Government Accountability/Reform

Lacey stop

EXCLUSIVE: Police video prompts allegations of HIV discrimination

| 09.19.12 | 3:09 pm | View Article

LANSING, Mich. — A Dearborn, Mich., police officer was caught on tape telling a man and a woman that he was issuing them traffic and marijuana possession tickets because he was “aggravated” that the woman failed to disclose her HIV-positive status before he searched the couple’s car. The incident has More…

via Shutterstock.

Big telecom pushes de-regulation bill in California

| 09.10.12 | 2:21 pm | View Article

California could be the latest state to enact a law that dramatically curbs regulatory oversight of telecommunications services in the state, handing a significant victory to the industry players that have lobbied for the bill’s passage. More…

Speaker of the House John Boehner, courtesy of the Speaker's office.

House legal team cites controversial parenting study

| 07.20.12 | 4:14 pm | View Article

A Republican-controlled congressional body this week used a controversial new parenting study to argue that the Defense of Marriage Act is constitutional. More…

NTSB photo of ruptured Enbridge pipeline.

Enbridge, regulators faulted in Michigan oil spill

| 07.10.12 | 5:57 pm | View Article

LANSING — The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday said the massive oil spill that contaminated nearly 40 miles of the Kalamazoo River in Michigan could have been avoided. More…

The Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation in Burkeville, Virginia. Photo provided to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission by VCBR.

Va. approaches decision on privatizing sex offender program

| 06.25.12 | 2:24 pm | View Article
The nation’s second-largest private prison company says it expects Virginia to make a decision by next month on its bid to expand and operate the state’s detention facility for sexually violent predators who have completed their prison terms.
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Documents related to MDCH's internal investigation. Todd Heywood.

Mich. HIV contractor violated privacy policy, investigation finds

| 05.17.12 | 11:52 am | View Article
LANSING — A government contractor in Michigan violated the state’s data security policies in its handling of thousands of pages of information relating to people living with HIV, a state investigation has found. More…
Image: ©iStockphoto.com/CraigRJD

How the private detention industry courted Crete

| 05.16.12 | 10:32 am | View Article

UPDATE: On Monday, June 11, Crete officials voted unanimously to end the town’s negotiations with the Corrections Corporation of America. More…
The fight over a proposed privately run federal immigration detention center in Illinois is raising thorny questions about the benefits and drawbacks of these facilities.

Image: ©iStockphoto.com/jml5571

The anti-abortion game of life

Federally funded crisis pregnancy centers bring mazes, game shows, and questionable health information to teens
| 05.04.12 | 5:16 pm | View Article

To bring down the high chlamydia infections rate among Tennessee teenagers, an anti-abortion pregnancy center in Athens, Tenn., has proposed spending federal tax dollars on a life-sized version of the Game of Life More….