A federal appellate court on Wednesday mostly upheld a ruling claiming that Harris County’s bail practices unfairly discriminate against poor misdemeanor defendants.
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
Politics
Texas lawmaker didn’t file a campaign finance report for two years. Why didn’t the state make him?
State Rep. Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City, went almost two years without filing any campaign or personal financial reports, racking up more than $50,000 in fines. He still hasn’t paid anything and it’s unclear whether any state agency has the power to make him.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
After lawsuit, Texas plans to install air conditioning in a stifling prison
Inmates at the Pack Unit prison outside College Station argued in federal court that they should be housed in a maximum of 88 degrees. On Friday, the state agreed to bring air conditioning to the facility.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
John Battaglia executed for killing his daughters despite late appeals
The Dallas man who killed his two daughters in 2001 was executed Thursday night. It was the third execution in Texas and the nation this year.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas Rangers arrest four amid investigation of abuse at state-run juvenile lockups
Four former and current Texas Juvenile Justice Department employees were arrested Thursday as part of a Texas Rangers investigation into alleged misconduct at state-run youth lockups. Another suspect remains at large.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas Juvenile Justice Department’s watchdog is latest to go in Abbott shakeup
Gov. Greg Abbott has made his latest move in shaking up leadership at the scandal-plagued Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas’ second execution of 2018 proceeds after U.S. Supreme Court rejects appeals
William Rayford, a 64-year-old death row inmate convicted in the 1999 murder of his ex-girlfriend, was put to death Tuesday night in the second execution of the year in Texas and the nation.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Gov. Greg Abbott replaces chairman of Texas Juvenile Justice Department board
Gov. Greg Abbott has replaced the board chairman of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. The governor has played a key role in an agency shake-up amid a sexual abuse scandal and staffing shortages.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
In crisis, Texas Juvenile Justice Department looks to an unconventional new leader
With no experience working directly with incarcerated kids, Camille Cain is an unconventional choice to be the new director of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. But experts hope she’ll be well-suited to handle problems like staffing shortages and a sexual abuse scandal.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Poor inmates sue Dallas County over bail system following Harris County ruling
The bail reform fight has made its way to Dallas County, where poor inmates sued officials over the claim that the county’s money bail system discriminates against them.
