Jeffrey Scott Shapiro

Jeffrey Scott Shapiro (born April 27, 1973) is an American investigative journalist and attorney who has reported on several high-profile criminal cases, often defending people who become targets of the tabloid media. Early in his career, Shapiro was a cub journalist for the Globe tabloid newspaper, but he quickly turned against it, reporting his editors to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for criminal violations, and later testifying before a Colorado grand jury.^[1][2] Shapiro was profiled in October 1998 by Newsweek magazine as a young, dedicated tabloid journalist,^[3] but by May 1999, New York (magazine) reported that he experienced a "reincarnation as a fervid anti-tabloid crusader."^[4] He has since engaged in a long-standing campaign against the tabloid industry by speaking out against their journalism practices and supporting legislation to penalize paparazzi when endangering the public.^[5] Shapiro's anti-tabloid views have been controversial among other journalists, and he has been both praised and criticized by the mainstream press.^[6][7]

Shapiro's key journalism investigations include the disappearance and murders of JonBenét Ramsey and Chandra Levy, the Columbine High School massacre, the September 11 attacks in 2001 and the sexual assault allegations against NBA player Kobe Bryant and musician Michael Jackson. He received his undergraduate degree from Florida State University in 1995 and his J.D. from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2005. In 2007, he was appointed as a criminal prosecutor in Washington, D.C. assigned to handling statutory offenses that implicated the First Amendment.^[8]

Campaign against tabloids

Early in his career, Shapiro investigated several crime stories on location including the JonBenét Ramsey murder case, the Columbine High School massacre, the September 11 attacks and the disappearance of Chandra Levy. After leaving the tabloid world in 1999, he engaged in a long-standing campaign against the tabloid industry and has continuously defended people whom he believes are unfairly or overzealously targeted.

After working for the Globe from 1997–1999, Shapiro reported his editors to the FBI for criminal violations and testified against them before a Colorado grand jury. His change of heart came at a time when supermarket tabloids were immersed in controversy due to the mysterious death of Princess Diana, who was killed during an intense paparazzi chase in Paris on August 31, 1997.^[9] During the summer of 1998, Michael Tracey, a British journalism professor teaching mass media at the University of Colorado convinced Shapiro that continuing to work for the tabloids would be immoral since Shapiro believed that John Ramsey was innocent despite the murder accusations Shapiro's tabloid editors were publishing about him.^[10] Shapiro felt compassion for the people his editors were targeting, and eventually he called John Ramsey personally to apologize for his participation in the tabloid accusations against him.^[11] After apologizing to John Ramsey, Shapiro walked into the Denver Federal Building to report his editors for conspiring to blackmail lead Boulder Detective Steve Thomas for sealed grand jury evidence. He also told a team of FBI agents about how his editors engaged in commercial bribery and illegal information brokering.^[10]

The FBI was initially unable to gather enough evidence to refer the case to federal prosecutors, but a broader, simultaneous state case being conducted by the Colorado Bureau of Investigations led to criminal charges.^[12] A grand jury was convened by the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office, and several witnesses including Shapiro testified. A key part of the state's evidence against the Globe were secret tape recordings Shapiro had made of conversations he'd had with senior editors at the tabloid. After charges were filed, the Globe challenged the criminal case on First Amendment grounds, but the Colorado Supreme Court ruled against the tabloid and cleared the path for prosecution.^[13] After losing the constitutional case before the Colorado Supreme Court, Globe editors pledged to donate $100,000 to the University of Colorado journalism ethics studies program and publicly admit they had acted "unethically" in exchange for a dismissal of all charges. In 2000, prosecutors agreed and the criminal case was dropped.^[14][15] In a 2003 interview with CNN host Paula Zahn, Shapiro said he never broke the law while working for the tabloids, but admitted that his "reporting helped inflict a lot of misery on innocent people," and that he was interested in starting a foundation to help victims of tabloid persecution.^[16] That same year, The Vail Daily summarized Shapiro's change of heart, reporting that "he left the tabloid world in a blaze of glory handing the Globe to the FBI on a silver platter."^[1]

After reporting his editors to the FBI, Shapiro became an outspoken critic of tabloid journalism practices and has since written numerous columns defending targets of the tabloid journalism industry, and at times, the mainstream press. Among some of the notable political figures he has defended are President George W. Bush,^[17] U.S. Senator John Kerry,^[18] U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman,^[19] U.S. Congressman Gary Condit,^[20] Kate Middleton, Princess Diana ^[21] and former Russian Federal Security Services Agent Alexander Litvinenko.^[22] Shapiro has also defended non-political figures including Kristen Stewart,^[23] Michael Jackson,^[24] former White House intern Monica Lewinsky^[25] and the alleged victims from the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case and the Roman Polanski sexual abuse case.^[26][27] Shapiro has also defended members of JonBenét Ramsey's family whom he believes are innocent. In a Denver Post article in which he challenged tabloid accusations against JonBenet's older brother, Burke Ramsey, Shapiro quoted American poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox saying, "To sin by silence when we should protest is what makes cowards of men."^[28] Shapiro later retracted his defense of Michael Jackson after personally investigating the sexual abuse allegations against him for CBS News, and Shapiro wrote a follow up piece in which he admitted that his initial position "was apparently wrong."^[29]

Journalism

Shapiro has continuously worked on the JonBenét Ramsey murder case for 15 years since 1997, and in 2011 he chronicled his search for the little girl's killer, revealing his belief that her mother, Patsy Ramsey was most likely the killer.^[30] Despite his belief that Patsy Ramsey was most likely the killer, Shapiro has also spent considerable time personally tracking down intruder suspects and turning over information as well as evidence to law enforcement officials.^[31] Shapiro has publicly called upon the FBI to take over the case from Boulder authorities and has also criticized former District Attorney Mary Lacy for clearing the Ramseys against the advice of the Boulder Police Department and Lacy's predecessor, District Attorney Alex Hunter.^[32][33] In the Globe aftermath, Shapiro covered the Columbine High School massacre for Time magazine.^[34][35]

After leaving Colorado, Shapiro reported on the Robert Hanssen spy case,^[36] and September 11 attacks for The Journal News in New York City. During his 9/11 reporting, Shapiro broke a story that made worldwide news about a Brooklyn high school student whom the FBI was investigating for allegedly predicting the collapse of the World Trade Center five days before the attacks. Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter and Daily Telegraph commentator Mark Steyn, both confirmed the story.^[37][38] Snopes has classified the story and another similar Dallas incident as "undetermined."^[39] After the Sept. 11 attacks, Shapiro spent three years from 2003-2006 investigating sexual assault allegations against NBA player Kobe Bryant for CBS News and authored a 2004 book about the case, Kobe Bryant: The Game of His Life. His book revealed that Bryant hesitated for 30 seconds when asked if the accuser ever said "no" during their sexual encounter and that there were at least two other unidentified women that Bryant had questionable encounters with in the past.^[40] Shapiro appeared on Fox News with host Bill O'Reilly and said that he tracked down a Portland room service waitress who ran out of Bryant's room to "escape him."^[41]

In 2010, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and other 9/11 Truth movement members implied that Shapiro was working with the government after he wrote what they termed a "Fox News hit piece" against former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura.^[42] Shapiro, who was at Ground Zero on the day of the attacks said he saw 7 World Trade Center collapse and said that there were no explosives in the building as the 9/11 Truth movement has claimed. Shapiro's said Ventura "discredited himself, and defamed and dishonored his country," by supporting the 9/11 Truth movement.^[43] Shapiro's piece went viral within the 9/11 Truth movement because Shapiro reported that his sources in the New York Police Department told him Larry Silverstein ordered the controlled demolition of 7 World Trade Center, a revelation that truthers used to suggest there was a U.S. government conspiracy.^[44] In 2011 Shapiro published a notable story with conservative online journalist Andrew Breitbart about a conversation he'd had in 2009 with U.S. Representative Ron Paul. Shapiro asked Paul whether or not he would have sent American troops to Nazi Germany to stop the Holocaust, and Paul said that he would not.^[45] In 2012, Shapiro interviewed Alexandra Pelosi, daughter of former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who told him via telephone that her mother was ready to leave Congress. The story caused a brief media stir, especially in Washington.^[46] Nancy Pelosi released a statement denying the substance of the story, and said that her daughter's conclusions were inaccurate.^[47]

Law

While in law school, Shapiro served on U.S. Senator John Kerry's legal team during the presidential election of 2004. He received his legal training by the United States Attorney in Washington, D.C. and subsequently prosecuted First Amendment cases for the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia from 2007-2009. Most of Shapiro's cases were criminal matters against unlawful protestors who illegally occupied the U.S. Capitol and White House. Shapiro later said in an interview that he took the prosecutorial position because after having worked for the tabloids he knew how easy it was to hide behind the veil of the First Amendment to evade justice.^[8] In 2008, Shapiro successfully prosecuted Desiree Ali-Fairooz who attacked then U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with fake blood on her hands in the U.S. Capitol. Ali-Fairooz was convicted in District of Columbia Superior court and placed on probation.^[48] Shapiro also prosecuted cases that effected the Second Amendment. After the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Shapiro authored a column for the Wall Street Journal in which he revealed his criticisms of gun control based on the ineffectiveness of the District of Columbia gun ban. The ban, enacted in 1976 was struck down by the Supreme Court of the United States in 2008 in District of Columbia v. Heller. Shapiro, who enforced the firearms ban while he was a prosecutor wrote that he believed "a nationwide firearms crackdown would place an undue burden on law enforcement and endanger civil liberties while potentially increasing crime... The gun ban had an unintended effect: It emboldened criminals because they knew that law-abiding District residents were unarmed and powerless to defend themselves."^[49] In 2012, Shapiro assisted Los Angeles civil rights lawyer Conal Doyle while trying a case in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against the federal government for denying proper medical care to an illegal alien named Martin Hernandez-Banderas who was previously detained in the San Diego Correctional Facility. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled in favor of Banderas, awarding him a $250,000 verdict.^[50] Shapiro now practices law in California, Florida and Washington, D.C. while continuing to write about political and legal affairs as well as the tabloid media.^[51][52][53]

Politics

Shapiro studied under 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Governor Michael Dukakis while in college, and served as a White House intern for U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1996. He later served as a legal intern/researcher and writer for U.S. Senator John Kerry and the Democratic National Committee during the presidential election of 2004, and in 2006, Shapiro campaigned for U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman in Connecticut.^[54] Despite his history with the Democratic Party, Shapiro has written numerous columns supporting President George W. Bush and the Iraq War. His most notable piece, "The Treatment of Bush Has Been a Disgrace,"^[17] was ranked as the fourth most widely read article in the Wall Street Journal in 2008.^[55] After the piece was published, Shapiro appeared on Fox News and told Neil Cavuto that he believed Bush was misunderstood and that he "cares deeply about America... after September 11 he lifted our spirits in a very dark time... he has a good heart."^[56] Although Shapiro's WSJ piece was widely hailed by conservatives, it was criticized heavily by journalists on the left. Political analyst Jeff Koopersmith wrote a response for the American Politics Journal and asserted "that Shapiro may be out of his mind," and asked, "What's Shapiro smoking?"^[57] Comedian Stephen Colbert made light of Shapiro's piece on the Colbert Report, joking that even only a week after the election, "It's never too early to rewrite history. The greatest victim was the president. We are finally starting to hear how oppressed the most powerful man in the world has been."^[58] In 2009, Shapiro co-founded "Honor Freedom," a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization with online journalist Andrew Breitbart and former Freedom's Watch president Bradley Blakeman to "correct the historical record" about George W. Bush and the Iraq War.^[59] Like Breitbart, Shapiro is a staunch critic of President Barack Obama, and has accused the president of pushing the United States toward Socialism. In 2012, Shapiro published an article with the John Birch Society's New American magazine titled, "Fundamentally Transforming the U.S. into the Soviet States of America,"^[60] and wrote a separate piece in which he warned of the unconstitutionality of executive lawmaking.^[61]

Authored books

• Shapiro, Jeffrey Scott; Jennifer Stevens (2004). Kobe Bryant: The Game of His Life. New York, New York: Revolution Publishing. ISBN 0974868418. 
• Shapiro, Jeffrey Scott; Steven I. Friedland (2008). The Essential Rules for Bar Exam Success. Eagen, Minnesota: Thomson Reuters/West (publisher). ISBN 9780314176783. 

References