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 "mandatory sentencing" ...
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A Life Sentence
The Post-Dispatch looked at prisoners in Missouri and Illinois who had been paroled in the last decade after originally receiving long prison terms -- some in excess of 100 years. Many of those were sentenced before laws imposing mandatory minimum prison terms, and the luckiest served a small fraction of their sentences. No one in Missouri did more than 36 years, including those who were sentenced to multiple, consecutive life terms.
Tags: law enforcment; parole; jail; inmates; judicial system; courts; Missouri Board of Probation and Parole; prisoners
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Zone Defense: Drug - free school zones were supposed to keep dealers away from kids. But what happens when the zones engulf whole cities?
Many drug dealers are caught selling narcotics within "drug - free school zones". The size of these zones varies from state to state and most dealers caught within them are unaware of the consequences. The penalties for dealing within the zone is much stiffer; dealers who don't have any interaction with school children at all are still subject to punishment. Furthermore, the zones don't even deter people from dealing in those areas.
Tags: mandatory minimum sentences; Comprehensive Crime Control Act; adolescent drug use
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Young lawyer, noble quest
The National Law Journal reports on mandatory minimums and clemency, focusing on the case of Serena Nunn, who "had been sentenced to 14 years for a relatively minor role in a drug conspiracy."
Tags: sentencing; mandatory minimums; law students; parole; drug sentencing; Serena Nunn; Sam Sheldon; Judge David Doty; U.S. pardon attorney; President Clinton; clemency
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Justice in Black, White, & Shades of Gray
In central Florida, African-Americans get longer mandatory minimum prison terms than whites accused of the same firearms crimes. The story came about thanks to a black defendant who complained that his race influenced his sentencing in a firearms case. After obtaining the appropriate database from the state attorney's office, Pipitone found this claim to be true as well as other implications of racial discrimination.
Tags: race; criminal justice; crime; courts; sentencing; judges; minimum sentencing; prison; corrections; attorney; lawyer; public attorney; racial discrimination; firearms; guns; tape; transcript
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Strike Zone
"The San Diego District Attorney's office takes a tough line on the toughest three-strikes law in the nation. Can the 'bold experiment' work?" The three-strikes law poses a mandatory sentence of 25 years-to-life after a person has committed a third offense. While it has gotten some harden criminals off the streets, it has also greatly punished people for nonserious, nonviolent crimes. Both prosecutors and defense attorneys say the implementation of this law has good and bad effects. Susan Freinkel reports on these issues.
Tags: prison; Department of Corrections; crime; lawyers; punishment; judges; stealing
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America's Shadow Drug War
In this group of stories Time examines the effectiveness of America's "war on drugs" at home and in South America. Ramo investigates the shoot-down of an unarmed American missionary plane over Peru by American and Peruvian anti-drug forces. American anti-drug spending is about $1.9 billion a year and government officials are still convinced that air surveillance and crop eradication methods will work in South America. In the second story Ripley profiles the American missionary, Vernoica Bowers, who was killed along with her seven-month-old daughter when their plane was shot down by Peruvian anti-drug forces. The last piece, written by Margot Roosevelt, looks at America's stance on drug offenders and mandatory drug sentencing in relation with the second Bush Administration. The story finds that many states are finding treatment alternatives for drug offenders instead of locking them up. The piece contains a follow-up story by Davis on the cycle of addiction that many drug users face.
Tags: Drugs; law enforcement; politics
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Busted Justice: Drugs, the Law and Bristol County
"The series looked at how defendants arrested by New Bedford Police and charged with drug crimes fared in New Bedford District and Superior Courts." The reporter found that a congested court system was leading to a "50-50 chance of conviction, and once convicted, a less than 50 percent chance of going to jail." The reporter documented 600 cases of drug-related arrests in New Bedford in 1999.
Tags: FOI (state law); mandatory drug sentences; herion; Justice Department crime reporters; sentencing; plea bargain
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Free at Last! Free at Last!
Glamour tells the story of Amy Ralston Pofahl, the former wife of a drug kingpin. Ralston (she no longer goes by her married name) found out her ex-husband, Sandy Pofahl, was the mastermind of a syndicate that made and distributed Ecstasy when he was arrested in 1989. Even though they had been separated for a year, Ralston agreed to help Pofahl make bail by recovering some of his drug profits at various, secret locations. Ralston had no idea this was illegal. During the trial, Pofahl implicated Ralston into the syndicate. She ended up receiving a sentence of 24-years in jail, while he only got one of four years. Glamour profiled Ralston in the June 1999 issue. President Clinton heard of her story and granted her clemency. This article tells the story of what happened to Ralston following her release from jail.
Tags: Amy Ralston Pofahl; President Bill Clinton; Sandy Pofahl; jail; prison; Ecstasy; drug laws; mandatory sentencing
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Impaired Judgment
KOAT's investigation found New Mexico magistrate judges who were failing to sentence drunken drivers to mandatory jail time, improperly crediting offenders for jail time they had not served, and then illegally attempting to purge the DWI convictions from driving records. Because DWI penalties are progressive, doing so would have adverse effects should the offender be charged again.
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Justice Denied
Kemba Smith got involved romantically with a drug dealer while she was a student at Hampton University. She worked for him as a "mule," a low-level operative who does support work for a drug dealer. When the dealer was arrested, Kemba was indicted as a co-conspirator. She is now serving a 24 1/2 year sentence with no chance for parole. The story looks at the wisdom of warehousing thousands of young Americans--many of them black and female--through mandatory drug sentences for nonviolent offenders.
Tags: None