Sergio Hernandez on Muck Rack

Sergio Hernandez

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Covers:  transparency, courts, law, government, media, health, civil rights, education, criminal justice, finance, business, science
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Sergio Hernandez’s Journalist Portfolio

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Sex, Lies and HIV: When What You Don't Tell Your Partner Is a Crime

Sex, Lies and HIV: When What You Don't Tell Your Partner Is a Crime

ProPublica — People with HIV have been sentenced to years or even decades in prison for having sex without telling their partners they’re infected, even when they practiced safe sex. Are these laws a deterrent to spreading the virus or could they actually fuel the epidemic?

Intern vs. Mayor: Battle Bares Bloomberg's Argument for Secrecy

Intern vs. Mayor: Battle Bares Bloomberg's Argument for Secrecy

ProPublica — In November 2010, I was earning $300 a week for The Village Voice, blogging about unemployed actors who moonlit as bed bug exterminators and a city project to make biofuel out of toilet water. One afternoon, then-Schools Chancellor Joel Klein stunned the city by suddenly resigning his post of eight years for a job at Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. The bigger shock that day was who New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg chose as Klein's successor: Cathie Black, the Hearst Magazines chairwoman who, as far as anybody could tell, had never stepped foot in a public school, let alone knew how to run one (or the city's 1,700, for that matter).

How Twitter fueled a market swoon

How Twitter fueled a market swoon

The Week Magazine — single tweet can be enough to cause a stock market crisis, says Christopher Matthews at TIME . We learned that last week, when hackers posted a fake report on the Associated Press Twitter feed claiming that Barack Obama had been injured in an explosion at the White House. The AP quickly flagged the tweet as fake, but not before it "sent shock waves through the market," causing the S&P 500 to drop 0.9 percent and temporarily wiping out $136 billion in stock value. The real culprit behind this latest "flash crash" isn't a hacker - it's "the proliferation of high-frequency trading."

Who Polices Prosecutors Who Abuse Their Authority? Usually Nobody

Who Polices Prosecutors Who Abuse Their Authority? Usually Nobody

ProPublica — Shortly before midnight on May 7, 1994, police found a 26-year-old man in the foyer of an apartment building near Flushing, Queens. Jake Powell was near death, blood pouring from a gunshot wound, but he managed to speak the name of the man who had shot him: "Tony Bennett." Bennett, a two-time felon, was eventually captured, convicted of murder, and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. But Bennett never served anywhere near that sentence. He has, in fact, been free since 2008 because Claude Stuart, the former Queens assistant district attorney who handled his case, violated a basic rule of law by withholding critical evidence from Bennett's attorney.

How Lululemon got kicked in the (butt-baring) pants

How Lululemon got kicked in the (butt-baring) pants

The Week Magazine — ululemon Athletica is having a tough week. The Vancouver-based maker of yoga-wear reported fourth-quarter results that beat analysts' expectations, but it's still taking a beating over a recall of some pants that were "too sheer" for comfort. Lululemon is one of the world's most profitable retailers, placing third behind Apple and Tiffany & Co. when ranked by sales per square foot and sales per store, according to USA Today . But its stock plunged by more than 5 percent Tuesday after the luxury retailer announced a recall of its flagship black yoga pants for having too much "sheerness."

The NRA Wants to Keep Gun Records Secret From Everyone Except the NRA

The NRA Wants to Keep Gun Records Secret From Everyone Except the NRA

Gawker — Legislators and gun rights advocates get really angry whenever nosy reporters try to use public records laws to find out who's packing heat. But according to a Gawker search of public records, gun-rights groups—including the National Rifle Association—have been accessing the same state gun-permit data for years to help their fundraising and recruitment efforts.

HELTER SHELTER: A peek inside the shadowy world of offshore tax havens

HELTER SHELTER: A peek inside the shadowy world of offshore tax havens

The Daily — ISLE OF MAN - Two of Uncle Sam's largest active tax claims are against a pair of shadowy, defunct corporations tied to a single post office box in this picturesque tax haven off England's northwestern coast.

FOIL'd Again: Why Doesn't the NYPD Want You to Know Anything?

FOIL'd Again: Why Doesn't the NYPD Want You to Know Anything?

Village Voice — It was hard to feign much surprise last month when the New York Times slapped New York's finest with a lawsuit, accusing the department of habitually withholding information and flouting government transparency laws. In fact, as any reporter would certainly know, one of the city's toughest agencies to crack for information—even information it's obliged, by law, to cough up—might be New York's boys in blue.

Michael Bloomberg Sued by Reporter Over Cathie Black Freedom of Information Requests

Michael Bloomberg Sued by Reporter Over Cathie Black Freedom of Information Requests

Village Voice — Today, I am suing New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Last year, Bloomberg baffled New Yorkers when he appointed publishing executive Cathie Black to be the city's next schools chancellor. Black was an unpopular choice, and for months, responses to her appointment ran the gamut of ridicule, confusion, and outrage. Black's tenure came to an abrupt end in April, when the mayor asked her to step down from the post after just three months on the job. New Yorkers who opposed her appointment were vindicated, but the question remained: What led the mayor to make such a choice?

Doctor accused of waterboarding girl has violent history, stepkids say

Doctor accused of waterboarding girl has violent history, stepkids say

The Daily — The internationally recognized pediatrician accused of waterboarding his 11-year-old stepdaughter has a history of bizarre behavior that stretches back a decade, The Daily has learned.

Cheat Sheet: What's Really Going On With Wisconsin's Budget

Cheat Sheet: What's Really Going On With Wisconsin's Budget

ProPublica — A standoff is brewing in Madison, Wis., over Republican Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to cut union rights for state workers. Walker says the cuts are necessary to bridge the state's growing budget gap, while throngs of protesters have gathered to oppose the cuts and state legislators have fled to avoid a vote.

County Prosecutors Withheld Evidence About Doctor's Credibility

County Prosecutors Withheld Evidence About Doctor's Credibility

ProPublica — Officials in Solano County, Calif., have discovered that prosecutors long had evidence of a local forensic pathologist's error-riddled career and that, in at least one homicide case, failed to give defense attorneys potentially exculpatory evidence.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the Reach of Diplomatic Immunity - ProPublica

Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the Reach of Diplomatic Immunity - ProPublica

ProPublica — The arrest of International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn for allegedly sexually assaulting a maid at a Midtown Manhattan hotel has raised many questions. One we had is what role diplomatic immunity might play—and who else gets it.

Gone Without a Case: Suspicious Elder Deaths Rarely Investigated

Gone Without a Case: Suspicious Elder Deaths Rarely Investigated

ProPublica — ProPublica and PBS "Frontline" have identified more than three-dozen cases in which the alleged neglect, abuse or even murder of seniors eluded authorities. But for the intervention of whistleblowers, concerned relatives and others, the truth about these deaths might never have come to light. For more than a year, ProPublica, in concert with other news organizations, has scrutinized the nation's coroner and medical examiner offices, which are responsible for probing sudden and unusual fatalities. We found that these agencies -- hampered by chronic underfunding, a shortage of trained doctors and a lack of national standards -- have sometimes helped to send innocent people to prison and allowed killers to walk free.

Ex-Employees Say Mario Batali Stiffed Them Out of Tips, Overtime

Ex-Employees Say Mario Batali Stiffed Them Out of Tips, Overtime

Gawker — Mario Batali might be in hot water. Two ex-employees have filed a possible class-action suit against the celebrity chef, claiming that for years he's been underpaying workers and bilking them out of tips and overtime.

Daniel Boulud Is Getting Divorced

Daniel Boulud Is Getting Divorced

Gawker — Daniel Boulud-world-renowned chef, restaurateur, and occasional Top Chef guest judge-is adding another title to his resume: divorcé.

Meet the Man the State Department Suspected of Leaking Secrets to Robert Novak

Meet the Man the State Department Suspected of Leaking Secrets to Robert Novak

Gawker — Geoffrey Kemp was once Reagan's assistant for national security affairs and a National Security Council employee. Turns out he was also the FBI and State Department's prime suspect for leaking classified material to newspaper duo Robert Novak and Rowland Evans.

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