The latest Texas Department Of Criminal Justice news from The Texas Tribune.
Passion Star has spent nearly 14 years in Texas prisons, where she alleges she was repeatedly sexually assaulted, beaten and threatened. State officials have discussed settling the federal lawsuit Star filed over her treatment, court records show. Full Story
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A Texas case shows that as cameras become more omnipresent, disputes over how such recordings are handled and analyzed are more likely to arise. Full Story
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Before they can earn their freedom, about 40 Texas prisoners will be the first to complete a six-month program that focuses on decision-making and life skills. Full Story
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The four women were sent to prison in the late 1990s on charges of sexually assaulting two young girls. Full Story
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Dads in a maximum-security lockup in Brazoria County hold on to hope by holding on to their kids. Full Story
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Republicans running in three Texas Supreme Court races and three Texas Court of Criminal Appeals races enjoyed strong victories on Tuesday. Full Story
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With one major legal battle seemingly behind them, Sandra Bland's survivors and advocates are gearing up for the next phase of their quest to wrest change from the 28-year-old black woman's death. Full Story
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The family of Sandra Bland — the woman who died last year in a Waller County Jail cell — has reached a settlement with Texas officials in a wrongful death lawsuit, a lawyer for the family said Thursday. Full Story
On Thursday, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice presented a legislative appropriations request to its governing board that offered $28 million in cuts. Officials added that they would seek an exemption from further cuts. Full Story
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Robert Lynn Pruett, convicted in the 1999 stabbing death of a state correctional officer, has won another stay of execution from a Court of Criminal Appeals judge. His lethal injection was set for August 23. Full Story
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Almost 7,000 individuals in Texas have died in police custody or behind bars over the past 10 years, according to an online report released Wednesday by a University of Texas at Austin research institute. Nearly 2,000 of them had not been convicted of a crime. Full Story
Inmate Dillion Gage Compton, 21, who worked in the prison's kitchen area, attacked and killed correctional officer Mari Johnson, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice alleged in a statement Monday. Full Story
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Gov. Greg Abbott's proposal comes after weeks of targeted killings of police officers and growing tension over disproportionate encounters between black Americans and law enforcement. Full Story
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A Texas execution set for next week has been delayed indefinitely because the state wasn't able to retest the purity of the lethal drugs in time. Full Story
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his Alabama counterpart have dropped their legal bid to squelch a U.S. Virgin Islands investigation of Exxon Mobil after the U.S. territory agreed to with draw a subpoena for company documents. Full Story
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More than 2,500 Texas inmates will participate in a national experiment starting next month so that the federal government can study whether reinstating Pell Grants for prisoners might boost their chances of finding employment. Full Story
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Second-in-command Bryan Collier will be the next executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the agency's governing board announced Friday. Full Story
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The next executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice will lead nearly 40,000 employees, manage a $3 billion annual budget, direct more than 100 prisons and oversee the nation's busiest execution chamber. Full Story
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A man who sexually assaulted and fatally stabbed a 68-year-old woman during a 1995 burglary in Hidalgo County will no longer face execution after he has been determined to be intellectually disabled. Full Story
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A prisoner rights advocate thinks lawmakers should loosen restrictions on medical parole eligibility for sex offenders. A top state lawmaker on criminal justice issues agrees with her but says the issue is just too politically toxic. Full Story
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