As states across the country fight the COVID-19 pandemic, a lead poisoning epidemic is raging in Connecticut, where weak state laws have done little to help the disproportionately Black and Hispanic victims, according to grantee Jenifer Frank’s new report.Although the state adopted CDC’s strict standards for lead poisoning almost a decade ago, its laws continue to require action only when ...
An ongoing series from the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting shows that two thirds of juveniles are sentenced to life in prison without parole, even though a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision says such sentences should be “rare.”Shirley Smith’s investigation examined the case of Brett Jones, a Mississippi man who appealed his resentencing to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard oral ...
Sales of secondhand goods are booming, growing about 3 percent each year, faster than conventional retail. And market researchers project this multibillion-dollar industry will grow exponentially.This surge in secondhand shopping has opened new opportunities for the public to be misled about how much money for-profit retailers are making off the charities they brag about benefiting, according to grantee Francesca Lyman’s ...
In the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, Georgia was widely pilloried for a series of high-profile errors related to its bungled Covid-19 data dashboard, and for its early reopening based on the data it displayed. The site’s problems damaged the state health department’s credibility, threatening its ability to effectively manage later stages of the pandemic.However, as grantee Keren Landman ...
Fund for Investigative Journalism Diversity Fellow Romina Ruiz-Goiriena’s report, “Gaming the System,” details how wealthy people navigate around U.S. immigration barriers while the other 90 percent are detained or deported. The investigation includes stories in English and Spanish, videos and an innovative video game, which allows the audience to simulate the experience and navigate obstacles. You can view the full ...
The Syndicate is an 8-episode, narrative podcast series about the rise and fall of one of the most sophisticated marijuana smuggling rings of the past decade. Host and reporter Chris Walker digs into how a group of college friends and family members gamed Colorado’s legal cannabis industry to hide a massive, black market operation. The group made tens of millions ...
Louisville police were executing a no-knock search warrant signed by Judge Mary Shaw when they shot and killed 26-year-old Breonna Taylor in her home. The case put a spotlight on the way Louisville police executes search warrants and how seriously judges scrutinize them.In their new report, grantees from The Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting (KyCIR) examined more than 200 warrants ...
On March 18, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) closed all of its field offices to public-facing activities due to the coronavirus, effectively putting much of legal immigration to the United States on pause, including naturalization interviews and oath ceremonies. As the months went by, other federal and state agencies turned to virtual infrastructure for their activities, but ...
Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco took office in 2011 with a bold plan: to create a cutting-edge intelligence program that could stop crime before it happened. But the machine Nocco built has turned into a system of organized harassment, according to a new investigation by grantees Neil Bedi and Kathleen McGrory at the Tampa Bay Times. Deputies swarm homes in ...
The pandemic has presented universities a triple whammy: Reduced tax revenues slashing government support, online-only courses gutting dormitory and cafeteria revenues, and – with more students and families out of work – less ability to offset those losses with tuition increases.FIJ grantee Miranda Spivack’s report, published in USA Today, details how the pandemic’s economic impact on universities could create more ...