Investigations Read the latest from NPR's investigative team. If you have solid tips or documents on stories we should probe, please send them to us.

Investigations

Wednesday April 25, 2012

Survey Shows Uncertainty In Reporting Suspicious Activity

April 25, 2012 • Some respondents said they didn't trust the government, others feared ensnaring an innocent person.

Thursday April 19, 2012

Robert Benincasa/NPR

Should We Kill The Dollar Bill?

April 19, 2012 • Last month, a Washington, D.C. subway station was plastered with posters of giant dollar bills. One of them said: "Tell Congress to stop wasting time trying to eliminate the dollar bill." The $70,000 ad blitz was part of a small lobbying war over the fate of the dollar bill.

Should We Kill The Dollar Bill?

Listen · 6:10 6:10

Transcript

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/150976150/150984851" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Tuesday April 17, 2012

Prosecutors Knew Of FBI's Forensics Flaws For Years, The Washington Post Reports

April 17, 2012 • The Justice Department has long known that flawed forensic work by FBI experts may have helped convict innocent people, but prosecutors rarely told defendants' attorneys, according to The Washington Post. Problems were seen in analyses of fingerprints, hair and fibers, bullets, polygraphs and other areas.

Friday April 6, 2012

Shirley Ree Smith, whose prison sentence was commuted by California Gov. Jerry Brown, began creating greeting cards for her grandchildren while she was incarcerated. While she was out of custody after a series of legal appeals, until today, she still faced the possibility of returning to prison. Courtney Perry for NPR hide caption

toggle caption

Courtney Perry for NPR

The Two-Way

Grandmother In High-Profile Shaken Baby Case Has Sentence Commuted

April 6, 2012 • The California governor commuted the sentence of Shirley Ree Smith, who already served nearly a decade in prison, citing "significant doubts" that she killed her 7-week-old grandson.

Thursday March 29, 2012

Shirley Ree Smith sits in the living room of her daughter's upstairs duplex in Alexandria, Minn. Smith is waiting to hear if California Gov. Jerry Brown will grant her clemency. "They say things happen for a reason. I'm not sure if I'll ever figure out a reason for all of this," she says. Courtney Perry for NPR hide caption

toggle caption

Courtney Perry for NPR

Post Mortem: Death Investigation In America

New Evidence In High-Profile Shaken Baby Case

March 29, 2012 • Shirley Ree Smith, who was convicted of killing her 7-week-old grandson, faces a return to prison. But an investigation by NPR, ProPublica and PBS Frontline has found documents that raise new questions about the autopsy that sent her there.

New Evidence In High-Profile Shaken Baby Case

Listen · 7:30 7:30

Transcript

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/149576627/149591054" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Monday March 5, 2012

Free, But Not Cleared: Ernie Lopez Comes Home

Ernie Lopez hugs his daughter, Nikki Lopez, for the first time since 2009. Ernie was released from prison on March 2 in Amarillo, Texas, after nine years, while he awaits a new trial. Katie Hayes Luke/Katie Hayes Luke for NPR hide caption

toggle caption

Katie Hayes Luke/Katie Hayes Luke for NPR

Post Mortem: Death Investigation In America

Free, But Not Cleared: Ernie Lopez Comes Home

March 5, 2012 • After nine years in prison for sexual assault of a baby girl, Lopez has been reunited with his family in Texas. An investigation by NPR, Frontline and ProPublica showed that the baby had a disorder that mimicked the signs of physical abuse. And now, Lopez awaits a new trial.

Free, But Not Cleared: Ernie Lopez Comes Home

Listen · 3:56 3:56

Transcript

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/147969316/147992910" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Wednesday February 22, 2012

The Two-Way

Massey Mine Boss Charged In Deadly Coal Mine Explosion

February 22, 2012 • Federal prosecutors in Charleston, W.Va., have filed the most serious criminal charges yet in the investigation of the April, 2010, coal mine explosion that left 29 mine workers dead.

Massey Mine Boss Charged In Deadly Coal Mine Explosion

Listen · 3:01 3:01

Transcript

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/147252153/147267456" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Sunday February 5, 2012

Fewer Autopsies Mean Crucial Info Goes To The Grave

Colleagues of Renee Royak-Schaler at the University of Maryland School of Medicine paid for and conducted an autopsy that revealed that cancer had ravaged her body. Today, autopsies are conducted on just 5 percent of patients. Jenna Isaacson Pfueller/ProPublica hide caption

toggle caption

Jenna Isaacson Pfueller/ProPublica

Post Mortem: Death Investigation In America

Fewer Autopsies Mean Crucial Info Goes To The Grave

February 5, 2012 • Autopsies are conducted on just 5 percent of patients who die in hospitals, and experts say that is a troubling trend that has broad implications for public health in America: Death certificates aren't as accurate as they could be, and that information drives research dollars and public health spending.

Fewer Autopsies Mean Crucial Info Goes To The Grave

Listen · 5:18 5:18

Transcript

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/146355717/146435330" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Thursday February 2, 2012

Computerized Tests For Concussions May Be Unreliable

Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby has missed months of play because of a concussion. Alan Diaz/AP hide caption

toggle caption

Alan Diaz/AP

Shots - Health News

Computerized Tests For Concussions May Be Unreliable

February 2, 2012 • Computerized testing of athletes for concussion isn't a reliable gauge of their brain health or fitness to return to play, according to new research. The computerized tests are used in the NFL and NHL, and in many colleges and high schools.

Monday January 30, 2012

One Soldier's Progress Against Traumatic Brain Injury

Sgt. Victor Medina suffered brain damage in 2009 when a roadside bomb exploded in Iraq. Blake Gordon/Aurora Photos hide caption

toggle caption

Blake Gordon/Aurora Photos

The Two-Way

One Soldier's Progress Against Traumatic Brain Injury

January 30, 2012 • Sgt. Victor Medina couldn't think straight or speak clearly after suffering a concussion in a 2009 roadside blast in Iraq. Now, after being treated at a new state-of-the-art center for brain-injured soldiers, "it's like night and day," his wife says.

Monday December 19, 2011

Presidential Dollar Coin Program

December 19, 2011 • Unused dollar coins, worth more than $1 billion, have been quietly piling up in Federal Reserve vaults thanks to a government program that has required their production since 2007.

Thursday December 15, 2011

Once Routine, Autopsies Now Scarce At U.S. Hospitals

Unlike the medical examiner's office in New Mexico, which routinely autopsies sudden or violent deaths, most U.S. hospitals perform postmortem examinations only rarely. John W. Poole/NPR hide caption

toggle caption

John W. Poole/NPR

Shots - Health News

Once Routine, Autopsies Now Scarce At U.S. Hospitals

December 15, 2011 • Hospitals have financial incentives to avoid autopsies. And a decline in the number of postmortem examinations performed means lost opportunities for improving medical care and distortions in health care statistics.

Tuesday December 13, 2011

Dollar coins gathering dust in the Fed's Baltimore brach. John W. Poole/NPR hide caption

toggle caption

John W. Poole/NPR

Planet Money

White House Kills Dollar Coin Program

December 13, 2011 • More than 1 billion coins are sitting unwanted in government vaults. Ending the program will save an estimated $50 million a year.

White House Kills Dollar Coin Program

Listen · 3:32 3:32

Transcript

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/143648506/143694858" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Friday December 9, 2011

Mine Safety In America

Mine Disaster Report Signals Safety Agency Failure

December 9, 2011 • A final report on the April 2010 fatal explosion at Upper Big Branch coal mine not only blames Massey Energy for the disaster but exposes regulation failures within the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Mine Disaster Report Signals Safety Agency Failure

Listen · 4:20 4:20

Transcript

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/143429371/143429555" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Monday November 28, 2011

Military's Brain-Testing Program A Debacle

Dr. Alex Dromerick co-directs the Brain Research Center at the National Rehabilitation Hospital. Here he observes Stephen Jones, a policeman who was involved in a motorcycle accident. Becky Lettenberger/NPR hide caption

toggle caption

Becky Lettenberger/NPR

Brain Wars: How The Military Is Failing Its Wounded

Military's Brain-Testing Program A Debacle

November 28, 2011 • The U.S. military is spending tens of millions of dollars to test every service member's brain to find out who suffered a traumatic brain injury during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. But an investigation by NPR and ProPublica has found that military leaders are refusing to carry out the testing program.

Military's Brain-Testing Program A Debacle

Listen · 12:29 12:29

Transcript

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/142662840/142846755" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript