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 "justice system" ...
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Accountability in Children’s Court
Diedrich gives great tips on how to cover the juvenile justice system and the children that are in and out of it.
Tags: juvenille court; recidivism
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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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Investigating Corruption in the Legal System
Sherman's tipsheet addresses story ideas to cover/look for when investigating corruption in the legal system. She also identifies useful documents for covering different aspects of the justice system - from covering federal judges to bail bond agents. Included are a couple of story examples.
Tags: justice system; legal system; judges; bail bond agents; conflict of interest;
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Cracking the Justice System
McCoy and Purcell discuss the computer-assisted work they did in reporting their series "Justice: Delayed, Dismissed, Denied." They explain the data you should gather when reporting on the courts, and the stories you can find within those numbers.
Tags: courts; crime data; Uniform Crime Report; FBI; Federal Bureau of Investigation;
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Investigating the casualties of war
This tipsheet discusses how to cultivate and handle your sources when covering war as it is imperative to gain their trust. Also listed are sources for gather information on military personnel, deceased veterans, military unit associations, U.S. casualties, civilian deaths, military justice, military legal systems, and much more.
Tags: veterans; war; military; casualties
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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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What We Know and Don't Know About Recent Crime Trends
This PowerPoint presentation discusses how to use crime statistics to draw conclusions about crime trends.
Tags: crime; statistics; statistical analysis; data analysis; economy
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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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Criminal Justice: Understanding Crime Statistics
Kalfrin discusses how to get the most accurate story from crime statistics. She discusses the importance of knowing how crimes are classified, how to use the hierarchy of crimes and how to make the information accessible to readers. The tipsheet explains how different crimes are defined, as well as how rates of reporting crimes vary and can affect the story.
Tags: crime; statistics; criminal justice; police reports; uniform crime reports