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Criminal Justice

Post Mortem

Death Investigation in America

A year-long investigation into the nation’s 2,300 coroner and medical examiner offices uncovered a deeply dysfunctional system that quite literally buries its mistakes.

31 stories published since 2011

Shake-Up Inside Forensic Credentialing Org

by ProPublica,

Hidden in a Heart, a Discovery ‘Beyond Belief’

by Marshall Allen,

Facing a Second Trial, Ernie Lopez Takes Plea Deal

by A.C. Thompson,

No Forensic Background? No Problem

by ProPublica,

California Governor Commutes Sentence in Shaken Baby Case

by A.C. Thompson,

New Evidence in High Profile Shaken Baby Case

by A.C. Thompson,

Video: Shirley Ree Smith in Her Own Words

by A.C. Thompson,

Free, But Not Cleared: Ernie Lopez Comes Home

by A.C. Thompson,

Pioneering a Way to Distinguish Blood Disorders From Child Abuse

by ProPublica,

Ernie Lopez to Face Charges Again

by A.C. Thompson,

Texas Court Voids Conviction in Child Death Case

by A.C. Thompson,

A Far Cry From 'CSI'

by A.C. Thompson,

Gone Without a Case: Suspicious Elder Deaths Rarely Investigated

by Chisun Lee and A.C. Thompson,

Why Can’t Linda Carswell Get Her Husband’s Heart Back?

by Marshall Allen,

Without Autopsies, Hospitals Bury Their Mistakes

by Marshall Allen,

Post Mortem: The Story So Far

by ProPublica,

Q & A: A Prominent Advocate Presses for Better Investigations of Child Deaths

by Aarti Shahani,

Casey Anthony Trial Shows the Limits of Forensic Science in Proving How a Child Died

by Aarti Shahani,

The Child Cases

by Chisun Lee, A.C. Thompson and Aarti Shahani,

Document Timeline: The Case of Ernie Lopez

by Krista Kjellman Schmidt, A.C. Thompson and Chisun Lee,

The Hardest Cases: When Children Die, Justice Can Be Elusive

by A.C. Thompson and Chisun Lee,

NOPD Officers Convicted in Handyman’s Beating Death

by Sergio Hernández,

NOPD Beating Death Trial Draws to a Close

by Sergio Hernández,

County Prosecutors Withheld Evidence About Doctor’s Credibility

by Sergio Hernández,

California County Opens Review Into Autopsies by Doctor With Checkered Past

by ProPublica,

Autopsy Firm's High Caseloads, Practices Lead to Errors

by ProPublica,

Without Competition, Private Firm Reaps Millions in Autopsy Work

by ProPublica,

Autopsies in the U.S.A.

by Krista Kjellman Schmidt,

About Our Autopsy Data

by Krista Kjellman Schmidt,

Second Chances Underscore Flaws in Death Investigations

by ProPublica,

The Real 'CSI': How America’s Patchwork System of Death Investigations Puts the Living at Risk

by A.C. Thompson,

What We’re Watching

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Sharon Lerner

I cover health and the environment and the agencies that govern them, including the Environmental Protection Agency.

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Andy Kroll

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Melissa Sanchez

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Jesse Coburn

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Most Read

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    The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program stabilizes the nation’s childhood immunization system while paying those harmed by rare side effects. If the program topples, it could threaten access to vaccines.

    by Patricia Callahan,

    Unattended

    He Was Accused of Killing His Wife. Idaho’s Coroner System Let Clues Vanish After a Previous Wife’s Death.

    Clayton Strong had a history of domestic unrest in two marriages. The women’s families say a more thorough investigation of Betty Strong’s death in Idaho might have saved the life of his next wife, Shirley Weatherley, in Texas.

    by Audrey Dutton,

    Zero Trust

    A Little-Known Microsoft Program Could Expose the Defense Department to Chinese Hackers

    The Pentagon bans foreign citizens from accessing highly sensitive data, but Microsoft bypasses this by using engineers in China and elsewhere to remotely instruct American “escorts” who may lack expertise to identify malicious code.

    by Renee Dudley, with research by Doris Burke,

    Texas Officials Say They Didn’t See the Flood Coming. Oral Histories Show Residents Have Long Warned of Risks.

    After a tragedy, records from local archives can help us understand how a community understands itself. Here’s some of what we learned following the devastating July 4 flooding in Texas.

    by Logan Jaffe,

    Rx Roulette

    FDA Inspectors Again Find Dangerous Breakdowns at an Indian Factory Supplying Medications to U.S. Consumers

    The latest inspection comes 2 1/2 years after the agency allowed Sun Pharma to keep shipping some drugs to Americans even after banning the factory from the U.S. market because of quality problems.

    by Megan Rose and Debbie Cenziper,