Hundreds of people rallied at the Capitol on Thursday, demanding that Planned Parenthood clinics be allowed back into the Women’s Health Program.
Maurice Chammah
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Updated: Chief Justice Pushes for “Innocence Commission”
Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson pushed lawmakers to establish a commission to investigate wrongful convictions at his biannual State of the Judiciary speech on Wednesday.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Report Backs Push for Board to Oversee Prisons
The Texas Criminal Justice Coalition has released a report calling on lawmakers to approve several bills that would increase supervision over the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which oversees the state’s prisons.
Posted in
Health care
Senator Would Fund Mental Health Training for Teachers
State Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, on Thursday filed the latest in a slew of proposals aimed at improving school safety. His bill would provide state funds to train Texas teachers to recognize and respond to mental illnesses.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Court Reverses Death Row Inmate’s 2003 Conviction
Death row inmate Nelson Gongora’s conviction was reversed by a federal appeals court, which said that a prosecutor’s comments regarding his decision to not testify denied him a right to a fair trial.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Lawmakers Debate Texting-While-Driving Ban
Lawmakers on Tuesday took their first crack at a bill designed to ban texting while driving, including reviewing statistics suggesting that bans in other states have not reduced accidents and are difficult to enforce.
Posted in
Public Education
Texas Lawmakers Mixed on Charter School Proposal
At an education hearing on Thursday, Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, brought in national experts in an effort to build consensus around an ambitious plan to reform the state’s charter school system.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Groups File Federal Complaint Over Bryan ISD Discipline Policies
Texas Appleseed and the Brazos County branch of the NAACP have filed a federal complaint against Bryan ISD, saying the school district’s reliance on ticketing as a form of discipline “disproportionately harms” black students.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Prison Employee Union Calls for Pay Raise
A union representing Texas prison employees is calling on the Legislature to consider a pay raise for correctional officers, citing a rise in drilling jobs that can be more lucrative than prison jobs.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Lawmakers and Judge Push for Legal Aid Funding
A Texas Supreme Court Justice and several lawmakers are pushing to raise the amount of money that can be given by the attorney general’s office to indigent legal aid services groups.
