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An investigation by Dallas Morning News reporters Steve McGonigle, Holly Becka, Jennifer LaFleur and Tim Wyatt found that prosecutors and defense attorneys in Dallas County exclude jurors on the basis of race, despite Supreme Court bans on discrimination in jury selection. The findings were based on an analysis of information from juror cards, transcripts of…
Read MoreRoma Khanna and Rosanna Ruiz of the Houston Chronicle analyzed police shootings to find that “Harris County sheriff’s deputies have turned to deadly force during car chases four times since 2002, killing one and wounding four … Among the people they pursued and shot were a man driving with his headlights off and another who…
Read MoreLee Rood of The Des Moines Register checked state child care facility inspection records to find that “at least one in 10 licensed centers — including several newer programs — failed to meet several of the state’s minimum standards for health and safety during their last licensed renewals.” Many of the programs receive only sporadic…
Read MoreTony Saavedra, Monica Rhor and Aldrin Brown of The Orange County Register analyzed eight statistical categories for Orange County’s police agencies and found wide disparities in way police prevent and solve crime. The categories analyzed included response times on emergency calls, the success rates for solving homicides and other violent crimes, officer-to-resident ratios and the…
Read MoreKen Ward Jr. of the Charleston Gazette used EPA data and records to show that a chlorine-producing plant in Natrium is West Virginia’s single-largest air polluter, emitting more than 1,200 pounds of mercury into the air every year. Although much of the focus on mercury pollution centers on coal plants, chlorine producers are responsible for…
Read MoreJoe Mahr and Mitch Weiss of The (Toledo) Blade reviewed thousands of documents and interviewed dozens to find that Toledo-area police helped the local Catholic diocese hide cases of sexual abuse by priests. “Beyond past revelations that the diocese quietly moved pedophile priests from parish to parish, The Blade investigation shows that at least once…
Read MoreMark Pitsch of The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal used Kentucky’s Open Records Act to obtain emails showing that “less than three months before the state hiring investigation began, Gov. Ernie Fletcher’s deputy chief of staff and the transportation personnel director confided to each other in e-mails that laws may have been broken.” The state’s Attorney General,…
Read MorePat Stith of The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer, with assistance from database editor David Raynor and news researcher Brooke Cain, reports that “the state Department of Transportation has ignored a series of increases in truck weights approved by the legislature and failed to protect more than 1,000 bridges that are not strong enough to…
Read MoreDavid Milstead of the Rocky Mountain News used documents and recordings to find that the benefits offered by Colorado’s Public Employees’ Retirement Association to its employees have been generous. “In total, leave payouts have cost PERA more than $2 million since 2000. The benefits don
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