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Texas Department Of Criminal Justice

The latest Texas Department Of Criminal Justice news from The Texas Tribune.

  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    By Evan Smith

    Hu on the Perry-Bush rift, Ramshaw on the adult diaper wars, Ramsey's interview with conservative budget-slasher Arlene Wohlgemuth, Galbraith on the legislature's water agenda (maybe), M. Smith on Don McLeroy's last stand (maybe), Philpott on the end of earmarks (maybe), Hamilton on the merger of the Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Education Agency (maybe), Aguilar on Mexicans seeking refuge from drug violence, Grissom on inadequate health care in county jails and my conversation with Houston Mayor Annise Parker: The best of our best from November 15 to 19, 2010. Full Story 

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  • Dying for Care

    By Brandi Grissom

    More than 280 inmates in county jails died from illnesses while in custody over a four-and-a-half-year period, according to data provided by the Texas attorney general and analyzed by The Texas Tribune. Many died of heart conditions, some of cancer or liver and kidney problems and others of afflictions ranging from AIDS to seizure disorders and pneumonia. There are no state standards for health care in county jails, but criminal justice advocates and correctional facility experts say the large number of illness-related deaths prove they're needed. Full Story 

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    Credit: Caleb Bryant Miller

  • The Sex Offender is Offended

    By Brandi Grissom

    Marvin Brown is a convicted sex offender who was released from jail in 1999. Today, he's ill and elderly, suffering from diabetes, stage-four renal disease and congestive heart failure. He's had three mini-strokes in the last two months alone. On good days, he walks with a cane. Other times, he gets around with a walker or an electric wheelchair. But according to Gov. Rick Perry, he poses such a threat to society that he has to wear an ankle bracelet so he can be continuously monitored. Brown says that's a violation of his civil rights, and on Tuesday he filed suit in federal court. "They can't give you freedom and then take it away," he says. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • An Interview with Sharon Keller

    By Morgan Smith

    The soft-spoken and — until now — media-shy presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals sat down with The Texas Tribune last week to talk about capital punishment in Texas, what she was doing on the afternoon she closed her office at 5 p.m. to a last-minute death row appeal, the flaws in the way the state sanctions judges, what it's like to be known as Sharon “Killer” Keller and the "ridiculous" idea that she doesn't care about defendants or indigent defense. Full Story 

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  • Sharon Keller: The TT Interview

    By Morgan Smith

    The soft-spoken and — until now — media-shy presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals sat down with The Texas Tribune last week to talk about capital punishment in Texas, what she was doing on the afternoon she closed her office at 5 p.m. to a last-minute death row appeal, the flaws in the way the state sanctions judges, what it's like to be known as Sharon “Killer” Keller and the "ridiculous" idea that she doesn't care about defendants or indigent defense. Full Story 

  • Adrian Garcia: The TT Interview

    By Brandi Grissom

    The first Hispanic sheriff in Harris County history in 2008 on growing up as a child of legal immigrants, how his mom helped change his liberal views about illegal immigration and whether Houston is a sanctuary city. Full Story 

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  • Inquiring Minds

    By Morgan Smith

    Judge Charlie Baird will decide today whether to recuse himself from an investigation into the innocence of Cameron Todd Willingham, the Corsicana man executed in 2004 for the arson deaths of his three young daughters. But with or without Baird, a bigger question is in play: Is a court of inquiry the appropriate venue to consider Willingham’s guilt or innocence? Full Story 

    John Bradley and District Judge Charlie Baird.
    Credit: Illustration by Tom Pennington/Todd Wiseman

  • DNA Crime Lab Gets Clean Bill Of Health

    By Mose Buchele, KUT News

    A former Austin Police Department employee’s allegations of misconduct at the city's DNA Crime Lab prompted an outside audit of the lab. As Mose Buchele of KUT News reports, the results of that audit have been released. Full Story 

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    Credit: Rodolfo Clix

  • Ana Yañez-Correa: The TT Interview

    By Brandi Grissom

    The executive director of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition on how criminal justice austerity measures demanded by state leaders would affect Texas prisons, poor people accused of crimes and the counties responsible for overseeing overcrowded jails. Full Story 

  • A Burning Issue

    By Brandi Grissom

    The Innocence Project of Texas will launch a campaign today not only to exonerate Sonia Cacy, a woman who experts say was wrongly convicted of setting fire to her uncle, but also to overhaul of the use of "junk science" in the prosecution of criminal cases. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Go Directly to Jail

    By Brandi Grissom

    Across Texas, defendants charged with misdemeanor offenses are choosing to spend time in the local lockup rather than endure months on probation. They don’t want to deal with the hassle of probation's conditions, and they can’t afford the thousands of dollars in fees that it requires. People on both sides of the criminal justice system agree that the trend is troubling: It’s helping to fill local jails beyond capacity, and even worse, it means that people charged with DWI, possession of small amounts of drugs and family violence are not getting the treatment they need. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Jacob Villanueva

  • Justice on the Cheap

    By Ben Philpott, KUT News

    As part of an occasional series looking into how shortfall-inspired budget cuts could affect different state agencies heading into the 2011 legislative session, Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports on the likely impact on the state's criminal justice system. Full Story 

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    Credit: Caleb Bryant Miller

  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    By Evan Smith

    Aguilar on Mexican journalists in grave danger, Galbraith on the continuing saga of Texas vs. the EPA, Ramshaw on whether a broken hospital bed constitutes medical malpractice, M. Smith on the latest delay in the Cameron Todd Willingham case, Hamilton interviews a Sarah Palin-approved GOP candidate for Congress, Stiles goes all interactive in chronicling the massive increase in legislative filings in the last 20 years, Grissom talks about the criminalization of mental illness with an author who knows the subject first-hand, Philpott on closing the budget gap without federal stimulus money, Ramsey on everyone ignoring down-ballot candidates, Hu on the mysterious lack of Rick Perry yard signs and yours truly sits down with the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor: The best of our best from September 20 to 24, 2010. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Pete Earley: The TT Interview

    By Brandi Grissom

    The author of Crazy: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness on the criminalization of mental illness, the need for community-wide solutions and how Texas wastes the money it spends on the problem. Full Story 

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  • Accountable to No One

    By Brandi Grissom

    The Texas Department of Criminal Justice oversees most state jails. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards presides over county jails. But the 350 city jails across Texas are wholly unregulated. The jail commission receives dozens of complaints about the conditions inside municipal lockups — most commonly about sanitation, food, supervision and medical care — but they have no power to investigate. While critics are calling on state lawmakers to implement at least minimum standards, city officials worry that expensive new rules could result in the closure of their jails, which would mean that already overflowing county jails would get even more crowded. Full Story 

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