Miami Herald "Crime and No Punishment" Investigative Series Wins Award

MEDIA May 1995

A series in the Miami Herald described in Sept./Oct. 1994's NewsBriefs has been awarded the IRE Medal for large newspapers by Investigative Reporters and Editors, an organization of investigative journalists ("Herald's Crime Series Wins Investigative Award," Miami Herald, Apr. 20, 1995, p. 10A).

The series revealed the methods used by career criminals in the Dade County court system to evade serving substantial prison sentences. The series showed that Dade County has the most crime and the least punishment when compared with 24 other larger cities. According to the series, Miami's Drug Court, a model for other cities, lacks sufficient evaluation and is probably not as effective as has been reported.

[For a review of this series, see "Investigative Reports in the News," NewsBriefs, Sept./Oct. 1994, p. 17.]