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.
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
Operation Lone Star
Travis County judges can’t hear appeals from migrants arrested under Texas border security push, court rules
The Court of Criminal Appeals scuttled nearly 450 cases, saying migrants arrested for trespassing in Kinney County can’t ask Austin judges to hear their appeals.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Feds often hand migrants over to state police rather than process immigration claims, complaint says
State police often rely on federal immigration officials to lock up migrants on state trespassing charges, according to a new complaint by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. The collaboration contradicts federal and Texas officials’ attacks on each other’s immigration policies.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Facing possible removal for alleged incompetence, El Paso District Attorney Yvonne Rosales resigns
The first-term DA was under fire for the office’s mishandling of criminal cases and for potentially jeopardizing the prosecution of the man charged in the 2019 Walmart massacre.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Prison contractor MTC accused of billing Texas millions for inmate treatment programs it didn’t provide
Before being released on parole, most Texas prisoners must complete treatment programs like life skills or addiction therapy. Private prison operator Management & Training Corporation allegedly stopped providing the services, but kept taking the money.
Posted in
Juvenile Justice
Pay raises alone won’t solve staffing shortages in “nightmare” Texas youth prisons, ex-workers say
Danger and trauma — not low salaries — are what drive most workers to leave the crisis-wracked Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas’ execution of Stephen Barbee was prolonged while officials searched for a vein
Barbee, convicted in the 2005 murders of his pregnant ex-girlfriend and her child, was unable to straighten his arms, which caused the delay. Courts allowed Barbee’s execution despite concerns from his lawyer that his disability would make the process “torture.”
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas executes Tracy Beatty for strangling mother to death
Beatty’s lawyers argued unsuccessfully that the 2003 Smith County murder didn’t qualify for the death penalty. Neither the Supreme Court nor Texas Gov. Greg Abbott intervened on Wednesday.
Posted in
Politics
WNBA star Brittney Griner being transferred to Russian penal colony
The 32-year-old was arrested in Moscow on Feb. 17 and accused of entering Russia with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, which is illegal in Russia. She pleaded guilty to carrying the cartridges.
Posted in
Texas 2022 Elections
Greg Abbott reelected Texas governor, defeating Beto O’Rourke
The governor prevailed after a tumultuous period that included the pandemic, a statewide blackout, restrictions on voting and abortion and the Uvalde school shooting.
