If you fill out the "Forgot Password" form but don't get an email to reset your password within 5-10 minutes, please email logistics@ire.org for assistance.
Jeff Raymond of The Brownsville Herald examined five years of code enforcement violations — more than 11,000 records overall — to determine the number of cases municipal judges and prosecutors were dismissing and why. The investigation found a disproportionate number of animal-related violations but few cases involving junked homes, rusted appliances in front yards and other appearance-related infractions. "Municipal court reported 648 trials out of 380,615 cases filed from January 2000 through February 2006. More than 400 of the cases that went to trial were for non-parking traffic misdemeanors. One hundred thirty-six involved city ordinances."
Dan Laidman and Jason Kandel of the Los Angeles Daily News used records from the City Attorney's Office to show that, despite a decade of efforts to end harassment and discrimination within the Los Angeles Fire Department, the agency still faces frequent costly lawsuits. The number has ebbed and flowed over the years, but rose sharply from three in 2002-03 to 13 in 2004-05. "While many cases are pending, liability payouts have already topped $1 million in the past five fiscal years. The Supreme Court has refused to hear the city's appeal in another Fire Department labor case that could leave Los Angeles on the hook for more than $2 million. " Late last month, a heterosexual male firefighter filed a claim against the department alleging sexual harassment and discrimination. Between 2003 and 2005, the claim says, the 20-year veteran was abused by a supervisor who made sexually suggestive gestures and inappropriate remarks about the firefighter's wife, and threatened to fire him if he complained.
A team or reporters and editors with the Gannett New Jersey newspapers and Gannett News Service examine loopholes in Megan's Law in a three-part series. The investigation found that New Jersey's law stands as one of the weakest in the nation in immediately warning residents when an offender moves into their neighborhood. "In New Jersey, it can take prosecutors and judges months to notify people if a notorious rapist has moved next door — if they warn you at all. " Monmouth and Ocean counties were home to 1,220 registered sex offenders in January, according to State Police information. The names and addresses of just 253 were posted on the state's Megan's Law Web site; most of the rest are known only to law enforcement. Because of the growing number of residency restrictions, an unknown number of sex offenders may be forced from their homes this year, thus making them shift from inner-city enclaves to suburban neighborhoods. The team who worked on this project includes James W. Prado Roberts, Robert Benincasa, Michelle Sahn, Alan Guenther, Abbott Koloff, Arielle Levin Becker, Ledyard King, Paul D'Ambrosio and Laura Rehrmann.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press' quarterly magazine, The News Media & the Law, reports "more than 450 cases in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., were completely hidden from the public through the use of a hidden docketing system that two federal appeals courts have declared unconstitutional." The report, written by Reporters Committee Journalism Fellow Kirsten B. Mitchell and Legal Fellow Susan Burgess, includes a chart, a how-they-did-it sidebar and a glimpse into secret docketing in a Florida case.
Ken Armstrong, Justin Mayo and Steve Miletich of The Seattle Times used court records to show that since 1990, at least 420 civil suits have been sealed in King County, Wa. "These sealed records hold secrets of potential dangers in our medicine cabinets and refrigerators; of molesters in our day-care centers, schools and churches; of unethical lawyers, negligent doctors, dangerous dentists; of missteps by local and state agencies; of misconduct by publicly traded companies into which people sink their savings." The investigation found that at least 97 percent of the judges' sealing orders disregard rules set down by the Washington Supreme Court in the 1980s. Judges and commissioners have sealed at least 46 cases where a public institution is a party, 58 cases where a fellow lawyer is a party, usually as a defendant and sealed cases where the person being sued was a licensed professional — for example, a doctor, psychologist or counselor — who was subsequently disciplined by the state. The package includes a sidebar about how they did the reporting and the CAR techniques used.
Miles Moffeit and Kevin Simpson of The Denver Post found Colorado has one of the harshest systems in the country for handling juveniles in the adult criminal justice system, in a four-part series looking at teen crimes. Prosecutors, wielding broad discretionary powers found in only 14 other states, convicted kids in 1,244 cases since 1998. "Lawmakers equipped prosecutors to put increasing numbers of teens on a path to prison while slashing juvenile programs geared toward rehabilitation." The investigation found that between 2001 and 2005, funding for state juvenile justice programs was cut by nearly $30 million. The paper's reporting restarted an investigation into a murder allegedly committed by a 14-year-old boy.
Ken Kobayashi and Jim Dooley of The Honolulu Advertiser used traffic records to show that O'ahu, Hawaii, has an estimated backlog of 61,500 bench warrants, costing the state a potential $20 million in unpaid fines and fees and allowing defendants to avoid charges as routine as running a red light and serious as negligent homicide. The three-part series found that poor coordination among law enforcement agencies and the courts results in long delays in processing warrants, missed opportunities to serve the orders and, in some cases, failure to capture fugitives. "The state sheriff's department — the agency tasked with serving more than 80 percent of O'ahu's 61,500 unserved warrants — has only 12 full-time officers dedicated to serving warrants." A practice not widely known even in the legal community allows law enforcement officials to turn down extradition of felony defendants who have left the state, largely because it is costly to return them. About 250 charged with felonies dating to the 1980s have escaped prosecution by leaving the Islands, the newspaper found.
Rich Cholodofsky of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review analyzed applications for pardons dating to 2000 and found that as the country's security concerns increased in the wake of 9/11, along with intensified background checks implemented in the late 1990s as a result of the Brady Bill, the number of people seeking to have records of criminal convictions cleared has grown significantly. "In the last five years there have been more than 2,900 applications for clemency filed with the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons. The board has reviewed about 1,900 cases, and Pennsylvania governors have granted relief in about a third of those filings. " According to the analysis, the pardons board has recommended relief in just five of 11 cases involving inmates who were sentenced to life in prison. The demand for pardons in Pennsylvania in recent years has created a backlog of more than 820 cases.
Brent Schrotenboer of The San Diego Union-Tribune used court records in an investigation of John W. Gillette Jr., a former financial adviser to high-profile athletes. He is four years removed from prison after fleecing those athletes out of more than $11 million. He serves as the chief operations officer at Shadow Mountain Community Church in San Diego. The investigation found Gillette was released three years after his sentencing because he cooperated in recovering more than $5 million, including turning over his 50 percent share of Seau's Mission Valley restaurant. "But after attorneys were paid and assets distributed through bankruptcy court, many victims said they received only a small fraction of what Gillette took, if anything." Records show Gillette's family lives in a three-bedroom house with mountain views (owned by his in-laws) and is financing a 2005 BMW SUV.
Susan Sward, Bill Wallace and Elizabeth Fernandez, with contributions from Lois Jermyn, of the San Francisco Chronicle used city police logs to create a database tracking the use of force by officers, finding that, for years, the San Francisco Police Department has failed to control officers who repeatedly resort to force, hitting, choking, clubbing and pepper-spraying citizens at rates far higher than fellow officers who patrol the same streets. A core group of fewer than 100 officers account for most of the incidents, but the SFPD has never done what the paper did in tallying the reports, which are kept on paper spread around stations throughout the city. "The department lags far behind many other major cities in developing an effective system for identifying problem officers. And it has failed, over and over, to take steps to get these officers off the streets." According to the investigation, officers with questionable records are promoted to supervisory positions or assigned to train rookies, putting them in position to carry forward a culture that tolerates or rewards the use of force. The series' main page includes more information on how the story was reported.
Looks like you haven't made a choice yet.