Local Reporting Network Archive
This Youth Detention Center Superintendent Illegally Locks Kids Alone in Cells. No One Has Forced Him to Stop.
The Richard L. Bean Juvenile Service Center has been punishing kids with seclusion more than any other facility in Tennessee. And as the laws and rules on how to treat kids changed, the facility failed to keep up.
Residential Hotels Got Contracts Under the Los Angeles Mayor’s Homelessness Program Despite Violations
A city law sought to prevent low-cost housing from turning into hotels, but some landlords rented to tourists anyway. That didn’t stop them from receiving city funds for a new temporary shelter program.
Mississippi Jailed More Than 800 People Awaiting Psychiatric Treatment in a Year. Just One Jail Meets State Standards.
Counties are allowed to hold people awaiting court-ordered psychiatric treatment in jails only if the facilities meet safety and health standards, but there’s no funding to help them comply and no penalties if they don’t.
Maine Rarely Sanctions Residential Care Facilities Even After Severe Abuse or Neglect Incidents
From 2020 to 2022, Maine’s state health department cited residential care facilities for dozens of resident rights violations and hundreds of other deficiencies. But it has imposed only one fine in response.
One Woman Died on an Alaska Mayor’s Property. Then Another. No One Has Ever Been Charged.
Before they died, Jennifer Kirk and Sue Sue Norton were both victims of domestic violence, but the men involved — the ex-mayor’s sons — faced few consequences despite a long history of similar allegations.
Utah Therapist Arrested for Allegedly Sexually Abusing Patients During Sessions
Scott Owen, who was considered an expert in helping struggling gay Latter-day Saint men, is accused of assaulting his patients.
Virginia Lawmaker Calls for Commission to Study State Universities’ History of Uprooting Black Communities
In response to our reporting, state Delegate Delores McQuinn said a task force could shed light on the impact of college expansion in Virginia. Officials are also calling for displaced families to receive redress, from scholarships to reparations.
Here’s What Can Happen When Kids Age Out of Foster Care
Two teens aged out of New Mexico’s child welfare system last year. This photo essay shows how different their lives have become.
Los Angeles Mayor Orders Residential Hotels to Be Used for Temporary Homeless Housing
A 2008 city law intended hotels used as primary residences to be preserved as safety-net housing. But with little enforcement, some landlords had turned their buildings into tourist hotels.
The Supreme Court Will Decide if Domestic Abuse Orders Can Bar People From Having Guns. Lives Could Be at Stake.
The court’s ruling on United States v. Rahimi could clarify an earlier decision on guns. Or it could take away one of the best options to protect domestic violence victims. In states like Tennessee, the consequences could be deadly.
This Billion-Dollar Plan to Save Salmon Depends on a Giant Fish Vacuum
Many endorse opening dams and letting fish coast the natural current as the best way to avoid extinction. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has other ideas.
In 2018, We Reported on an Abusive Cop. He Was Just Sentenced to a Year in Prison.
Five years after ProPublica and the South Bend Tribune partnered to investigate police misconduct in Elkhart, Indiana, reporter Ken Armstrong reflects on the incremental but powerful impact journalism can have on communities.
Secrecy Shields Powerful Adults in Our Juvenile Justice Systems. Kids Showed Me What’s Really Happening.
The three years I spent working on “The Kids of Rutherford County” podcast taught me one thing: Tennessee’s punitive policies aren’t leaving children in the legal system better off.
Ella confió en su primer ginecobstetra porque hablaba español. Ahora es una de las 94 mujeres que lo demandan por agresión sexual.
La Corte Suprema del estado de Utah escuchará esta semana los argumentos del caso, que determinarán si lo que 94 mujeres dicen haber experimentado fue agresión sexual o negligencia médica.
She Trusted Her First OB-GYN Because He Spoke Spanish. Now She’s 1 of 94 Women Suing Him for Sexual Assault.
The Utah Supreme Court this week is hearing arguments in the case, which will determine if what 94 women say they experienced was sexual assault or medical malpractice.
The Mississippi Supreme Court Moved to Ensure Poor Criminal Defendants Would Always Have a Lawyer. It’s Not Working.
Months after the state’s highest court directed judges to ensure that all criminal defendants have legal representation while awaiting indictment, one justice has acknowledged that the rule isn’t being widely followed.
California Oil Companies Face Tougher Enforcement Under New Law
The measure steps up potential fines and allows criminal charges against companies that harm health, safety and the environment.
Louisiana Supreme Court Ruling Overturns Reform Law Intended to Fix “Three-Strikes” Sentences
The ruling was a victory for state attorney general, Jeff Landry, but defense attorneys say it could also help their clients’ requests for reduced sentences.
Virginia Law Allows the Papers of University Presidents to Stay Secret, Limiting Public Oversight
A provision in state law exempts college presidents’ “working papers and correspondence” from disclosure even after they step down — as we found out when we asked about one ex-president’s role in campus expansions that uprooted a Black neighborhood.
