The ruling is a defeat for the government, but it’s unclear what immediate impact it will have during the ongoing pandemic.
Jolie McCullough
Jolie McCullough was a reporter at The Texas Tribune from 2015 to 2023. She began as a data visualization journalist and then reported on criminal justice policy, ranging from policing and courts to prisons and the death penalty. She joined the Tribune from the Albuquerque Journal, her hometown newspaper. She previously worked at the Arizona Republic and is a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
After 17 youths test positive for the coronavirus, Texas juvenile lockups to begin mass testing
The agency will use the same self-administered, oral tests used to conduct mass testing in Texas’ adult prison facilities.
Posted in
Police brutality in Texas
Texas cities took quick actions after George Floyd’s death. Advocates doubt they’ll have a big impact.
As protests erupted in major Texas cities, local officials announced policy changes to reform policing. Advocates doubt the quickly cast votes and signed orders will have a real effect.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
U.S. Supreme Court halts Texas execution of Ruben Gutierrez during legal fight over religious advisers’ access to death chamber
Gutierrez has long fought for DNA testing he says could prove his innocence in a 1998 Brownsville murder and home robbery. But the high court’s ruling centered on Texas prison officials’ recent decision to keep religious advisers out of the execution room.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Texas prisons will accept county jail inmates again, three months after the coronavirus halted intake
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice halted intake from county jails in April as the coronavirus began rapidly spreading in state and local lockups. The virus is still pervasive within the prison system.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
U.S. Supreme Court rules Texas death row inmate had an ineffective lawyer, orders new review
In a 6-3 opinion, the justices said Terence Andrus had ineffective assistance from his lawyer and that it was unclear if the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals properly considered whether that could have affected his sentence.
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Police brutality in Texas
Texas attorney general asks for power to investigate police who kill people
As the nation reels from George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wants his office to have the authority to prosecute cases in which police kill. That currently falls to local authorities.
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Police brutality in Texas
Greg Abbott has condemned the death of George Floyd, but he’s been silent on Texas’ recent history of police killings
Abbott also has praised Texas’ “legacy of success” on criminal justice reforms. In recent years, many police reform efforts have repeatedly failed at the Texas Capitol.
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Police brutality in Texas
The Texas lawmakers who led the Sandra Bland Act are pushing to reinstate the police reforms stripped from their original bill
The lawmakers said they are acting in response to the death of former Houston resident George Floyd.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
In Texas, COVID-19 case totals and hospitalizations are rising. The state says prisons and meatpacking plants are key factors.
The 14-day trend line shows new infections in Texas have risen about 71% in the past two weeks.