Michael R. Blood of the Associated Press found that the California Department of Justice improperly concealed tens of millions of dollars worth of contracts with lobbyists, consultants, legal firms – even couriers and parking garages – in violation of its own confidentiality rules. “An internal agency review, conducted at AP’s request, found information on scores…
Read MoreThe (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer analyzed North Carolina lottery data and found that fewer outlets and lower prizes accounted for the slow sales in the new state lottery. J. Andrew Curliss and news researcher Paulette Stiles found “the number of outlets for every resident in North Carolina is significantly behind the saturation levels of…
Read MoreMike Fish of ESPN.com reports that Mack Henry “Hank” Sloan, who runs an Atlanta clinic with a clientele of sports stars, is under investigation for allegedly practicing medicine without a license. “The 36-year-old Sloan calls himself a naturopath, a practitioner of a medical discipline that emphasizes holistic approaches to enhance the body’s innate ability to…
Read MoreRon Knox of The Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World reported that probation officers in Douglas County were among the most overworked in the state – and by far the most overworked in similar judicial districts, based on his analysis of a state probation caseload database. Knox compared the number of adult and juvenile cases with the number…
Read MoreGeoff Davidian of Milwaukee Magazine identified Wisconsin judges who frequently try cases involving companies in which they hold investments. Davidian analyzed all civil cases in Milwaukee from the beginning of 2004 through the first eight months of 2006 and checked them against the financial interest statements filed by the judges with the Wisconsin Ethics Board.…
Read MoreIn a four-part series, Megan O’Matz and John Maines of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel examined Florida’s concealed weapons law and found that licenses have been issued to hundreds of people who, due to their criminal histories, wouldn’t stand a chance of getting them in most other states. Courts have found them responsible for assaults, burglaries,…
Read MoreThe Des Moines Register used data on driving-related offenses in Iowa to identify 78,000 people who owe at least $500 in fines. Reporter Lee Rood and data analyst Michael Corey found “The outstanding debt that all Iowans owe for everything from overdue speeding tickets to drunk driving fines to law enforcement surcharges is at a…
Read MoreSam Roe of The Chicago Tribune exposes the story of America’s efforts to recover uranium that the U.S. government distributed to other nations in its Cold War-era “Atoms for Peace” program. The enriched uranium, suitable for making bombs, still circulates in politically unstable countries. “Today, roughly 40 tons of the material remains out of U.S.…
Read MoreStephen Henderson, Supreme Court correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers, evaluated the quality of defense lawyering in four states, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama and Virginia in a three-part series based on in-depth review of 80 cases from 1997 to 2004. By failing to investigate their clients’ histories, lawyers in these 73 cases fell far short of the 20-year-old…
Read MoreEric Nalder and Lewis Kamb of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer expose an explicit email and Internet scandal within the Port of Seattle Police Department. The reporters used public records requests to obtain internal investigation documents and personnel records showing that nearly one-third of the Port’s police force sent, received and exchanged racist, sexist and explicit emails…
Read More