are compromising the U.S. justice system
Beginning with the Warren Supreme Court, this article "examined how various interest groups used the courts as a new means to achieve political ends. The movement began with civil rights groups in the 1950s. In recent years, other organizations, especially business and consumer groups, have joined the fray, treating judicial elections like any other political election as a means of installing judges sympathetic to a cause. The result has been a political free-for-all over the courts, a development that is eroding the judicial branch's independence and neutrality."
Tags: checks and balances; politics; federal court
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The price of your honor
An analysis of contested superior court races from 1996 to 2002 showed that although some spending has increased, about half the winners spent less than $75,000. The results buck conventional wisdom that campaign costs for such elections have skyrocketed, though the analysis did reveal a growing group of candidates who spent more than $200,000 on their campaigns.
Tags: campaign finance; judicial elections; California courts
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Karl Rove in a Corner
This story, written shortly before the 2004 presidential election, is an in-depth look at Bush campaign strategist Karl Rove. It examines his early successes, including a very close judicial race in Alabama, and notes patterns in the way he runs campaigns. That article shows how his experiences working in Texas affected the rest of his career. The purpose of the article was to "try and give Atlantic readers a deeper insight into arguably the most important political strategist in a generation..."
Tags: political campaigns; George Bush; Federal Election Commission; Perry O. Hooper
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Queens County judgeships: No Republicans need apply
This series looked at the election process for state and city judges in Queens. After two months of investigation, the reporters found that the Queens County Democratic Organization and its chairman, are in firm control of who makes it to the bench in the borough's state and city courts. The Democrats have an unbroken record of winning judicial elections, going back to at least 1990. The investigation also found the chairman of the Queens County Democratic Organization, also a lawyer, can gain lucrative appointments and contracts from their friends on the bench.
Tags: Queens County Democratic Organization; judicial elections; election process; state judges; city judges; bribery; Brooklyn judiciary; Brooklyn Democratic party; election records; campaign finance; Queens County Bar Association; Association of the Bar of the City of New York; Queens County; Queens State Supreme Court; Office of Court Administration; New York City Civil Court; Commission to Promote Public Confidence in Judicial Elections; judgeship; Queens Treatment Court; Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Queens County Republican Party; Commission on Judicial Conduct
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Some donors get new posts
The investigation found that people who contributed to Gov. Jeb Bush's campaign and major donors to the Republican Party of Florida were far more likely to get plum appointments to the state's powerful boards and commissions during the Bush tenure than those who contributed t the Florida Democratic Party of Bush's opponents.
Tags: Governor Jeb Bush; Republican Party of Florida; Florida Democratic Party; appointees; elected officials; Commission on Ethics; Division of Elections; Common Cause of Florida; Florida Prepaid College Board; Judicial Qualifications Commission; Land Acquisition and Facilities Advisory Board; Miami-Dade County School Board District; Governor's Mansion Foundation; Overseas Private Investment Corporation; Prison Rehabilitative Industries; Diversified Enterprises Board
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The Honor System
Three-part investigation into the Broward County judicial system. "Judges are supposed to be elected by the voters," the article begins. "But politics and a system that gives incumbents life and death power over potential challengers help to shut out the people." While the Florida constitution demands judges be elected, more than half of Broward's 65 judges "first were appointed to their jobs." And when elections did take place, "judges up for reelection ran unopposed 129 out of 138 times" over the last 10 years. More troubling, it seems nobody is keeping an eye on them. The committee assigned to oversee Broward judges has only filed 14 complaints since 1970 (e.g. one judge drew a pistol in a crowded courtroom). Says one defense attorney: "Where else do you find a job like this? Nowhere. They're untouchable, and it's frightening." The series investigates who the judges are, where their campaign financing comes from, and who is influential in picking them. Issues of diversity (or lack of it) on the bench are also discussed. Short profiles on each judge and each member of the nominating committee are included. Also included is a list of campaign contributions from lawyers.
Tags: judge; judicial; broward; judicial oversight; judicial appointment; south florida; lawyers; campaign contributions; courtroom; election
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BENCH: Trial judges often keep their seats without facing election. So when a Florida lawyer challenged an incumbent, he rocked the de facto merit selection system.
In Manatee County, Florida (a town near Tampa Bay), the judicial system has come under fire. According to the article, "Until recently, a judge hadn't been knocked off the bench in an election for 30 years." The article describes how difficult it is for a lawyer to compete for a bench position that's already occupied.
Tags: Manatee County; Florida; trial judges; Tampa Bay; lawyers; law; judges; bench; Matthew McMillan; Matthew E. McMillian; Sarasota County; Desoto County; scandal; election; de facto merit selection system; incumbent