The Court Repourt

(We should really start thinking about titles) 

Where we are

• Data Acquisition
   
• Identifying Stories
   
• Data Cleaning*
   
• Data Analysis
   
• Reporting
   
• Design/Web Portal

What we have

Full data: 965,000 cases dating back to 1990

W/ race: 65,000 cases dating back to 1990

Headlines

• Mainbar - Unbalanced Justice
• N.J. judges sentence black/hispanic people to far longer sentences than whites
• In N.J., hundreds of convicted rapists have received no jail time
• 95 percent of the juveniles tried as adults in NJ are black or hispanic
• These are the toughest judges in N.J.
• Where you're in court in N.J. can have a huge impact on your sentence
• Rogues in robes: Here’s what happened when judges behaved badly
• How to become a judge in New Jersey: Having friends in high places helps

Headlines (cont'd)

• Here are the weirdest sentences/crimes N.J.
• This county had one of the harshest drug sentencing rates in the country, now it's among the lowest
• These judges presided over 1,000s of cases a year. Mistakes were made
• Thousands are waiting years to get a fair trial in N.J. due to court backlogs, data shows
• Gubernatorial Justice: How judges appointed by different governors behave differently on the bench
• Innocent until pleading guilty: Prosecutor-pushed plea deals dominate backlogged N.J. court system*
• Municipal court systems are the wild west of NJ justice*

What we need

• Bodies
   
• Time

On our plate

Steve

Sean

• Will be in the woods for two weeks 
• Prison closures
• Elizabeth mayor shenanigans
• AG/Supreme Court dailies

• Managing/editing data team
• Weekly stories
• Facebook/Twitter bots
• NJ Transit series
• Severe weather app
• Bad rehabs? 
• Leaving NJ?
• Growing up Jersey/North-Central-South podcast project (not-time intensive RN)

Q3(4?) Publication

• 4-5 dedicated reporters
• Full-time developer
• Design work/conceptualization needs to start now