December 2016 Archive
Bias in Criminal Risk Scores Is Mathematically Inevitable, Researchers Say
ProPublica’s analysis of bias against black defendants in criminal risk scores has prompted research showing that the disparity can be addressed — if the algorithms focus on the fairness of outcomes.
2016: The Year in Visual and Interactive Storytelling
Sometimes words aren’t enough to tell a complex story. Here are some highlights from ProPublica’s visual and interactive stories this year.
Vegas Prosecutors Seek Help in Identifying Convictions Won With Faulty Drug Tests
Request to defense attorneys suggests concern about integrity of guilty pleas won via $2 police tests known to be prone to error.
Rethinking The Cost of War
What if casualties don’t end on the battlefield, but extend to future generations? Our reporting this year suggests the government may not want to know the answer
Why Developers of Manhattan Luxury Towers Give Millions to Upstate Candidates
A first-of-its-kind analysis shows just how tactical the real-estate industry is about bankrolling state legislators who will protect its $1.4 billion tax break and weaken rent laws.
New York City and State Step Up Enforcement of Wage Rules For Luxury Building Workers
Regulators have sent letters to property owners asking them to certify compliance with a 2007 law mandating higher pay to workers in taxpayer-subsidized apartment buildings.
Trump and the Climate: His Hot Air on Warming Is Far From the Greatest Threat
Trump, who has called climate change a hoax, has frightened many with his embrace of fossil fuels. What’s truly scary, scientists and others say, is how much larger the problem is than one American president.
Lost Cause
Seeing America through the losing candidates’ map, now updated with 2016 election data
Cuomo Said He’d Return 50,000 Apartments to Rent Regulation. He Didn’t Come Close.
A state effort to get landlords to comply voluntarily with a 2009 court ruling in favor of tenants appears to have fallen far short of its goal, newly available records show.
The Agent Orange Widows Club
After their husbands died of an aggressive brain cancer, the widows of Vietnam veterans have found one another as they fight the VA for benefits.
Long List of Agent Orange Decisions Awaits VA in 2017
The Department of Veterans Affairs must decide whether to add new diseases to its list of conditions presumed to be linked to Agent Orange. It also faces calls to compensate naval veterans and those who served along the Korean demilitarized zone.
Nonprofit Explorer Update
We’ve updated our database of nonprofit tax filings. It now includes more than 9 million Form 990s.
Facebook Doesn’t Tell Users Everything It Really Knows About Them
The site shows users how Facebook categorizes them. It doesn’t reveal the data it is buying about their offline lives.
Trump’s Treasury Pick Excelled at Kicking Elderly People Out of Their Homes
When Steven Mnuchin ran OneWest, the bank aggressively and in some cases, wrongly, foreclosed on elderly homeowners with reverse mortgages. The bank had a disproportionate share of such foreclosures.
The Continuing Muddle at a Pro-Trump Political Committee
‘America Comes First’ can’t seem to decide if it’s a PAC or a super PAC, but in either case its federal filings remain problematic.
Coming Soon: ProPublica Illinois
In 2017 ProPublica will open its first regional publishing operation in with headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. Our plan is to publish investigative journalism on key issues across the state of Illinois and in the city of Chicago.
Street Hustle: The Truth Behind the ‘New’ Police Tool for Confronting Fentanyl Menace
Drug test manufacturer repackages old, error-prone chemical formula as cutting-edge product
Rare Track Record: NYPD’s History Chronicling Hate Crimes
For decades, a hate crimes task force has been on the case in New York. But even that sustained effort may not be catching all crimes.
