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 "Office of Civil Rights" ...
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The NYPD Tapes
The series gives an unprecedented look inside the NYPD through the secret recordings documenting police misconduct made by Police Officer Adrian Schoolcraft. Evidence of civil rights violations, a severe staffing shortage, and downgrading of rape complaints are found within the 117 roll call recordings.
Tags: police misconduct; NYPD; undercover; crime; recordings
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Police Complaints Rising
Brutality complaints were on the rise at three area law enforcement departments; they had increased by 25 percent in the last five years. Complaints about other officer misconduct, such as rudeness or harassment, also were on the rise. Few citizen complaints were validated by the departments, which investigated the complaints themselves. The majority of complaints were deemed unsubstantiated and in many cases they were classified as false, which subjected the complainant to possible criminal prosecution.
Tags: civil liberties; law enforcement; police brutality; search and seizure; excessive force; civil rights activists
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Police Force Under Surveillance
The Bakersfield Californian goes beyond the legal mumbo jumbo to find out what really goes on in the force. Reporters talk to former and current officers and members of the community to contribute to their article. The result is an unbiased, honest review of what role racism plays in the Bakersfield Police Department.
Tags: police; cops; brutality; racism; department of justice; doj; racial profiling; bias; civil rights; false charges; harassment; misconduct
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The Long Road to Clemency
Florida bans more ex-felons from recovering their civil rights, including the right to vote, than any other state. Almost half a million people are caught up in the state's error-ridden system to restore civil rights. Since Jeb Bush took office, the system has slowed to a crawl; it could take decades to clear the backlog of cases. In Bush's six years as governor more than 200,000 applicants, many of them non-violent ex-felons, have been blocked from voting again. The issue took on particular significance in the 2000 presidential election when George W. Bush won the state of Florida by only 537 votes. Included are two follow-ups that cover prominent Florida Republicans taking the lead in asking Governor Bush to automatically grant clemency to ex-felons.
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In the Line of Fire: Former Civil Rights advocate Norma V. Cantu now runs the federal office that investigates discrimination in schools. Her views and her office's tactics have some critics up in arms.
This story explains how one woman (Norma V. Cantu) is working to fight discrimination and ensure the survival of affirmative action programs. Norma V. Cantu is the U.S. Department of Education's assistant secretary for civil rights.
Tags: Norma V. Cantu; Norma Cantu; affirmative action; discrimination; education; schools; civil rights.
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Second String: Gender inequality in high school athletics
Carl Prine, in a four-part series, details the gender inequalities in athletics at 129 high schools in southwestern Pennsylvania see how well the 1972 Title IX of the Educational Amendments is being enacted in schools. "At each school, the Trib examined the athletic program's participation rates; money spent on equipment, training, travel, uniforms and officials; and coaching salaries for the 1999-2000 school year." While the number of girls interested and playing sports is increasing, Prine investigates why the majority of high school athletic resources go to boys. The Tribune-Review found out that policy in some schools makes sure that two out of every three athletes are boys, for every tax dollar spent on sports, 69 cents goes to boys athletics, school booster clubs poured dollars - sometimes illegally - into boys while neglecting girls, some schools rarely hire female coaches or athletic directors, and few schools and districts hire people to oversee the enforcement of Title IX violations.
Tags: sports; Title IX; National Collegiate Athletic Association; Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association; Civil Rights Restoration Act; Office of Civil Rights; girls athletes
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York Riots
The York Daily Record looks back at the race riots of 1969 and the two unsolved murders they created -- one a young black woman who made a wrong turn into a white neighborhood, the other a white police officer patrolling the streets in an armored van. In 2001, after digging into the story for a year, authorities charged 9 white men in the death of the black woman, including the city's mayor. Authorities later charged two black men in the death of the police officer. Ineptitude and wrongdoing emerged on every level -- "then and now" -- among prosecutors, police officers, judges, and others.
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Miami Cops
A Miami Daily Business Review two-year investigation into police criminality reveals "a deadly scandal at the Miami Police Department." The stories document "flaws and bias in the local system used to investigate police shootings." The series started in 2000 with investigation of the death of a 72-year old widower who was machine-gunned by police during a ferocious 1996 drug raid, and of the following $2.5-million settlement of the lawsuit brought by the victim's family. In a federal investigation, Miami officers involved in the shooting were later accused of "conspiracy, lying and fabricating evidence to cover up misconduct," the Review reports. The series also examines "Miami's costly litigation experience over the last decade defending claims of brutality and lawlessness by police."
Tags: indictments; Florida's public record law; crime; litigation; civil rights; SWAT; homicide; conflicts of interest; law enforcement; justice; Miami Office of Professional Compliance; wrongful death; false arrests; abuse
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Rollback: A Corporate Feeding Frenzy During Bush's Honeymoon
A Multinational Monitor investigative packet looks at the first hundred days for the George W. Bush administration, and finds that the cabinet has "aggressively carried forward the corporate agenda." The stories within the packet focus on the negative consequences to the environment, workers, public health, consumers, civil rights, mining, etc., resulting from the suspension or rescinding of important regulations. One of the articles sheds light on the new bankruptcy rules that favor the automobile industry and finance companies, while diminishing the chance of financially devastated low-income families to resume "lives as productive members of their community." A separate piece reveals the background and the corporate connections of vice-[president Dick Cheney. The packet includes profiles of the members of Bush's "corporate cabinet," and dissects some possible motives that might have inspired their actions in the first 100 days. The profiled officials are: Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, EPA Administrator Christine Whitman, Veteran Affairs Secretary Anthony J. Principi, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans, Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill, Attorney General John Ashcroft, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, Secretary of Education Rod Paige, Director Office of Management and Budget Mitch Daniels, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, Secretary of Transportation Norm Minetta, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman, National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Tags: politics; business; money and politics; Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA); musculoskeletal disorders; cancer; drinking water; arsenic; ergonomic injuries; roads; forests; bankruptcy
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Second String: Gender Inequalities in High School Athletics
Carl Prine, in a four-part series, details the gender inequalities in athletics at 129 high schools in southwestern Pennsylvania. "At each school, the Trib examined the athletic program's participation rates; money spent on equipment, training, travel, uniforms and officials; and coaching salaries for the 1999-2000 school year." While the number of girls interested and playing sports is increasing, Prine investigates why more schools aren't upholding Title IX rules and the issues surrounding this long-lived debate.
Tags: sports; Title IX; National Collegiate Athletic Association; Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association; Civil Rights Restoration Act; Office of Civil Rights; gender; inequalities; education