Hundreds of Texas prisoners are getting vaccinated — months after many became eligible
Almost 2,000 vaccine doses have gone to qualifying prisoners as of Thursday, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Full Story
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![Telford prison in New Boston.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Texas prisons have doled out thousands of COVID-19 vaccine doses — but none have gone to prisoners, who get the virus at high rates
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has been allocated nearly 9,000 doses. The agency vaccinated prison health care workers, then correctional staff in infected areas. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Republican asks state to rename several of the state's prisons honoring slave owners
There are 99 state prisons and jails in the state, and several of which are named after people with racist and sometimes violent histories, according to The Marshall Project. Full Story
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![Prison staff and inmates move through the Darrington Unit's main hallway on Wednesday, July 12, 2017.]()
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Texas hasn’t said when or how inmates will receive the coronavirus vaccine
Texas officials have not detailed when jails and prisons — known hot spots of the coronavirus' spread — will receive doses of the vaccine. And many on the inside remain wary of getting the shot in prison. Full Story
![Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
Texas to shutter three more prisons as units face critical staffing shortages
Three units across the state will be at least temporarily closed this month, according to the Texas prison system. The agency hopes it will help with dangerously low staffing levels. Full Story
Credit: Martin do Nascimento for The Texas Tribune -
Federal court orders Texas prison system to provide hand sanitizer for some geriatric inmates during pandemic
Texas has had more inmate deaths related to the coronavirus than any other prison system in the nation. Its death toll of at least 162 inmates outranks every other state as well as the federal prison system. Full Story
![Telford prison in New Boston.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
The only Texas prison reporting zero coronavirus cases is where inmates make soap. But that’s not what’s credited with protecting it.
Of more than 100 Texas prison units, the Roach Unit's apparent ability to avoid the virus has been attributed to a remote location and a warden who strictly enforces precautionary measures. Full Story
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![Inmates at the Central Unit used to make thousands of pounds of soap at this factory. Amid budget cuts, the unit closed in 2011.]()
Credit: Justin Dehn/The Texas Tribune -
The coronavirus is keeping Texas prisoners who've been approved for parole behind bars
Thousands of parole-approved prisoners remain locked up during the public health crisis. The coronavirus has delayed pre-release programs and kept people set to go home inside infected prisons. Full Story
![Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
Thousands of Texas prisoners still have the coronavirus. More than 25% of inmates at four units are infected.
At one prison, more than 750 inmates were actively infected with the coronavirus Monday, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Full Story
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![Mark W. Michael men's prison located in unincorporated Anderson County.]()
Credit: Jolie McCullough/The Texas Tribune -
After 17 youths test positive for the coronavirus, Texas juvenile lockups to begin mass testing
The agency will use the same self-administered, oral tests used to conduct mass testing in Texas' adult prison facilities. Full Story
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Texas prisons will accept county jail inmates again, three months after the coronavirus halted intake
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice halted intake from county jails in April as the coronavirus began rapidly spreading in state and local lockups. The virus is still pervasive within the prison system. Full Story
![Telford prison in New Boston.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Supreme Court halts Texas execution of Ruben Gutierrez during legal fight over religious advisers' access to death chamber
Gutierrez has long fought for DNA testing he says could prove his innocence in a 1998 Brownsville murder and home robbery. But the high court's ruling centered on Texas prison officials' recent decision to keep religious advisers out of the execution room. Full Story
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![Interior of execution chamber.]()
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Inmates report dangerous practices inside the Texas prison with the most coronavirus deaths
The Wynne Unit in Huntsville has had at least 10 deaths connected to the new coronavirus. In letters, inmates said conditions were unsanitary and disorganized, and sick men often went untested. Full Story
![Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
Appeals court tosses order that required face masks, hand sanitizer for inmates at geriatric Texas prison
The lawsuit, filed in late March, argues the policies and practices to protect inmates at a geriatric prison were unconstitutional. But an appeals court said many of the practices ordered have already been implemented. Full Story
![Prison staff and inmates move through the Darrington Unit's main hallway on Wednesday, July 12, 2017.]()
Credit: Jolie McCullough/The Texas Tribune -
As Texas inmates' lawsuit over coronavirus response winds through courts, infections among prisoners surge
Judges questioned both the inmates' arguments and state's positions in a Thursday hearing. In April, the appeals court temporarily blocked a lower judge's order against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice over its coronavirus practices and policies at a geriatric prison. Full Story
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![An inmate sleeps in his cubicle in the geriatric unit of the Estelle Prison in Huntsville.]()
Credit: Caleb Bryant Miller for The Texas Tribune -
Texas is spending $45 million on new coronavirus tests that prisoners are administering to themselves
The state purchased 300,000 oral swab tests from a months-old California company. So far, only highly-infected prisons are using them for mass testing. Full Story
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![Telford prison in New Boston on March 21, 2018]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Texas prisons to begin widespread coronavirus testing for inmates with self-administered tests
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice said it will begin having prisoners test themselves with a newly approved test. So far, less than 2% of state prisoners have been tested for the virus. More than 1,700 have been infected, and 30 have died. Full Story
![Telford prison in New Boston.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Reopening Texas as hot spots multiply
State officials are gradually allowing the reopening of businesses and organizations that were closed to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Meanwhile, hot spots continue to flare in Texas — signs the virus is still raging. Full Story
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![Protesters at the State Capitol building defied city and state mandates of social distancing and mandatory face coverings to demand the reopening of the Texas economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
70% of Texas prisoners tested have the coronavirus. Experts say it's time for more testing and fewer inmates.
Some of the nation's biggest COVID-19 outbreaks have been in prisons and jails, and they can quickly spread to surrounding communities. Are Texas prisons doing enough to protect inmates, staff and the public? Full Story
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![The exterior of Huntsville Unit, a prison in Huntsville, on Nov. 14, 2019.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
Coronavirus in Texas: Carnival to launch cruises from Galveston in August; oil regulator calls idea to cut production "dead"
Our staff is closely tracking developments on the new coronavirus in Texas. Check here for live updates. Full Story
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![Shuttered store fronts in downtown El Paso during the the coronavirus pandemic.]()
Credit: Emily Kinskey for The Texas Tribune
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