The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. Add to that more than 3,000 tipsheets from our national conferences on how to cover specific beats or do specific stories and you have a resource that no reporter or editor should be without. These stories and tipsheets 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. Logged-in members can view the tipsheets free online:
Search results for "criminal court" ...
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(More than 5) Databases for criminal justice reporting
Roberts discusses the "data-rich" nature of the criminal justice beat, identifying several key databases for reporters. Examples include 911 response data, jail bookings, jury selection transcripts, National Corrections Reporting program and many more
Tags: crime; arrest; jail; courts; police; criminal justice; violent offenders; sexual offenders; prison; inmates; judicial reporting; NACJD; NCRP; jury; juries; court docket
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Investigative Business Journalism
Cohn's detailed tipsheet discusses investigative tips and techniques for covering foundations, nonprofits and charities with examples of the types of documents and resources critical to this type of reporting - from 990s to human sources. Part 2 of the tipsheet explores investigations of private companies.
Tags: nonprofit; charity; foundation; private business; Internal Revenue Service; IRS; Form 990; 990s; consolidated financial statements; civil court; criminal court; federal agencies; FOIA
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Backgrounding People and Businesses on the Web
Dowdell provides a helpful framework for all your backgrounding needs. Starting with a strategy and some basic questions, she provides suggested helpful links for finding information on people and businesses on the web.
Tags: backgrounding; background check; business; property records; court records; public records; criminal background check; campaign contributions; politicians; articles of incorporation; business license; professional license
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Criminal Justice: The Flaws of Forensic Science
Kent, from the Maryland Public Defenders Office, lists the problems with forensic science and the unreliability of DNA evidence.
Tags: DNA evidence; nuclear analysis; fingerprinting; forensic science; court; trial;
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Immigration Consequences of Criminal Conviction
This tipsheet offers "a brief overview of parts of immigration laws which are relevant to attorneys defending non-citizens against criminal charges."
Tags: immigration; law; government; justice; attorneys; courts; deportation
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The Keys to the Courthouse
The author offers tips for developing the cops and courts beat. He suggests spending a lot of time at the court house and getting to know key players, like judges, baliffs, and law clerks. Burstein also discusses documents like search warrants and probable cause affidavits which are stored at the court house and could lead to good stoy ideas. Finally, the tipsheet includes some story ideas that go beyond the criminal trials one expects from a courts reporter.
Tags: courts; beat reporting; crime; justice system; criminal justice; story ideas
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Watchdogging the Authorities
The authors provide tips for monitoring often overlooked aspects of the criminal justice system, such as evidence management, appellate rights, and youth prisons.
Tags: law enforcement; crime and courts; prison; state government; local government
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Data for Criminal Justice Stories
Roberts discusses where to find data for every stage of the criminal justice system. She begins with sources for incident-level and arrest data, such as jail bookings and blood-alcohol test results. Roberts then discusses where to find data about courts and sentencing; she includes sources like PACER, state criminal justice statistics centers and the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data. The tipsheet ends with sources for data about imprisonment and probation, such as the National Corrections Reporting Program.
Tags: state government; court data; justice statistics; online research; state and national statistics; crime; criminals
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Investigating forensics
Mejia comprehensively explains crime lab investigations. She suggests what questions to start with, what types of tests to examine, online resources, sources to interview, and documents to find.
Tags: crime labs; law enforcement; forensics; science; criminal justice system; courts; FBI; police