WALLINGFORD The Hartford Courant swept the top three awards at the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists' annual contest, winning honors for public service, investigative journalism and First Amendment protection.

The Courant won the Stephen A. Collins Public Service award for its coverage of resilience and recovery in Newtown in the year following the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. (Read some of the coverage here.)

Top investigative honors went to The Courant for a series on deaths in group homes for the developmentally disabled. (Read the series here.)

The First Amendment award honored an expose of a behind-the-scenes effort to limit access to public records.

"As we celebrate our 250th anniversary, these awards are a clear reminder of the vital role The Courant continues to play in the life of Connecticut," said Courant publisher Nancy A. Meyer.

The Courant's coverage of Newtown in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, cited by the society, asked a difficult question: How do you rebuild a community after so devastating a tragedy? The coverage included profiles of parents who lost children, efforts to help those left behind recover and a special section "To Honor Their Lives: Remembering the Joys of Those Who Died At Sandy Hook." That focused on how the victim's memories have been celebrated and cherished by family and friends in various ways, including playgrounds, non-profit organizations and fundraisers.

The Sandy Hook coverage included work by Alaine Griffin, Josh Kovner, Matt Sturdevant and Dave Altimari, among others.

"The events at Sandy Hook were horrific. But in the year that followed, members of our staff documented how an act of extraordinary evil was slowly washed away by extraordinary acts of kindness hope and love," said Courant Editor Andrew Julien.

The Theodore Driscoll Award for Investigative Reporting went to Courant reporters Dave Altimari, Matthew Kauffman and Josh Kovner for "Fragile Lives, Needless Deaths," a series that exposed how dozens of developmentally disabled people died in public and private group homes, institutions and nursing homes through what investigators concluded was abuse, neglect or medical error from 2004 through 2010.

The investigation found that substandard care was cited during investigations into the deaths of 76 intellectually disabled people receiving state services or 1 out of every 17 clients who died over those seven years.

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Courant Wins Several Top Awards In SPJ Contest