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Presidential pardons have glaring racial disparities
“White criminals seeking presidential pardons over the past decade have been nearly four times as likely to succeed as minorities, a ProPublica examination, co-published with The Washington Post, has found. Blacks have had the poorest chance of receiving the president’s ultimate act of mercy, according to an analysis of previously unreleased records and related data.”
Read More“Racial gap” shows up in Milwaukee traffic stops
In a recent analysis of 46,000 traffic stops, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Ben Poston found that black resident drivers are “seven times as likely to be stopped by city police as a white resident driver.” Additionally, the study found that “Milwaukee police pulled over Hispanic city motorists nearly five times as often as white drivers.”…
Read MoreDouble-Dipping in New Jersey
A New Jersey Watchdog investigation by Mark Lagerkvist reveals that more than 20 “investigators and supervisors who work for Attorney General Paula T. Dow and her Division of Criminal Justice” are receiving both a salary and a pension. For example, the New Jersey State Police captain retired at age 50. However, he “began work at…
Read MoreWho’s policing the police in Florida?
“In a multi-day project, Anthony Cormier and Matthew Doig of The Sarasota Herald-Tribune investigate why law enforcement agencies around Florida employ officers despite cases of serious misconduct in their past, involving everything from violence and perjury to drugs and sexual assault. Many more cases stay hidden because agencies fail to thoroughly investigate or report complaints.”…
Read MoreCA prison docs accused of malpractice still receive full pay
Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, found that “California prisons have paid doctors and mental health professionals accused of malpractice an estimated $8.7 million since 2006 to do no work at all or to perform menial chores like sorting mail, tossing out old medical supplies and reviewing inmate charts for clerical errors.” “At least 30 medical…
Read MoreSick-time pay in MN raises concerns
“MaryJo Webster of The Pioneer Press reported that the state of Minnesota paid about $57 million in unused sick time from January 2008 to June 2012 to departing workers. Now, Minnesota legislators from both sides of the aisle are calling for inquiries into the payments, with one senator saying, “we need to take an aggressive…
Read MoreCA hospital has high rate of heart failure; may be linked to Medicare payments
“From 2008 through 2010, Chino Valley Medical Center in San Bernardino County claimed that 35.2 percent of its Medicare patients were suffering from acture heart failure. That’s six times the state average, according to a California Watch analysis of Medicare billing data. However, in 2006, before Medicare began making bonus payments to hospitals treating patients…
Read MoreEPA releases secret ‘watch list’ that includes chronic polluters
Two decades ago, Democrats and Republicans together sought to protect Americans from nearly 200 dangerous chemicals in the air they breathe. That goal remains unfulfilled. Today, hundreds of communities are still exposed to the pollutants, which can cause cancer, birth defects and other health issues. An ongoing investigation by the Center for Public Integrity, with…
Read MoreYouths held in adult jails face higher risk of attack
ScrippsNews‘ Isaac Wolf found that “for thousands of teens accused of crimes, punishment precedes any conviction in court. While awaiting trial and ostensibly presumed innocent, they can be held for months or even years in county jails for — and sometimes with — adult suspects. Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics data shows, in 2010, roughly…
Read More“Retired” NJ budget guru collecting thousands in pension payments
NJ Governor Chris Christie hired Louis C. Goetting in 2010 as a budget guru to help trim the cost of government. But Goetting resembles a problem, not a solution, according to a New Jersey Watchdog analysis of his employment history. Despite the fact that Goetting was hired to help with the budget, he has raked in…
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