Latest Contributions

• Texas executes Wesley Ruiz despite ongoing fight over state’s use of old lethal injection drugs

  by Jolie McCullough Updated: Feb. 1, 2023

  Ruiz was convicted in the 2007 shooting death of Dallas police Senior Cpl. Mark Nix after a high-speed chase. Full Story 

• “We are humans back here”: As Texas hunger strike wanes, prisoners speak out against solitary confinement

  by Jolie McCullough Jan. 30, 2023

  After 21 days, the last of many Texas prisoners to consistently refuse food ended his hunger strike. In letters to The Texas Tribune, two prisoners spoke out on the dire solitary confinement conditions that led them to starve themselves. Full Story 

• Texas death row prisoners spend decades in solitary confinement. A lawsuit wants to end that “cruel” treatment.

  by Jolie McCullough Jan. 26, 2023

  Men sentenced to death in Texas are held in isolation until their execution dates, with little human contact, medical care or legal help, according to a lawsuit filed to improve treatment of the condemned. Full Story 

• After 10 days, dozens of Texas prisoners remain on hunger strike protesting solitary confinement practices

  by Jolie McCullough Jan. 20, 2023

  Although the number of men refusing food has steadily declined, 38 are still starving themselves to protest Texas policies that often keep prisoners in isolation for years or even decades. Full Story 

• Texas teens embark on an idealistic quest to shut down the state’s last five youth prisons

  by Jolie McCullough Jan. 18, 2023

  Spurred by reports of inhumane conditions at Texas Juvenile Justice Department facilities, Austin-area teenagers are lobbying the Legislature to reform the system. Full Story 

• More than 70 Texas prisoners are 3 days into a hunger strike protesting harsh solitary confinement practices

  by Jolie McCullough Jan. 13, 2023

  Prisoners have refused food to protest practices that have kept more than 500 people in isolation for more than a decade. Full Story 

• Questions about validity of shaken baby syndrome not enough to give Texas death row inmate new trial, court rules

  by Jolie McCullough Jan. 11, 2023

  Robert Roberson was sentenced to death for killing his 2-year-old daughter. Experts have since backtracked on the science used in part to win his conviction. Full Story 

• Texas executes Robert Fratta after high courts reject challenges to expired lethal injection drugs

  by Jolie McCullough Updated: Jan. 10, 2023

  Fratta was convicted in the 1994 murder-for-hire of his wife. Lawyers unsuccessfully challenged Texas’ routine of extending the expiration dates of its lethal drugs, a practice begun when many pharmacies began refusing to provide doses for executions. Full Story 

• Texas prisoners launching hunger strike to protest state’s harsh solitary confinement practices

  by Jolie McCullough Jan. 9, 2023

  Hundreds of prisoners may participate in the protest beginning Tuesday, the first day of the state’s legislative session. Texas often keeps prisoners in solitary confinement for years or decades. Full Story 

• Chronically understaffed Texas prisons set stage for prison bus escape and massacre of family

  by Jolie McCullough Dec. 9, 2022

  Investigative reviews by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and independent consultants found the severely short-staffed prison routinely bypassed crucial security checks, leading to a convicted murderer’s escape. Full Story