The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement signed off on continuing education credits for “Understanding the Jihadi Threat to America,” a program run by an ex-FBI agent who’s called Islam “barbaric and evil.”
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
Criminal Justice
“You’re not as safe as you should be.” How understaffing is affecting one Texas prison
The Telford Unit reports by far the most assaults on staff of any state-run lockup and has one of the highest rates of understaffing. Take a look inside the northeast Texas prison where guards and inmates alike are suffering.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Judge approves settlement mandating air conditioning at hot Texas prison
“I never dreamt we’d get the Pack Unit air-conditioned,” the federal judge said at a Houston hearing.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Harris County appoints investigator to look into former death row inmate’s innocence claim
Nearly three years after his release from prison, Alfred Dewayne Brown is still trying to get state compensation for his years spent on Texas’ death row. On Wednesday, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced an independent review of Brown’s innocence claim.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas executes Erick Davila, who killed two people including a 5-year-old girl
Erick Davila was executed Wednesday evening for a 2008 shooting at a child’s birthday party that left his rival gang member’s mother and 5-year-old daughter dead. His case was heard and ultimately rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court last year.
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Criminal Justice
Exonerated man on Texas request for faster death penalty appeals: “I would have been executed”
Defense lawyers, legal groups and former federal judges also point to cases of people taken off death row as they oppose the state’s push for faster federal death penalty appeals.
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Criminal Justice
In Houston, calls for justice follow police shooting of Danny Ray Thomas
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and state Rep. Jarvis Johnson joined Houston-area law enforcement officials to talk about policy with the community after the March shooting of Danny Ray Thomas.
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Criminal Justice
Texas executes Lubbock “suitcase killer”
Rosendo Rodriguez was executed Tuesday for killing a Lubbock prostitute and tossing her body in a dumpster in a suitcase. His final appeals questioned the medical examiner’s testimony that she was sexually assaulted before her death.
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Criminal Justice
U.S. Supreme Court orders lower court to reconsider Texas death row inmate’s appeal for funds to investigate his case
Carlos Ayestas, 48, said he wants to explore evidence of his mental illness, brain injuries or drug use that wasn’t brought up during his trial for the murder of a 67-year-old woman.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas prisons to update LGBT policy after lawsuit from transgender inmate who was beaten, raped
Lambda Legal has settled with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in the case of Passion Star, a transgender woman who claimed prison officials didn’t protect her from sexual and physical abuse while incarcerated in male prisons.
