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 "legal system" ...
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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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Blowing the whistle without blowing their cover
Amey discusses what POGO does, and how they work with whistleblowers to uncover systemic corruption. Amey addresses legal pitfalls when working with whistleblowers and weak legal protections.
Tags: whistleblowers; corruption; POGO; Project on Government Oversight; investigations
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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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Wrongful convictions: Reasons and possible safeguards
This tipsheet will help journalists from falling into the trap of convicting an innocent person along with the legal system. Mahoney gives suggestions for making sure eyewitness are accurate, testimonies are truthful and lawyers are doing their jobs.
Tags: Conviction; crime; innocent; guilty; police; false; testimony; trial
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Public Documents
In this tipsheet, Skertic provides a detailed list of the documents reporters can and should obtain from the legal system. The author also lists what to look for in the records after getting the documents.
Tags: public records; public information; legal system; FOIA; courts; municipal court; state court; federal court; bankruptcy; probate; complaint; deposition; lawsuits; criminal records; financial history
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Zen and the arts of cops and courts
Very comprehensive tipsheet with hints and information that will help any reporter take their cops and courts coverage to the next level.
Tags: courts; cops; police; legal; judicial system; corrections
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Covering the courts
This file includes three tipsheets: 1. "Top 10 Court Tips." This tipsheet provides a guide to the different types of courts and the documents used there, along with definitions of other terms. 2. "What to say if a judge closes the courtroom during a civil trial or hearing." This is a script, including a legal citation, to protest the closing of a courtroom. 3. "Covering the Courts: A Journalist's Guide to the California Court System." A document published by Sandi Gibbons, public information officer of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. The preface reads: "You can take the editor out of the newsroom, but it's a little more difficult to take the newsroom out of the editor. The following is similar to memos that I wrote for reporters while editor of City News Service and city editor of the Daily News in an attempt to help those unfamiliar with the California judicial system cover the courts. Hopefully, it will acquaint you with our rather complex system and offer some basics and a couple of short cuts to save you from spinning your wheels when trying to get information."
Tags: None
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Tipsheet No: 835
Selected transcripts from four cases. The first is Judith Clift et al. vs. Narragansett Television L.P., where the widow of a man who committed suicide after being interviewed on TV sued the station for, among other things, negligence and invasion of privacy. The second is Berger v. Hanglon v. Haman, where property owners brought action against federal agents and members of the media, alleging videotaped search of property violated Constitutional rights. The third case, Wilson v. Layne v. Collins, was similar to the second. The fourth is IRE's Amicus Curiae in support of ABC in the Food Lion case.
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The Jury System
Mark Twain once said -- "We have a criminal jury system which is superior to any in the world; and its efficiency is only marred by the difficulty of finding 12 men every day who don't know anything and can't read." Berens and Meyer's handout lists great jury story ideas and is accompanied by the National Center for State Courts publications list. Audio tape available through the IRE Resource Center at (573) 882-3364 or rescntr@ ire.org.
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Tipsheet No: 385
TAP, a group created by Ralph Nader, monitors the management and sale of public property, including government information systems. They have put out a short handout describing their computer lists, inlcuding a distribution list on information policy, a distribution list on natural resource issues, a discussion list on issues related to pharmaceutical development, and a discussion list on access to legal information.
Tags: None