First Amendment & FOIA
Atlanta 911 center mistakes put lives in danger
An investigation by D.L. Bennett, Cameron McWhirter, Heather Vogell and data analysts Megan Clarke and John Perry of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has found that the apathy and negligence of workers at the Fulton County 911 call center endangered the lives of emergency workers and of those seeking emergency help. The reporters, who reviewed nearly five…
Read MoreSan Diego redevelopment chief resigns, projects in peril
A voiceofsandiego.org investigation has led to the resignation of San Diego’s downtown redevelopment chief and put the future of a $409 million hotel and condo project in question. The investigation revealed that the redevelopment chief acknowledged receiving almost $3 million in income from a business deal with a developer while her agency chose the company’s…
Read MoreEPA investigation shows “safe” pesticides now top list of poisonings
Through a FOIA request, The Center for Public Integrity obtained the Environmental Protection Agency’s internal pesticide incident database, called one of the “Ten Most Wanted Government Documents” by a watchdog group. Their analysis of the more than 90,000 “adverse-reaction” reports filed by manufacturers to the EPA found that the supposedly “safe” pesticide compounds now in…
Read MoreCrime & Punishment series
An investigation by The (Toronto) Star explores the state of crime and punishment in Canada. A new law increasing mandatory minimum sentencing was passed even though Canada’s crime rate has dropped over 25 percent in the last 15 years. The series looks at the monetary and social costs of the a tougher approach to crime,…
Read MoreOvertime a strain on workers, county budgets
Mary Beth Pfeiffer and John Ferro of the Poughkeepsie Journal compiled a two-part report examining overtime at the Dutchess and Ulster county governments. The report found correction officers and deputies at the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office earned $3.9 million in overtime in 2007 – a 21 percent increase from 2006 at a time when the…
Read MoreExecution of unarmed Iraqi draws attention to military pressures
Salon.com’s Mark Benjamin and freelance journalist Christopher Weaver investigated the 2007 execution of Genei Nesir Khudair al-Janabi, an unarmed Iraqi prisoner. Three U.S. snipers were charged in the murder. "A review of thousands of pages of documents from the legal proceedings obtained by Salon shows that in the months prior to Khudair’s death, the young…
Read MoreStudents investigate the suicide of a mentally-ill inmate
A three-month investigation by journalism students at Humboldt State University looked into the suicide of James Lee Peters, a mentally-ill Native American inmate at Humboldt County Jail. With few people willing to talk, the students relied on public records obtained through the California Public Records Act to piece together what happened to Lee, and how…
Read MoreRace track deal emerged at great cost to taxpayers
A Charlotte Observer investigation by Adam Bell revealed what happened behind the scenes after a race track owner threatened to move his speedway following a dispute with a community over plans to add a drag strip there. The billionaire owner landed $80 million in taxpayer incentives in exchange for staying in town. A review of…
Read MoreSuicides in D.C. jail point to problems within Department of Corrections
Brendan Smith of the Washington City Paper reports on two suicides in the Washington D.C. jail that revealed widespread misconduct and inadequate mental-health monitoring by corrections personnel. For ten months, the Director of the Department of Corrections fought a FOIA request for the reports from the internal-affairs investigations into the suicides. The reports showed that…
Read MorePentagon emerges as puppeteer of favorable wartime coverage
A report by David Barstow of The New York Times reveals how the Pentagon has used a cadre of retired military officers to “generate favorable news coverage of the [Bush] administration
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