The latest Texas Department Of Criminal Justice news from The Texas Tribune.
County jail inmates are often released in the dark of night with little or no money and no transportation. Despite tragic stories of death and assaults, lawmakers this year failed to approve legislation that would require releases during daylight hours. Full Story
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Tan on coming prison school cuts and online sales taxes, Root on Rick Perry's support for tax increases when he was a lawmaker, Ramshaw and Serafini on what "Perrycare" would entail, yours truly on the differences between Perry and George W. Bush, Philpott on the passions of the Paulites, Murphy and Seger unveil the Trib's Texas Public Schools Database, Hamilton on UT's answer to calls for improvements in higher ed, Galbraith on predictions that the record heat in Texas will be a long-term problem and Aguilar on the legal shootout over gun sales in Texas: The best of our best content from Aug. 22 to 26, 2011. Full Story
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A state judge has declined to remove District Attorney John Bradley from continuing to investigate the case of Michael Morton, whose 1987 murder conviction has been called into question by new DNA evidence suggesting someone else killed his wife. Full Story
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DAY 23 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: The state's prison education system, known as the Windham School District, eliminates or reduces classes for inmates. Full Story
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DAY 23 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: The state's prison education system, known as the Windham School District, eliminates or reduces classes for Texas inmates. Full Story
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Aaronson analyzes TWIA claims and lawyer fees, Aguilar talks border security and voter ID with Chuy Hinojosa, Grissom on the latest inmate exonerated via DNA evidence, Hamilton interviews John Sharp on higher ed and the SEC, Murphy interactively maps the changes wrought by redistricting, Philpott on who's running Texas while Rick Perry is out campaigning for president, Ramsey on Perry's history of off-the-cuff remarks, Ramshaw on Perry's childhood years in Paint Creek, Root on Perry's extraordinary first week on the trail and Tan on even more ways Texas will change on Sept. 1: The best of our best content from Aug. 15-19, 2011. Full Story
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DAY 19 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: Sugar Land's historic, art deco-style prison is closing. Full Story
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For the first time, Texas is closing a state prison. Take a look inside the historic Central Unit in Sugar Land as workers prepare it for shuttering. Full Story
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Our all-hands-on-deck series on new laws — 31 Days, 31 Ways — continues, Root covers a challenge to the governor's school finance fix and the tax that makes it work, Philpott forecasts a presidential media tsunami will hit Texas, Murphy with a look at midyear campaign reports from candidates and PACs in Texas, yours truly on the quiet spot at the top of the 2014 ballot, Hamilton on government-required vaccinations against meningitis, Grissom reports on the heat wave in un-air-conditioned Texas jails, Aguilar on the private security business along the state's border with Mexico and M. Smith's interview with Nicole Hurd on how to get more high school students into college: The best of our best content from Aug. 8 to 12, 2011. Full Story
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DAY 9 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: Lawmakers expanded protective orders to include pets and victims of teen dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. Full Story
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As the heat index statewide soars above 100 degrees day after day, Texas inmate advocates say complaints about sweltering conditions are increasing along with concerns about prisoners’ health. Full Story
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Aguilar on the denial of asylum petitions by border judges, Galbraith on the history of wind, Grissom talks to the head of the Jail Standards Commission, Hamilton on plans for the state's new online university, Murphy and Ramsey on political warchests at midyear, Philpott on Texas' trucker shortage, Ramsey talks data privacy and abortion with Susan Combs, Ramshaw on the Rick Perry's experimental adult stem cell procedure, Root on the response to The Response, M. Smith on the country's could-be next first lady and Tan on a few of the ways Texas will change on Sept. 1: The best of our best content from Aug. 1 to 5, 2011. Full Story
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DAY 3 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: In light of the case of Anthony Graves, the terms for compensating wrongfully imprisoned individuals have been more clearly defined. Full Story
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In a rare move Thursday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest criminal court, stayed the scheduled Aug. 18 execution of Larry Swearingen, convicted of the 1998 rape and murder of 19-year-old Melissa Trotter. Full Story
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Convicted cattle rustler Roddy Dean Pippin wants a Texas court to string him up in the Hardeman County square and let him hang for his crimes rather than remain in prison until the state says he will be released. Full Story
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The Trib captured every debate, tirade and joke uttered into the mikes in the House and Senate during the 82nd legislative session in our online transcripts. Our latest data apps help you identify when important debates occurred by visualizing the frequency of keywords. Full Story
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A favorite plot device on television and in movies, jailbreaks, at least in Texas, are pretty rare. But that doesn't stop inmates from trying. And trying. Full Story
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This week, Secretary of State Hope Andrade conducted a lottery that determined the order of the 10 new proposals on the November ballot. Each amendment already won approval from two-thirds of the House and Senate and now needs a nod from a majority of the voters. Here's the rundown... Full Story
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Rais Bhuiyan is suing Gov. Rick Perry to stop the state from executing the man who shot him in the head 10 years ago. Full Story
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Following our Tuesday night screening of Incendiary: The Willingham Case, I talked about the science of fire and death penalty politics with the filmmakers, Steve Mims and Joe Bailey Jr.; former Forensic Science Commission Chairman Sam Bassett; former Texas Gov. Mark White; and acting Corsicana City Attorney Terry Jacobson. Full Story
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