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 "pretrial" ...
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Prisoners Dilemma: How NYC's Bail System Puts Justice on Hold
This story detailed how the imposition of financial bail in relatively minor criminal cases results in the pretrial detention of thousands of mostly poor, largely black or Hispanic New Yorkers every year. It explored every aspect of the process in which bail is set from arrest to arraignment to jail, looking at the role of police, prosecutors, judges, bail bond agents and other players. The piece documented deviations between the reality of bail and its statutory purpose and charted the impact of bail and detention on individual lives and the justice system, as well as dissecting some possible reforms to the system.
Tags: jail; criminals; justice system; trial; court; racism; crime; law; law enforcement
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The Forgotten Floor
The Miami-Dade Pre-Trial Detention Center has hundreds of inmates that are being kept in conditions that violate state law. Inmates suffering from mental illness are kept in overcrowded, freezing plexiglass sealed cells along with other unimaginable conditions.
Tags: prison; jail; mentally ill; insane; condition; miaim-dade; detention center; inmate; criminal
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Harsh Medicine
In New York ,Prison Health,Inc., was the health care provider for pre-trial detainees and troubled youths at Rikers Island and inside the city Juvenile Justice Department. It is also the largest company responsible for medical and mental health care in American jails. However, Prison Health was operating illegally in New York and also was responsible for multiple deaths due to its providing of inadequate medical or mental heath care.
Tags: health care; prisons; mental health care; medical health care; Prison Health,Inc.
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Pretrial Release: Has the system gone awry?
The Herald-Tribune uses a computer analysis to reveal "laws on pretrial release are ripe for abuse." A defendant awaiting trial can be "Released on Recognizance" (ROR) under Florida law -- allowed to remain free without having to post any type of bond. But an analysis of 2,430 people granted ROR in Sarasota County over a period of one year found nearly 200 people were released without bail "were arrested on new charges and given ROR again," that hundreds were granted ROR despite "a history of serious crimes or of failing to appear for trial," and that "some judges routinely bend the rules when it comes to releasing longtime or violent crooks." The investigation also revealed that "blacks stand a much worse chance of being granted ROR because the conditions are skewed in favor of middle-class whites."
Tags: bail; release; release on recognizance; judges; pretrial; arraignment; prosecution; defendant; ROR; computer-assisted reporting; CAR
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No title (id: 13051)
New Times tells the story of Xavier Lance Skillman and of the 16 - year - old deaf girl who claims he sexually assaulted and kidnapped her. Public records and numerous interviewd conducted by New Times reveal that Prosecutor John Beatty was woefully unprepared to make the case against Skillman. (Jan. 12 - 18, 1995)
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No title (id: 10617)
WCNC-TV found that a county pre-trial release program was allowing people charged with serious crimes to get out of jail before their trials and without having to post bond. The program was originally designed to release only those inmates who were indigent and were facing minor charges. The story resulted in new commissioners scaling back the program, Apr. 29, June 6, and Dec. 19, 1994.
Tags: NC Gallek County Commissioners Prison Crime Suspects Tape Script
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No title (id: 1243)
Valley Advocate (Springfield, Mass.) reexamines a murder trial three and a half years later and discovers pre-trial bias and witnesses who say the accused was nowhere near the murder, May 29, 1985.
Tags: None
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No title (id: 1101)
Sacramento Bee details problems inside the county's maximum-security, pre-trial jail; finds it is overcrowded, and undertrained deputies use excessive force on inmates, Nov. 10 - 11, 1985.
Tags: CA