Justice (courts/crime/law)
Gun crime plea deals common in Del.
Mike Chalmers of The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal analyzed 115,000 felony cases overseen by Attorney General M. Jane Brady during her 11-year tenure, to show that plea deals involving gun crimes are common in Delaware. The newspaper found that "of the nearly 16,000 weapons-related cases filed from 1994 through 2004 — years Brady served as…
Read MoreStabbing investigation uncovers budding gang activity
Stephanie Hooper of The Telegraph examined records obtained from the Nashua Police Department, as part of their six-day “Gangs of New Hampshire” series, to show the budding gang activity in Nashua and southern New Hampshire. The report that comes in three installments, unraveled the workings of a local chapter of one of the nation
Read MoreHmong girls raped, prostituted by gangs
Pam Louwagie and Dan Browning of the Star Tribune report on the growing problem of young Hmong girls who are raped and prostituted by Hmong gangs. A preliminary analysis found that "these girls were six times more likely than other victims to have been raped by five or more males ". The newspaper used an…
Read MoreTough measures keep prisoners behind bars for life
Adam Liptak of The New York Times , examined information about prisoners serving life sentences in all 50 states, finding “that about 132,000 of the nation’s prisoners, or almost 1 in 10, are serving life sentences. The number of lifers has almost doubled in the last decade, far outpacing the overall growth in the prison…
Read MoreCounty loses money to court-appointed attorney fees
Dave Moore of the Denton (Texas) Record-Chronicle finds Denton County might have paid more than $350,000 more that it was required in court-appointed attorney fees. “The source of most of the non-mandatory legal bills to the county has been 393rd District Court Judge Vicki Isaacks, who has been appointing those attorneys mostly for children in…
Read MorePotential conflicts identified for Supreme Court nominee
Center for Investigative Reporting’s Dan Noyes finds that “After a long career spent representing blue chip corporations and resource industries, Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, Jr. brings more potential conflicts of interest to the bench than any justice of his generation.” The investigation looks at “rules governing conflicts of interest and reveals cases already on…
Read MorePolice disregard rape complaints
Jeremy Kohler of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that St. Louis police have failed to file official reports on many sex crimes over the past 20 years, instead writing informal memos on cases that would not be counted in the city’s crime statistics. “The Post-Dispatch analyzed many of these cases and found police often discounted…
Read MoreCrime data shows drug arrests in blighted area
Bryan Chambers of The (Huntington, W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch used local crime data for a story about the city’s effort to clean up a blighted area. “Between September 2003 and May 2004 nearly 21 percent of the city
Read MoreRace a factor in Dallas jury selection
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 MoreDeadly force used to end car chases
Roma 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 More